Former President of Ireland, Mary Robinson and Nico Rosberg, sustainability entrepreneur, lead an impressive array of climate change innovators focused on creating a greener future.

LONDON and BERLIN, Sept. 9, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — GTF Connect, the international event series run by Europe’s leading sustainable tech event GREENTECH FESTIVAL (GTF), returned to London on 4th and 5th September for the third time. Held at the city’s legendary “Ministry of Sound”, the event was themed “Turning Crisis into Opportunity”. With 700 visitors, it proved to be a great success, surpassing attendees’ expectations.

At the heart of the event was the CONFERENCE that captivated attendees with inspiring speeches and forward-thinking panel discussions. Attended by business leaders and innovators, it facilitated connections to showcase greener technologies, approaches and solutions to help tackle the issue of climate change.

The fully booked event started with the prestigious GREEN AWARDS on the evening of the 4th of September, presented by Audi which celebrated the most innovative projects and minds. Winners on the evening were:

Cheesecake Energy, winner of the UK “Start-up” category, provides commercial and industrial customers with a sustainable, modular compressed air energy storage system that converts intermittent renewable energy into reliable, on-demand power using repurposed hardware.In the category “Changemaker” Zenobē won the coveted prize. The company democratizes clean energy by using battery storage, second-life batteries, and fleet electrification to maximize renewable energy adoption and reduce reliance on diesel generators.

Mary Robinson, the first female President of Ireland, received the “Lifetime Achievement Award” for her tireless work addressing the fundamental causes of climate change, and her ongoing efforts to address climate injustice around the world. She also served as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and is a founding member and current Chair of The Elders, a group of global leaders dedicated to promoting peace, justice and human rights worldwide.

Accepting the award, she said: “Thank you for this incredible honour; I accept this with deep gratitude. The GREENTECH FESTIVAL is doing wonderful work and we’re moving faster because of the innovations created by the type of green technology companies that GTF supports. But we’re still not moving fast enough for science. We can bring about real change if we connect together, know our power and grow it.”

Nico Rosberg said: “This year’s GTF Connect created a space for people and companies to come together and accelerate positive change through innovation. Attendance at the event hit record levels for London and there was a real focus on collaboration between the companies who presented and those who attended. It has given businesses a great platform on which to build a more sustainable, connected future.”

The second day featured the CONFERENCE, partnered with Vodafone Business, which was opened by Mary Robinson and Howard Dawber (Deputy Mayor, Business and Growth). Throughout the day, over 40 speakers including Dale Vince, (founder and CEO, Ecotricity), Julia Pallé (sustainability director at Formula E), Richard Templer (professor of Climate Innovation at Imperial College London) and Klaus Mitchell (founder & CEO Plant Based News) discussed topics around the event’s sub-themes of vibrant and sustainable communities, energy for tomorrow and financing change.

One of the key aims of GTF Connect is empowering innovation and disruptive sustainable business models which was integrated into the event in the shape of the Green Startup Slams and a GREEN INVESTORS CRUNCH. These events allowed startups to pitch to and connect with venture capitalists, corporate leaders, and decision-makers. The winner of the Green Startup Slam was Radiant Matter, who will be joining the Grand Final at GTF Berlin in 2025.

GTF Connect in London also featured a special session with three postgraduate students from the University of Oxford’s SDG Impact Lab, part of a partnership with Nico Rosberg’s nonprofit organisation Rosberg Philanthropies. This venture supports initiatives that help preserve the planet for future generations. The purpose of the partnership is to develop more collaboration between academia and industry to advance the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Marco Voigt, co-founder of GTF, commented: “The GREENTECH FESTIVAL believes that together we can and must turn crisis into opportunity. Our London event was the perfect platform to encourage more businesses to focus on sustainable solutions to overcome the challenges associated with this. The start-up businesses attending GTF Connect highlighted just some of the ways that innovative thinking will help to solve the climate challenges of tomorrow.”

The GTF Connect series will now travel to Singapore in October and Los Angeles in November as an extension of Berlin’s GREENTECH FESTIVAL which welcomed over 14,000 visitors in May this year. Ticket sales and press accreditation are already open for both events.

ENDS

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For media enquiries regarding follow up interviews, or visuals, please contact:

Skout PR Agency
Email: GTF@Skoutpr.com   Phone: 01625 869418

GREENTECH FESTIVAL

Tjarda Wegener, PR Manager GTF Muenzstrasse 15, 10178 Berlin
Phone: +49 176 363 306 42
wegener@greentechfestival.com

About GTF Connect:

The GTF Connect is an international event series initiated by the GREENTECH FESTIVAL, which first took place in London in 2021. By expanding globally, the festival’s aim is to celebrate and promote green change across the entire planet, as this world urgently needs sustainable transformation. This year’s GTF CONNECT kicked-off in London, followed by Singapore in October, and will conclude this year in Los Angeles in November.

About GREENTECH FESTIVAL:

The GREENTECH FESTIVAL (GTF) is Europe’s leading sustainable tech event. As a platform for local and international businesses, politics, visionary start-ups and established companies, it brings together more than 200 exhibitors, over 350 speakers and more than 14,000 guests to the Messe Berlin exhibition centre. The program includes the EXHIBITION, the CONFERENCE and the GREEN AWARDS. By offering a platform for new technologies, approaches and solutions, GTF is an ideal partner for businesses wanting to fast-track their mission to net-zero. The GTF was launched in 2019 by Nico Rosberg and Marco Voigt and took place this year from 15th to 17th 2024 for the first time at the Messe Berlin.

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