Helmut-Schmidt-Zukunftspreis 2022

The Bundeskanzler-Helmut-Schmidt-Stiftung (BKHS), the weekly newspaper Die Zeit and The New Institute are launching a new award, the Helmut-Schmidt-Zukunftspreis (Helmut Schmidt Future Prize). From this year on, the award will be presented annually to an international personality whose significant work stands for democracy and the common good. The Helmut-Schmidt-Zukunftspreis will be awarded for the first time on Tuesday, 28 June 2022, at 7 p.m. in the Small Hall of the Elbphilharmonie. It is endowed with 20,000 euros.

Vanessa Nakate is the first winner of the new Helmut-Schmidt-Zukunftspreis. "Vanessa Nakate is one of the leading voices for climate justice, a voice of the young generation, of the future, of the Global South. She stands up for Uganda, Africa and beyond, for a large part of the planet that is particularly affected by climate change - and least able to help it. She is courageous, innovative, responsible and representative of many activists who are defining a new global common good. We look forward to learning much from Vanesa Nakate in the future and are pleased and respectful to award her the Helmut-Schmidt-Zukunftspreis 2022," said the jury.

"Helmut Schmidt was a man of action and a thinker at the same time. He not only defended our democracy, but was also on the lookout for political, social and entrepreneurial innovations. Therefore, it is a great pleasure to award this prize in his name for the first time and to honour a person who breaks new ground, makes the world a better place and leaves a positive mark on his time," says jury chairman Uwe Jean Heuser.

The jury of the Helmut-Schmidt-Zukunftspreis 2022 consists of Francesca Bria (innovation economist), Carsten Brosda (Senator of the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg), Christoph Gottschalk (The New Institute), Uwe Jean Heuser (Die Zeit) - who will also chair the jury, Max Hollein (Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art), Nina-Kathrin Wienkoop (BKHS) and Daniel Ziblatt (Eaton Professor of Government at Harvard University).

You can read Vanessa Nakate's speech at the award ceremony of the first Helmut-Schmidt-Zukunftspreis or watch it here. In the below video statement she talks about her experiences as an activist and to what extent she feels that politicians understand her and her concerns.