Reflective building with trees on the roof, mirroring an urban skyline. Greenery surrounds the structure under a clear blue sky.

    Our Commitment to Sustainability

    Acting in economically and ecologically sensible ways

    Our goal is to strengthen an innovative and responsible economy while at the same time promoting a future-proof society. This includes conserving resources and considering the well-being of future generations. For our programmatic work as a nonprofit organization, this means specifically: We want to act in economically and ecologically sensible ways and reduce our carbon footprint to a minimum.
    Internal Carbon Fee As an Incentive for More Sustainability
    In doing so, we focus on responsibility and transparency, for our sustainability strategy is designed for the long haul. At the center of this strategy is a three-step approach: diagnosis, reduction, and elimination of CO2 emissions. We have established a clear process to measure, monitor, and report the impact of our activities. The goal is to be able to take appropriate measures to prevent and reduce our emissions. Prevention always takes priority over reduction.    To calculate our emissions, we measure our Corporate Carbon Footprint (CCF) using the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol. The results guide us in taking effective action within the context of our sustainability strategy: For Scope 2 emissions that cannot be fully prevented, we use an internal CO2 price, the “Internal Carbon Fee.” This places a monetary value on greenhouse gas emissions and thus creates financial incentive. In addition, it allows us to take a fact-based approach to our processes.
    • Scope 1 comprises all direct greenhouse gas emissions, such as heating with gas or oil and a fleet of fossil-fuel vehicles. Since we do not generate these emissions, they do not factor into our calculations.
     
    • Scope 2 comprises indirect greenhouse gas emissions such as electricity, district heating, steam, or cooling energy in buildings and in electric vehicles.
     
    • Scope 3 comprises other indirect greenhouse gas emissions that are mostly related to our activities and events. These include, for example, the procurement of services and goods (office materials), waste disposal, water and sewage, business travel, and staff commute.

    When it comes to offsetting our carbon footprint, we rely on innovations and sustainable solutions: For each ton of carbon dioxide we emit, we compensate by donating EUR 100 to an innovative project. In 2024, we donated to the ToMOORow initiative that works to protect and rewet wetlands. Here, a focus is on activating businesses for the sustainable use of wetlands through value creation from paludiculture and carbon credits. In 2024, our donation to the project offset 175 tons of CO2 emissions.
    A blue and yellow tracked harvester cuts paludi in a marshy field under a cloudy sky.
    Climate ActionStory

    Aligning Environmental Protection with Economic Opportunity

    Restoring peatlands by rewetting them, like the German “ToMOORow” initiative is doing about 90 kilometers north of Berlin in Brandenburg, is urgently needed. This approach protects the climate and water resources and it helps preserve biodiversity.

    Read Article

    The Sustainability Plan of the Foundation concentrates on three key areas:

    This includes measuring the CO2 emissions from the operation of our offices, including electricity and heating (Scope 2), staff commute, business trips, office supplies, water, and waste (Scope 3).
    The Foundation takes steps to calculate and reduce the emissions of its events, both in terms of direct energy consumption and all relevant areas of event management.
    The Foundation has introduced an internal carbon pricing system, which sets the cost at USD 100 per ton of CO2 equivalent.

    Responsible Event Management
    Our flagships and events are a major lever to effectively and visibly implement our sustainability strategy. To this end, we have developed our own in-house “Playbook for Responsible Event Management,” which we are happy to share with you.    The Playbook ensures that sustainability is an integral part of all events from the get-go. This applies to, among other things, the event location, travel, catering, event technology, and event design. When selecting an event venue, we take into account factors such as accessibility by public transport, energy consumption, and the providers’ compliance with sustainable practices. When selecting our mostly vegetarian catering, several factors play a role. Where do the ingredients come from? What is their carbon footprint? Does the food emphasize local and seasonal produce? Is the caterer committed to a sustainability goal?To minimize the environmental impact of the constructions and installations at our event designs, we abstain from using temporary stage constructions whenever possible. Instead, we use durable and recyclable materials. We often use light installations and screens instead of printed backdrops. We avoid harmful substances and waste and rent furniture and decoration on site.