German Environmental Award 2025
Excellent, innovative climate research and an inspiring role model for resource, energy and environmental protection in the raw material-intensive zinc industry: we are honoring these achievements with this year’s German Environmental Award worth a total of 500,000 euros, one of the most highly endowed environmental awards in Europe. The winners are the Swiss climate researcher Prof. Dr. Sonia Isabelle Seneviratne from ETH Zurich and the management duo Lars Baumgürtel and engineer Dr. Birgitt Bendiek from the steel galvanizing company ZINQ. The award ceremony will take place on Sunday, October 26, in Chemnitz, European Capital of Culture 2025. The event will be hosted by presenter Katie Gallus. Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will present the award.
Here you will find further information for guests on the award winners, the criteria for the German Environmental Award, sustainability at the ceremony, the award nomination process, the jury and the symposium held as part of the German Environmental Award. The next award ceremony will take place on 26.10.2025 in the Stadthalle Chemnitz.
Dr. Birgitt Bendiek and Lars Baumgürtel
This year, the management duo Lars Baumgürtel (59) and engineer Dr. Birgitt Bendiek (58) from the steel galvanizing company ZINQ from Gelsenkirchen will be awarded the German Environmental Award – “as an inspiring role model for raw material and energy efficiency and characterized by sustainability and circular economy in a resource-intensive industry”, according to DBU Secretary General Alexander Bonde.
Prof. Dr. Sonia Isabelle Seneviratne
This year, climate researcher Prof. Dr. Sonia Isabelle Seneviratne will receive the German Environmental Award. Seneviratne is a “brilliant climate scientist who has achieved international renown with ground-breaking studies in the field of land-climate dynamics and whose expertise is in demand worldwide”, says DBU Secretary-General Alexander Bonde.