Bas van Abel of Fairphone has won the German Environmental Award, the most important environmental award of the country. The Amsterdam smartphone maker receives a prize of 250,000 euro. The award ceremony will be on 30 October 2016 and the prize will be handed out by the German president Joachim Gauck.
Fairphone is a pioneer
The choice for Bas van Abel is substantiated by the Bundesstifting Umwelt as follows: “With Fairphone, Van Abel has succeeded to bring forward the ecological and social impact of the electronics world. Fairphone is a pioneer in the transition to more sustainability and awareness in the whole sector.”
It has never ocurred before that someone from the electronics world has received this prestigious award. Van Abel (age 39) is also the youngest winner ever. Among earlier winners were Soviet-leader Mikhail Gorbatsjov and the German environmental minister Klaus Töpfer.
Fairphone started as a research project and campaign of Waag, ActionAid and SchrijfSchrijf.
