At the end of July, the annual reports of the German Environmental Foundation (DBU) and the DBU Natural Heritage were published. One focus of the DBU Annual Report is digitization. Above all, the DBU sees potential for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to use digitization for environmentally friendly products and services. One example is the competence platform “nachhaltig.digital“ implemented by the DBU and the Federal German Working Group for Environmentally Conscious Management B.A.U.M., Hamburg, which brings together the digitization and sustainability strategies of SMEs. In addition, the DBU supports green start-up companies with a focus on digitization.
The DBU Annual Report also provides information on the promotion of small and medium-sized enterprises, environmental education, nutrient cycles, international funding projects and the awarding of the German Environmental Award 2018. The financial section contains information on the renewed increase in DBU funding to 52.7 million euros per year 2018, which supported 213 projects. The foundation capital rose from 2.24 to 2.28 billion euros. With a gain on the investment of 95.2 million euros, following 123.5 million euros in the previous year 2017, the result of the DBU declined. This was due to higher write-downs on securities, mainly due to declining stock prices in 2018. "We are currently planning a further increase in the subsidy budget of almost 58 million Euro for the current year 2019," explained DBU CFO Michael Dittrich.
The DBU Natural Heritage Annual Report picks up on the extreme weather situation in the summer of 2018 and the resulting massive bark beetle infestation in spruce and parched open land. Another topic is the extension of the surface scenery.
Download:
DBU Natural Heritage Annual Report
DBU press releases on the topics of digitization and finance at: https://www.dbu.de/presse
