Sustainability award for Professor Klaus Töpfer

The Founding and Executive Director of IASS Potsdam, Professor Klaus Töpfer, was awarded the Hans Carl von Carlowitz Sustainability Award on 6 November. The award ceremony took place as part of the “People Shape Sustainability” event in the Opera House of Chemnitz.

Professor Klaus Töpfer was honoured for his decades of commitment to sustainability and “for a life’s work that is still far from being completed,” explained the Minister President of Saxony, Stanislaw Tillich. In his laudation the Minister President underlined, among other things, the importance of Klaus Töpfer for Germany’s image as a pioneer for sustainability.

The concept of sustainability was established 300 years ago in the book “Sylvicultura Oeconomica” by Hans Carl von Carlowitz, who called for a sustainable use of forests. The 300^th anniversary of sustainability was celebrated with the presentation of the award by the Saxony-based Carlowitz Society.

Mit Prof. Töpfer wurde auch der ehemalige sächsische Ministerpräsident Prof. Dr. Kurt Biedenkopf mit dem Preis ausgezeichnet.

Foto: dpa/Harry Haertel