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You are here: Home / Culture and Media / “Trees wouldn’t vote for Trump…”(A review of the 2017 Frankfurt Book Fair)

3. December 2017 | Monika Griefahn

“Trees wouldn’t vote for Trump…”
(A review of the 2017 Frankfurt Book Fair)

Peace Prize of the German Book Trade to Margaret Atwood

Peace Prize of the German Book Trade to Margaret Atwood
Photo: Monika Griefahn

“Trees wouldn’t vote for Trump…” – that’s how the forester and author Peter Wohlleben summarised his view on the current political landscape. Trees, he says, know that they can only survive as part of a group.

And he has further memorable statements:

“When men go into the forest, they usually take a chainsaw with them. Women are more sensitive.”

“Environmental protection is mainly human protection. The planet would easily regenerate if mankind caused its own extinction.”

In his very entertaining manner Peter Wohlleben, author of books such as “The Secret Life of Trees”, “The Mental Life of Animals” or “Nature’s Secret Network”, spoke about his work as a forester. He has established a Forest Academy in order to teach as many people as possible about the ecology of forests. Because you only protect what you know about.

Wohlleben was just one of many authors who made this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair a worthwhile event. The French pavilion, which featured great design, demonstrated that literature can achieve anything. The audio-visual areas of the fair let visitors not only read but also listen to poetry.

Children’s books made to Cradle to Cradle specifications by Kosmos Verlag

The Kosmos publishing house presented beautifully designed children’s books that are made to Cradle to Cradle specifications, including such wonderful titles as “Does the Lion have to go to the Hairdresser?” or “Animals in the Night”. Renate Michel at the Kosmos booth told me excitedly that the Cradle to Cradle info flyers had already gone out of stock on Saturday morning and that the response had been very positive.

The authors Christiane Grefe and Susanne Mayer discussed with Nils Minkmar, an editor at Der Spiegel magazine, about the book “Democracy on the Line – What do we do?” In particular, I was pleased to hear Grefe’s plea to get involved in politics. Because democracy is something that must be continuously re-achieved over and over again through hard work. The proceeds from the book will be donated to Reporters without Borders, a truly important organization at a time when journalists are being arrested or even murdered in many countries! Only recently the journalist Caruana Galizia was murdered in Malta, which after all is a member state of the European Union.

The politician and scientist Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker and the member of the German parliament Matthias Miersch held an engaging and exciting debate about the new report from the Club of Rome “It’s Our Turn”. In 1972 the Club of Rome published its report “The Limits to Growth” which forecast the collapse of the systems. Although its predictions were not far off the mark  the Club of Rome today is slightly more optimistic. There must be change, but commitment is easier when one still believes that something can be changed.

I also found a lot of reading suggestions and tips at the fair. The overall highlight of course was the awarding of the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade to Margaret Atwood. Eva Manasse excellently analyzed the “precision of the knife-thrower” as she called it in her laudatory speech.

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Insights

Appointments

March 28, 2023: Keynote at the Automotive Industry Association VDA on “New Solutions for Climate Neutral Drives” Read more about the conference here (in German).

March 30, 2023: Participation in the real estate congress of the Federal Association of Free Real Estate and Housing Companies (BFW). Discussion in the panel “Departure into the circular economy.” Click here for the program (in German).

April 4, 2023: Announcement of the “Potato of the year” in the open-air museum at the Kiekeberg

April 19, 2023: Open excursion of the Klimabeirat Buchholz to the Fischbeker Höfe in Hamburg with Matthias Korff, managing director of DeepGreen Development. The topic is ecological building.

April 20, 2023: Start of the four-day nature film festival Lüneburger Heide under the patronage of Monika Griefahn. You will find the program here shortly (in German).

May 2, 2023: Guest speaker on “Sustainability & Cllimate Policy” at the annual German-American Conference (DAK) of Atlantik-Bruecke and American Council on Germany (ACG) in Washington, D.C.

 


Nature Film Festival Lueneburg Heath

Planning group for the next Nature Film Festival Lueneburg Heath.

April 20-24, 2023: 2nd Nature Film Festival Lueneburg Heath with Monika Griefahn as patron. At four venues in the region of the Lüneburger Heide Nature Park, after 2021, it is once again: “Film off!” Visitors can expect fantastic nature films, stirring documentaries and, above all, great conversations with filmmakers and experts. From now on, check the status of the program planning at www.films4future.de (German).


Cradle to Cradle Congress 2021

Logo C2C-Congress

Cradle to Cradle Congress 2021: Because of the Corona pandemic the C2C Conress took place in three parts this year: The first one was on June 14, 2021 in Freiburg. The second took place on September 7, 2021 in Mainz, the third November 4, 2021 in Mönchengladbach.


eFuels

Synthetic fuels are one of the decisive factors for the energy transition away from fossile fuels. That is why I am committed to the further development and practical use of eFuels and became a member of the Sounding Board of the eFuel Alliance in May 2021.
English website of the eFuel Alliance


Climate committee

Constituent session: Photo: City of Buchholz / Helms

In May 2021, the climate committee was constituted in the climate forum at my place of residence in Buchholz in the Nordheide. I am pleased to be chairwoman of the advisory board! The city has set itself the goal of becoming climate neutral and there is still a lot to do to achieve this. The committee advises the municipal  administration on fundamental questions of climate policy.
To the article on the Buchholz website (in German)


Right Livelihood Laureate 2021

Right Livelihood Award

They stand up against violence and climate change and address the most pressing questions of our time: Marthe Wandou (Cameroon), Wladimir Sliwjak (Russia), Freda Huson (People of the Wet’suwet’en, Canada) and the Legal Initiative for Forest and Environment (India) are the winners of the Right Livelohood Award (“Alternative Nobel Prize”) 2021. Please find here the award ceremony documentation or read more about the laureates in our blog.


Federal Order of Merit

After the award ceremony, Olaf Lies, Monika Griefahn and Rainer Rempe stand together. Photo: Frank Ossenbrink

After the award ceremony, Olaf Lies, Monika Griefahn and Rainer Rempe stand together. Photo: Frank Ossenbrink

Our CEO Dr. Monika Griefahn received the Federal Order of Merit. Please read more about her biography and about the award ceremony in our blog.


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