The University’s Sustainability Award for Theses and the Sustainability Lecture 2018 „Sustainable Development as a Perspective for Companies: The example of (the company) Ritter“

On November 15, 2018, the University of Tübingen awarded the Sustainability Prize for Theses for the eighth time. This year, the event once again took place in the Festsaal of the Alte Aula. The evening was opened by Chancellor Dr. Rothfuß who highlighted the diverse activities of university members for sustainable development. Prof. Dr. Thomas Potthast, spokesperson of the Ethics Center and managing chairman of the Advisory Council for Sustainable Development at the University of Tübingen, hosted the evening. After the awarding of the prizes by Chancellor Dr. Rothfuß and Prof. Potthast, the award winners had the opportunity to give a five-minute presentation (“pitch”) of their theses. Three Bachelor’s, two Master’s, and one Accreditation thesis have been awarded. The range of topics was wide and included permaculture research, hydropower on the Nile, the fission of lignin models, the potential of biomass for the transformation of energy systems, and the reduction of environmental harmful subsidies as well as the disciplines of ethnology, chemistry, peace research and international politics, geoecology, and geography.

A highlight of the evening was the Sustainability Lecture, which was held by the Waldenbucher entrepreneur Alfred T. Ritter. Mr. Ritter emphasised that we economise to improve life - not only ours, but ideally all lives of people involved in the production chain. For this reason, an economic system designed only for growth is a dying system in which he himself does not want to live. Factors such as GDP take into account neither the acidification of soils nor the introduction of microplastics into the oceans, since those are difficult to calculate with pure figures and numbers.

With regard to the basic ingredient of chocolate - cocoa, a product traded on the stock market - Mr Ritter is quite sure: you can taste bad quality. This refers not only to cocoa of inferior quality itself, but also to the human suffering that is related to the production of cocoa and thus also in chocolate: Poverty, child labour and human trafficking. For this reason, Ritter Sport Company strengthens the relations to its cocoa farmers, many of whom are organised in cooperatives. Additionally, the company has invested money in its own plantation "El Cacao" in Nicaragua, where biodiversity and fair wages are the cornerstones of good cocoa. Since premium chocolate goes hand in hand with premium cocoa, anyone who pursues the vision of producing the best chocolate in the world must therefore invest in the people involved in the production chain. Mr Ritter mentioned the successes on the way to a more sustainable chocolate production as well as unresolved questions, for example in parts of the milk production. During the lively discussion with the audience following his speech, the speaker discussed both the challenges and the positive solutions for a sustainable economy.

• Videorecording of the award ceremony