Prominent "backing": Federal President Horst Köhler to present German Environmental Award * Germany's head of state underlines with his promise the importance

Berlin/Mainz 17. 9. 2004 (PROTEXT/ots) - Prominent "backing"for the German Environmental Award of the DeutscheBundesstiftung Umwelt (DBU, Osnabrück): Federal President HorstKöhler presents Europe's best endowed environmental award in theRheingoldhalle in Mainz (Rhineland- Palatinate) on 31 October2004. In his letter to DBU Secretary General Dr. FritzBrickwedde, President Köhler emphasised that the protection ofenvironment and nature was "one of the most important tasks forwhich we are responsible today".

Dr. Brickwedde was pleased about the promise of thePresident. Thus Germany's head of state documented thesignificance that he attaches to the environmental protection ina modern state. Since 1999, Köhlers predecessor Johannes Rau hadpresented the with 500,000 Euro endowed "Nobel prize forenvironmental protection", that is annually awarded by the DBUsince 1993.

With the German Environmental Award, the DBU as anindependent institution wants to honour both achievements andcommitments contributing decisively and in exemplary manner tothe protection and the conservation of the functional ability ofthe environment or will contribute in future to a considerableenvironmental relief, as defined in the guidelines. The awardshould incite people, enterprises and organisations to recogniseenvironmental problems in time and to defuse them already inadvance.

In 2003, the award was presented in equal shares to thebionic specialist and tree researcher Professor Claus Mattheckand the entrepreneur Hermann Josef Schulte, whose companydeveloped a filter system for diesel engines. Among others, theDirector of the United Nations Environmental Programme UNEP,Professor Klaus Töpfer, is one of the previous award winners(2002), as well as the later chemistry Nobel prize winnerProfessor Paul J. Crutzen (1994). In thirteen years the DBUpromoted 5,700 environmental projects with more than altogetherone billion Euro of financial backing.

Further information about the DBU and topical photos can befound under www.dbu.de

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