Laudatory speech by:

Harald Welzer is author, Professor of Transformation Design at the University of Flensburg, co-founder and director of the non-profit Futurzwei Foundation, and co-editor of tazFUTURZWEI. Welzer is also spokesperson for the Rat für digitale Ökologie.

Roundtable with:

Monica Garnsey (tbc) is a multi-award-winning executive producer at BBC Eye, the BBC World Service’s long-form investigative reporting unit. In 2021, she launched the documentary series “Life at 50C.” In March 2025, “Colombia: Petroleum, Pollution and Paramilitaries” was released as part of this series, based largely on Olarte’s information.

Alexander von Bismarck is Executive Director of the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), which has been conducting extensive investigations to uncover environmental crimes worldwide since 1984. In March 2025, after lengthy research, the EIA published the report “Crude Lies” and the “Iguana Papers” database on the Ecopetrol case.

Andrés Olarte Peña, engineer and whistleblower, worked at Ecopetrol, Colombia’s largest oil and gas company, first as an analyst and later as an environmental advisor to the vice president for sustainability. After blowing the whistle, he had to leave Colombia for safety reasons. Today, he lives and works in Germany.

Welcome and award presentation by Annegret Falter (Whistleblower Netzwerk), Richard Logan (Reva and David Logan Foundation), Klaus Schleisiek (Wau Holland Foundation) and Michael Sontheimer (taz Panter Foundation).