GIZ statement receives environmental management award for outstanding clarity

Once a year, the German and Austrian environment ministries select a number of Environmental Management Award winners – enterprises and organisations in both countries that are striving to make their activities more sustainable. The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH is among the 2023 winners with an award for the best environmental statement.

The company’s statement describes how it minimises its ecological footprint, what the objectives of its environmental management system are, and how it measures developments. The jury was impressed by how clearly and comprehensibly the report was written, noting that readers can easily follow the steps being taken by GIZ to continuously improve the environmental performance of its sites in Germany and how it deals with the associated challenges. According to the jury, the statement’s intuitive layout was one of the factors that distinguished it from those of other nominees.

This was the tenth annual environmental statement produced by GIZ since gaining Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) certification. EMAS is regarded as the gold standard among European environmental certification schemes. GIZ staff incorporate EMAS criteria into many company processes with the result that activities such as procurement, travel, events and building operation are becoming more sustainable every year.

Greenhouse gas emissions from buildings halved

Carolin Wrede, GIZ’s Environmental Management Officer, highlighted the company’s record of cutting the emissions from its buildings: ‘We managed to reduce building-related greenhouse gas emissions at the EMAS locations by around 50 per cent between 2019 and 2021. We use specific key data to measure our progress continuously. That way we can see quickly if our measures are working or if we need to adjust them.’

Wrede accepted the award at the beginning of November in Berlin, together with Marie Rossetti, Head of GIZ’s Sustainability Office, and Markus Kurdziel, Head of the Berlin office Property Section. Altogether, nearly 100 other companies and organisations had put themselves forward for an award in one of the various categories.