Awards to researchers from the USA, Denmark, Germany, and China
This year, the prestigious Sustainability Awards, supported by the Nobel
Sustainability Trust (NST) in cooperation with the Technical University of Munich
(TUM) were awarded to three researchers from the USA, Denmark and Germany, as
well as China. Dr. Mathis Wackernagel, Prof. Klaus Butterbach-Bahl, and Prof. Jiuhui
Qu are recognized for their leadership in implementing sustainability measures and
their outstanding contributions in the fields of agriculture and water.
The awardees will be presented at the 4th Summit of the Nobel Sustainability Trust from
November 20 to 21, 2024, in San Francisco. Eligible for the award are individuals from
science and industry, as well as organizations and companies that promote the United
Nation's Sustainable Development Goals.
About the Awardees:
Category: Leadership in Implementation
Swiss-born Dr. Mathis Wackernagel is the co-founder of the concept of the ecological
footprint. He is President of the non-profit organization Global Footprint Network
based in the USA. The think tank is known for its annual campaign "Earth Overshoot
Day" which marks the date when humanity has used up all the natural resources that
the Earth can provide in a year.
Dr. Mathis Wackernagel (© Nicholas Albrecht) Category: Outstanding Research and Development in Agriculture
Prof. Klaus Butterbach-Bahl is a German biogeochemist and head of the Danish
Pioneer Center for Landscape Research in Sustainable Agricultural Future Trends
(Land-CRAFT) at Aarhus University. He also conducts research at the Institute of
Meteorology and Climate Research, Atmospheric Environmental Research (IMK-IFU)
at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. His research focuses on quantifying the
environmental impacts of agriculture, particularly in relation to greenhouse gases.
Prof. Klaus Butterbach-Bahl (private) Category: Outstanding Research and Development in Water
Prof. Jiuhui Qu is the former Director of the Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a Distinguished Professor at Tsinghua University. He has developed a comprehensive technical system "from
source to tap" ensuring safe drinking water in both urban and rural areas while
addressing water risks. This initiative has positively impacted more than 200 million
people in China and around the world.
Peter Nobel, Chairman of the Nobel Sustainability Trust, said: “Solving natural resource
scarcity, such as water, or adopting sustainable agricultural practices, involve not only
scientific breakthroughs but also requires technological innovation, political efforts, and
incentives from non-profit organizations. This is what we want to push forward through the
Sustainability Awards. The NST is therefore proud of this year's selection of the three
distinguished researchers who all - on an international scale - have addressed the current
and future environmental challenges linked to the climate crisis.”
Prof. Michael Molls, Director of the Institute for Advanced Study of the Technical University of Munich (TUM-IAS), emphasized: “It takes interdisciplinary research and staying power to
achieve sustainability. TUM focuses on interdisciplinary research and sustainability. Together
with the NST, we can recognize outstanding results and implementations in science-led
sustainability. The outstanding contributions of our three awardees in deepening research
and development on sustainability topics and in sharing knowledge beyond their community
reflect our mission.”
About the Awards:
The Sustainability Awards recognizes distinguished individuals, organizations, or companies
in different fields for their contribution to fostering, innovating, and implementing sustainable solutions for the well-being of our society, economy, and planet at present and in the future.
The Institute for Advanced Study of the Technical University of Munich (TUM-IAS) oversees
the two-stage competitive selection process. The selection committee consists of
internationally renowned experts from academia and industry. The final award committee is
composed of professors from TUM. The total prize amount is up to 1.3 million Swedish
kronor annually, provided by the Nobel Sustainability Trust.
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