Monika Griefahn

  • Home
  • Monika Griefahn
    • Dr. Monika Griefahn,
      Former Minister
    • Curriculum vitae (PDF)
    • Photos
    • References appointments
  • Volunteering
  • institute for media,
    environment, culture
    • Cradle to Cradle
  • Service
    • Archives German Parliament
    • Publications
    • References
    • Downloads
  • Blog
    • Politics
    • Culture
      and
      Media
    • Opinion
    • Cradle
      to
      Cradle
    • Right
      Livelihood
      Award
  • Contact
    • Site Notice/Imprint
    • Privacy Policy
  • Deutsch
You are here: Home / General Article / The Hanseatic way of environmental protection and digitization – Michael Otto celebrates his 75th birthday in his own way

2. May 2018 | Monika Griefahn

The Hanseatic way of environmental protection and digitization – Michael Otto celebrates his 75th birthday in his own way

Dr. Michael Otto. Foto: Otto Group

Dr. Michael Otto. Foto: Otto Group

Michael Otto did not want a big party for his 75th birthday. What he did want to do was talk about the issues that are important to him. That’s why the CEO of the Otto Group, Alexander Birken, used the occasion to organize a symposium entitled “future values”. Among the topics were sustainability and climate protection as well as the crisis of globalization, growing inequalities, the digitization of the economy and education issues. Around 400 guests attended lectures and took part in discussions and debates.

PIONEER IN THE FIELDS OF SUSTAINABILITY AND NATURE PROTECTION

Michael Otto is the chairman of the Otto Group, the second largest mail order company in the world. For many years he led the company, deeply enshrining within it the concept of sustainability not only in terms of practical application but also in the corporate culture. He also devoted significant efforts to issues of nature conservation and to a constructive, cooperative sustainability debate. He was one of the first executives to recognize the opportunities of digitization. His company has profited as a result and today stands as an example for the fact that sustainability and profitability do not have to be mutually exclusive.

So, how did Otto do it? While others remain reluctant when it comes to new environmental and social standards and policies, Michael Otto is the opposite. As the initiator of the 2 Grad foundation he has brought together a group of entrepreneurs who want to support climate protection. Within his own company, he set up a supplier auditing system when hardly anyone gave any consideration to such ideas. In the 1990s, he initiated the Elbe dialogue between politicians and NGOs, whose nature-friendly policies have since been transformed into political action. With his Michael Otto Foundation, he promotes large-scale projects for the protection of rivers. And whatever he does he will do the Hanseatic way: quiet, prudent and cooperative.

BETTER THAN WE THINK

What does the term future values stand for in a rapidly changing world?

Some highlights of the speakers:

For several decades the economist, Peter Bofinger, has been pursuing the question of whether digitization will create employment or destroy it. His conclusion: “We are better than we think. Never before has there been so much employment as there is now, in spite of digitization. The guiding principle must be prosperity for all and we have to invest a lot in education and training.” But, adds Bofinger, the market also needs limits.

The former Member of the German Parliament, Ernst-Ulrich von Weizsaecker, hopes that the “new enlightenment” can help bring about more balance while at the same time doing away with dogmatism. There currently is a global economy that is bound by national legal frameworks, he says. That model however is no longer working. Von Weizsaecker therefore is calling for more international conventions and agreements such as the G20. The German model, he says, could help during the transition phase, because there are many family businesses that think long term as opposed to public companies, which only work with quarterly results.

The question of whether democracy is still the most appropriate form of government was also discussed. One often-cited weakness of democracy is that decision-making processes take a long time and often only end in compromises. Von Weizsaecker is not ready to accept this aspect as a disadvantage. Good decisions, he believes, often require time, as opposed to fast “Fake News”. Democracy is a helpful means of slowing things down. China without democracy, von Weizsaecker says, is nothing but a digitized nightmare.

UNCONDITIONAL BASIC INCOME

The speakers at the symposium also discussed the question of whether an unconditional basic income could pose a solution in the event that scores of jobs were lost to digitization – which has not yet been well enough established.
Interestingly, the ‘captains’ of some digital companies support a basic income. At the same time the economist Bofinger and the politician von Weizsaecker were rather hesitant in their answers: von Weizsaecker believes that performance-based pay is a positive incentive, but that there must be political efforts to ensure that fairness and performance incentives remain balanced. Bofinger brought into play reductions in working hours as a possible response to digitization.

Overall, it was clear: It’s not just the values of the future, which were being discussed during the symposium. There were also questions of the present. Politically, the course must be set now in order to address the growing uncertainty in society that’s being caused by automation and digitization. Apart from the transformation of the economy towards sustainability and comprehensive quality, the most important task facing German and international politics today therefore is to ensure that this transition will takes place in a humane way.

Filed Under: General Article, Politics

Please share this in your community:

« The epitome of political art turns 80 – congratulations Klaus Staeck!
Awards for “eco-films”: the secret lifelines of trees revealed »

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Search

Please stay in touch!

  • E-mail
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Phone
  • xing
  • YouTube

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 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).


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.


Blog Archive

  • Home
  • Monika Griefahn
  • Volunteering
  • institute for media, environment, culture
  • Service
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Site Notice/Imprint
  • Privacy Policy

 

Logo Monika Griefahn GmbH/institut medien umwelt kultur Monika Griefahn GmbH
PO Box 1135
21231 Buchholz
Germany
Phone: +49 4181 4069262
Email:
Website: www.institut-muk.de
  • E-mail
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • xing
  • YouTube
Customise Privacy Settings
Copyright © 2013–2023 | Zurück zum Seitenanfang/Back to top | Alle Rechte vorbehalten! – All rights reserved.