The prizes will be presented on November 9, 2023 as part of the Nobel Sustainability Trust Summit at the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Munich. “The Sustainability Awards supported by NST” will be given annually to individuals or institutions who have made significant developments of great potential for or contributions to implement sustainable solutions for the benefit of humanity. This year, they will be given in the categories Outstanding Research and Development in the Field of Energy as well as Leadership in Implementation of sustainability projects.
Handling the earth's resources sustainably
Peter Nobel, Chairman of the NST, said: "It is with great joy and pride that we now for the first time here in Munich announce the awardees of the Sustainability Award. The future of humanity and its survival will, to a great extent depend on how sustainable we use the earth's resources combined with technological innovations. We believe the Sustainability Award will play an important role and be a strong symbol within the sustainable field. Its objective is to inspire, motivate, and incentivize individuals and organizations worldwide to develop sustainable technologies in key resource areas like energy, water, and agriculture. This will require substantial intellectual and financial efforts."
TUM President Prof. Thomas F. Hofmann said: "Sustainability and its implementation in terms of technologies with promising future potential and market capability has to be a prime directive for us all. Our TUM Sustainable Futures Strategy 2030 defines our ambitious objectives for a sustainable transformation. Transformations of this kind need visible heroes. I am all the more pleased to be able to honor two such outstanding personalities with the Nobel Sustainability Trust Award, high-profile individuals who shine as role models."
First Honorees:
Category: Outstanding Research and Development in the field of Energy
In 2010 Prof. Elena Bou co-founded EIT InnoEnergy, where she currently holds the position of Innovation Director. She is deeply involved in promoting start-ups in the field of sustainable energy, including financing. EIT InnoEnergy, a company co-funded by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), has supported over 500 start-ups in the field of sustainable energy since its inception. It focuses on energy storage, sustainable buildings and cities, renewable energy sources, intelligent power grids, energy efficiency, circular economies as well as transportation and mobility.
Elena Bou conducts research and teaches in the field of Knowledge and Innovation Management as an Associate Professor of Operations, Innovation and Data Sciences at the Spanish business university ESADE (Escuela Superior de Administración y Dirección de Empresas). She earned her doctorate in economic sciences at ESADE and is the author of several publications in the fields of knowledge management, collaborative innovation, and entrepreneurialism.
Category: Leadership in Implementation
Professor Lord Nicholas Stern is an expert on the economic aspects of climate change. He has been Chair of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science since the Institute's founding in 2008. Over the last twenty years, he has made outstanding contributions to international climate policy and to promoting the transition to sustainable, integrative, and resilient economic development.
His report "The Economics of Climate Change: The Stern Review", created in 2006 on behalf of the British government, had a major impact at national and international levels on responsible stakeholders in politics and the economy. He fosters understanding of the expense of inactivity in the face of global climate change with advisory roles including functions at the United Nations, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the World Economic Forum.
The winners are selected by a panel of international experts as well as TUM professorships, organized by the TUM Institute for Advanced Study (TUM-IAS). The Leadership in Implementation Award is endowed with 300,000 Swedish krona, and the Research and Development in the field of Energy Award with 500,000 Swedish krona.
