Greentech Festival 2023

The Greentech Festival 2023 took place in Berlin from July 14 to 16. This is where players from business, politics and society exchange views on sustainable topics. About an event between innovation and greenwashing.

It was in 2018 when former racing driver and Formula 1 world champion Nico Rosberg came up with the idea of a Greentech Festival. It was to serve as a platform to explore interdisciplinary solutions for a more sustainable future. Rosberg looked for like-minded people and found them in the two engineers and entrepreneurs Marco Voigt and Sven Krüger. Just one year later, in 2019, they organized Europe’s largest sustainability festival, the Greentech Festival, in Berlin. Stakeholders from business, politics and society debated topics such as food, energy, infrastructure and mobility.

The latter are likely to have been a particular incentive for another shareholder to join. Because in 2020, none other than Deutsche Bahn joined as an additional supporter. Three years later, serial entrepreneur Tobias Assies replaced founding member Sven Krüger. And so the team for this year’s Greentech Festival 2023 was set. The motto: Net Zero before 2050. To achieve this goal, the organizers once again invited large industrial companies and small start-ups to Berlin to discuss net zero strategies. Around the talks and presentations, the Greentech Festival offered visitors a colorful entertainment program. Bands and artists provided background music. Another highlight is the Green Awards, which are intended to honor personalities who have made a special contribution to sustainable issues. In the still young history of the festival, these include illustrious names such as Bob Geldof, Elon Musk, Robert Redford and Vivienne Westwood.

This year, the Greentech Festival went one step further and expanded to Singapore and Los Angeles. In Germany, it took place from June 14 to 16 at the former Berlin-Tegel TXL airport. This year’s program included the director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Johan Rockström. In his panel talk, he spoke about the 1.5 degree target. Furthermore, the Swiss start-up Planted, which produces plant-based meat substitute products. In her presentation, Judith Wemmer, Head of Product Development at the company, explored the question of how the world’s population could be fed in the future. In total, the Greentech Festival boasts over 150 speakers and 190 exhibitors over the three days. They also recorded around 15,000 visitors.

This year, for example, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection took part for the first time. It presented a photobioreactor to illustrate how CO2 can be used to cultivate algae, which in turn can bind the greenhouse gas. Equally innovative is the project of graduate physicist Franz Philipps from the German Aerospace Center (DLR). He presented the so-called Zedu-1, the world’s most environmentally friendly electric car to date, which uses specially developed filter technology to eliminate both microplastics caused by tire abrasion and particulate matter.

However, the long list of partners and companies has also been met with criticism. While Shell, E.ON, Lufthansa and Audi presented green approaches at the Greentech Festival, they do not always act in accordance with the intentions propagated by the festival in their day-to-day business. Shell, for example, advertised recharge charging stations for electric cars. At the same time, Shell rejects a reduction in emissions, as this would allegedly go against shareholders’ interests. The fact that Lufthansa, one of the world’s largest airlines, is talking about reducing plastic waste and achieving climate neutrality by 2050 also leaves a bland aftertaste. The tech portal “Basic Thinking” sums up the Greentech Festival with the words: “What remains after the Greentech Festival 2023 are some nice ideas, but few innovative concepts and exhibitors. But all the more selfies, greenwashing and self-congratulation under the guise of “Mission to net Zero”.”

Controversial strategies to combat the climate crisis are also being refined elsewhere. For example, with genetically modified trees. More about this and the start-up Living Carbon here.