At an official ceremony, Edith Sitzmann, Finance Minister of the Federal State of Baden-Württemberg, awarded the Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany to Prof. Dr. Rainer Grießhammer. He was given the award for his outstanding service on behalf of the community, his achievements on behalf of the Federal State, and his voluntary work. Grießhammer helped to shape the Öko-Institut and was a member of the board for 30 years. He is an honorary professor at the University of Freiburg and researches into the sustainability of materials systems at Freiburg’s Living, Adaptive and Energy-autonomous Materials Systems (livMatS) Cluster of Excellence.
Grießhammer obtained his PhD in Chemistry at the University of Tübingen in 1982, going on to be an environmental science assistant to members of the German parliament (Bundestag). Since 1984 he has worked at the Öko-Institut. From 1992 to 1994 he was a member of the German Bundestag’s Select Committee on the Protection of Humanity and the Environment, then from 2004 to 2008 he was a member of the German government’s Advisory Council on Global Change. He held a post on the board of trustees of Stiftung Warentest on behalf of consumers. Grießhammer voluntarily heads the Zukunftserbe foundation and the Amber Foundation. In 2010 he was presented the German Environmental Award.
As well as many scientific publications Grießhammer has written many popular-science bestsellers such as “Der Öko-Knigge” (1984) and “Der Klima-Knigge” (2007). His latest book, “#klimaretten – Jetzt Politik und Leben ändern” was issued at the end of 2019.