Freiburg. Europe's best endowed environmental award, worth DM 1 million, was presented for the ninth time. Federal President Johannes Rau presented the German Environmental Award, given by the Federal German Environment Foundation (Osnabrück), to the Bavarian entrepreneur Dr. Franz Ehrnsperger (55, Neumarkt) and to the scientists Dr. Wolfgang Feist (47, Darmstadt) and Professor Hermann Auernhammer (60, Freising) in Freiburg today. Only if economy and ecology walked hand in hand, people could live in peace, safety and without poverty, underlined the Federal President in his speech. The DBU honoured the achievement of Dr Ehrnsperger to establish an integral ecological management programme, the pioneering spirit of Dr Feist in developing passive house technology and Professor Auernhammer as a forerunner of eco-friendly farming by using modern information technologies.

The Federal President reminded the audience of the results of the 1992 Rio conference where sustainability had become the topic for a careful treatment of natural resources. But catchy phrases could not solve problems. Quite the reverse: today one got sometimes the impression that "in 1992 we were more advanced in environmental matters than today". The Rio objectives were still unfulfilled. "The main reason is that international environmental organisations are fragmented and without appropriate competence." In his opinion it was sensible to unite the different United Nations' programmes and offices in order to increase their importance but also to optimise the ability to assert the United Nations themselves.

It should be taken into consideration that - for financial reasons - politicians, scientists and NGOs from poor countries were not able to attend the conferences throughout the world where their own interests were discussed. This was negative for discussions, negotiations and decisions. It was necessary to think about an appropriate headquarters for a common UN organisation and how to improve the financial situation of UN environmental organisations and programmes. Without a reliable financial frame a successful international environmental policy was not possible. The negotiations of the Kyoto follow-up conference in Bonn in summer had shown that old pattern of thoughts revitalised by playing national economy interests off against international environmental policy.

Addressing an audience of some 1,300 in the Freiburg "Konzerthaus", Professor Dr. Hans Tietmeyer, former President of the Deutsche Bundesbank and Chairman of the Board of the foundation, underlined that it had not been easy to decide on the award winners from almost 100 proposals. The life's work of three award winners had been chosen as perfect examples of innovation and environmental protection. In particular those pioneers and small and medium-sized enterprises were the foundation's main target group to receive financial backing, resulting in 4,400 projects within the first 10 years of the DBU's existence.

Baden-Württemberg's Minister of the Environment, Ulrich Müller, expressed his delight that this year's awarding ceremony took place in Germany's "solar capital" Freiburg. He underlined the important role of the DBU in creating a sustainable future. Since 1991 more than 470 Baden-Württembergian projects received a financial backing mounting up to DM 135 million. Federal Minister of the Environment, Jürgen Trittin, underlined the importance of a sustainable energy policy as a contribution to independence and safety of the citizens.

Susanne Henkel, managing director of the Richard Henkel GmbH and member of the jury, appreciated in her eulogy the commitment of the award winners to see the environment as a part of their daily life and to visualise the importance of ecology for the economy. With a remarkable analytic action - surprising in its simple and comprehensive character of solutions - they had connected know-how and practise, had communicated, motivated and had taken advantage of resistance as personal encouragement. For the jury it had been a very important factor that "the success of your work is both fruitful and productive beyond regional and Federal bounds".

This was all the more important considering that environmental protection was not an easy accessible product. People knew the needs and future prospects of our environment as well as methods and ways to support and to preserve them. It was true that they understood the power of community and had learned, read and heard. But in reality for the most part it came to restricted thinking - for the time of professional life, for a phase of responsibility, a period of office, a life time or a legislation period. Henkel: "Only if people commit themselves to something and live their conviction, if they saw chances and seized them, if they were prepared to take risks and passed on their enthusiasm a movement without restriction was possible."

Professor Auernhammer could be regarded as initiator and the driving-force behind "precision farming", where modern data and process technology facilitated an all-time and all-over exact agricultural treatment especially of small sites. Prevention, protection and yield were easy to control, environmental protection and economical targets harmonised with each other and possibly facilitated "the connection of classic and ecological farming".

Mrs Henkel named Dr Ehrnsperger being a "pioneer of entrepreneurial eco-management": "sensitive and co-operative in involving, motivating and supporting both his staff and suppliers, showing transparency to consumers and exceptionally successful in winning competitors as active partners for ecological ideas in the field of beer brewing." He succeeded in recruiting more than 100 regional agricultural partners for a successful alternative with the ecological product range of Lammsbräu and the used raw materials. With enthusiasm and a "certain hardness of hearing as far as doubts became known, he had established an applicable eco-management" and found a lot of "emulators" within breweries beyond the German borders.

Dr Feist had achieved an example role throughout Europe, founded on his knowledge about the limited character of conventional energy resources and the earth's receptiveness. He set about it in the right way: using passive house technology facilitates an energy-saving of 95% among one of the largest producers of carbon dioxide - the private households. Dr Feist had intensively co-operated with architects, clients, manual workers and thus gained considerable progress. He had contributed to new studies for energy technology and created "specialists for tomorrow". And he had proved with his conferences about passive house technologies with more than 1,000 participants, "that the market is convinced and prepared to learn and to grow."

Within a concluding talk-round, presented by Stefan Schulze-Hausmann, 3sat, the prize winners expressed their thanks for being awarded. Dr Ehrnsperger underlined the "very highest importance" of the German Environmental Award, Professor Auernhammer named it "the icing on the cake." The prize proved that technology and environmental protection belonged together. Dr Feist appreciated the possibility to transfer important thoughts.