Former Bayer CEO W. Wenning (3rd from left) hands the certificate of the “Bayer Climate Award” to Professor Lemke. Left: Professor E.-L. Winnacker, Secretary General of the European Research Council; Right: Bayer Board member Prof. Dr. W. Plischke.
The award was presented for the first time on March 24, 2009 in Berlin to Professor emeritus Eberhard Jochem from the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI in Karlsruhe by the Bayer Science & Education Foundation. Jochem was honored with the "Bayer Climate Award" for his groundbreaking contributions in the field of energy efficiency research. He has proven that Germany could cut its CO2 emissions by almost 15 percent by 2020 in a commercially profitable way simply by improving energy efficiency. This would correspond to an absolute reduction of 125 million tons of CO2 emissions relative to the end of 2007. An even more substantial reducation of 80 percent is possible.
April 22, 2010 the award was presented for the second time to the climatologist and polar explorer Prof. Dr. Peter Lemke for his outstanding work in climate research. Lemke conducts research at the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research - Germany's leading institute for polar and marine research – member of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres. Lemke was honored with the "Bayer Climate Award" by the Bayer Science & Education Foundation for his groundbreaking contributions in the correlation of sea-ice and climate. The Bayer Climate Award carries winnings of EUR 50,000 and will be presented every two years.
Zoom imageBayer Board member Prof. Dr. W. Plischke (center) with the “Bayer Climate Fellows” M. Winkler, L. Brüggenwerth, M. Rohbeck and F. Schober (from left) in Berlin.
In the summer of 2008, the
Bayer Science & Education Foundation presented for the first time scholarships of EUR 5,000 each to
five school students from Germany who are particularly interested in and dedicated to environmental protection. The two-week stay in Pittsburgh included workshops and field trips and focused on the topic ”climate change and water“.
The “
Bayer Climate Fellows” were also invited to attend the presentation of the first “Bayer Climate Award” to Prof. Jochem in Berlin on March 24, 2009. Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Plischke, the Bayer Management Board Member responsible for Innovation, Technology and Environment, welcomed them and talked to them about their commitment to environmental protection.
After the workshops and the field trips all fellows are invited to apply to an idea competition with the slogan “The best climate idea”. The winner of the competition receives an opportunity of a student intern-ship in a Bayer department according to his tendency.