BUND Naturschutz honours Prof. Dr. Claudia Kemfert with the Bavarian Nature Conservation Award

2022-10-17 BUND Naturschutz honours their great services to climate protection and a sustainable economy in Germany. The Bavarian Nature Conservation Award is the highest award of BUND Naturschutz in Bavaria.

Beate Rutkowski (Deputy Chair), Richard Mergner (Chair), Claudia Kemfert, Doris Tropper (Deputy Chair), Hubert Weiger (Honorary Chair), Photo: Toni Mader, BN ©Toni Mader, BN
Beate Rutkowski (Deputy Chair), Richard Mergner (Chair), Claudia Kemfert, Doris Tropper (Deputy Chair), Hubert Weiger (Honorary Chair), Photo: Toni Mader, BN

At a festive award ceremony in Munich's Künstlerhaus, BUND Naturschutz in Bayern presented Prof. Dr. Claudia Kemfert with the Nature Conservation Award on Friday evening. The BN is the largest and oldest nature conservation association in the Free State, making the prize the most important nature conservation award in Bavaria.

In his laudation, BN Chairman Richard Mergner said: "Claudia Kemfert is a prominent voice for the decentralised energy transition. As an economic and energy expert, she deals with the economic effects of the climate crisis and calls for an exit from fossil and nuclear energies on this basis. With her commitment, she is an important player on Germany's and Bavaria's path towards climate neutrality. Thus, with her numerous research projects and publications on phasing out coal and gas as well as on full supply from renewable energies, she has played a significant role in the socio-ecological transformation of our country."

In her acceptance speech, Claudia Kemfert said: "In times of populism, disinformation and fake news, I am particularly pleased to be awarded this important prize, because it shows that civil society and science stand closely together in their commitment to nature, climate and democracy".

Claudia Kemfert has headed the Department of Energy, Transport, Environment at the German Institute for Economic Research since 2004. At Leuphana University Lüneburg, she is Professor of Energy Economics and Energy Policy, and since 2016 has been a member of the German Advisory Council on the Environment and the Presidium of the German Society of the Club of Rome.