The jury

Monika Breuch-Moritz (meteorologist, Maritime Ambassador International Maritime Organization (IMO))

The professional meteorologist Monika Breuch-Moritz worked for several years as a consultant and researcher for the German weather service before moving to the Federal Department of Transport  in 1989. As a manager in various departments she was responsible in particular for maritime environmental protection and as a supervisor via the Federal Maritime and Hydrography Agency (BSH) where she was president  from 2008 until October 2018. Since 2017 she has been vice-president of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC-UNESCO) for sector 1 (states bordering the North Atlantic). In 2017 the International Maritime Organization appointed Monika Breuch-Moritz Maritime Ambassador and thus Maritime Ambassador for Germany. In these capacities she campaigns in particular for sustainable ocean policy. Monika Breuch-Moritz is a member of the advisory committee of the German Ocean Foundation.

Wolfram N. Diener (business administrator and board chairman, Messe Düsseldorf)

Wolfram N. Diener has been Chief Executive Officer of Messe Düsseldorf GmbH since 1 July 2020. Prior to this appointment he already served on the Board of Managing Directors for two years. Wolfram N. Diener studied business administration at the Pforzheim University of Applied Sciences. He then acted initially as Division Head of the Baden-Württemberg horticultural show and a little later as a Project Director for Hamburg Messe before taking over as a Managing Director for the Asian subsidiary of Messe Frankfurt in Hong Kong. A few years later he moved to Shanghai where he acted as General Manager for the Shanghai New International Exhibition Centre, a German-Chinese joint venture with Messe Düsseldorf, and from there to Macau and Singapore as a Vice President for Venetian Macau and Marina Bay Sands, where he was responsible for exhibition, congress and hotel operations. Before Wolfram N. Diener joined Messe Düsseldorf GmbH as a Managing Director in autumn 2018, he held the position of Senior Vice President at the Asian subsidiary of UBM, the world’s largest exhibition and B-2-B media group in Hong Kong (later Informa Markets).

Olivier Wenden, Vice-President and CEO, Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation

Appointed in October 2019 as Vice-President & CEO of the Foundation, Wenden has previously served as Executive Director for 5 years. Launched in 2006 by HSH the Prince of Monaco, in order to act against the environmental dangers threatening our planet and making populations vulnerable, the Foundation focuses its efforts on three principal domains of action - climate change and renewable energies, biodiversity and water resources - and funds initiatives in the fields of research and studies, technological innovation and socially aware practices. Its programs are mainly focused on three priority areas - the Mediterranean Basin, the Polar Regions and the Least Developed Countries. Wenden actively participated in the international development of the Foundation and the definition of its fundraising strategy, while strengthening the network of partners. Before joining the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, Wenden worked for the Parliament of Monaco as chief of staff and international affairs and communication advisor (2007-2013). He also served as chargé de mission for the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Monaco (2013-2014). He graduated from Sciences Po Bordeaux with honours and has a Master 2 Degree in international projects management (Sorbonne Nouvelle, University of Paris).

Prof. em. Dr. Hartmut Graßl (climate researcher, Chairman of the Federation of German Scientists, former Director of the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology)

Prof. em. Dr. Graßl was appointed Director of the Physics Institute at the GKSS Research Centre in Hamburg in 1984. In 1988 he moved to the University of Hamburg, where he was intermittent Director of the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology (MPI) until his retirement in 2005. From the early to mid-1990s he was a long-time member of the German Parliament Enquête Commissions "Precautionary Protection of Earth's Atmosphere" and "Protecting Earth's Atmosphere". Furthermore, Graßl led the Global Climate Research Programme of the World Meteorological Organization in Geneva for a number of years, and rendered his services multiple times in relation to the Kyoto Protocol. As Chairman of the Federation of German Scientists, Graßl is one of the most renowned scientists in Germany and leads the advisory board of the German Ocean Foundation.

Prof. em. Dr. Michael Orbach (anthropologist and leading US advisor for maritime policy, Duke University)

After a career in administration, Prof. em. Dr. Michael Orbach became Deputy Director of the Center for Coastal and Ocean Studies at the University of California in 1979 and researched at East Carolina University before becoming professor of Marine Issues and Marine Policy at Duke University, where he also led the ocean lab for many years. Michael Orbach has released various publications in the field of sociology and political science in the context of coastal and marine environments, and has successfully advised the United States Commission on Ocean Policy as well as the Pew Ocean Commission. Orbach is a founding member of the Surfrider Foundation and a member of the advisory board of the German Ocean Foundation.

Robert Marx has been the CEO of Friedrich Marx GmbH & Co. KG since 1992. This famous company has around 70 stuff members and imports and distributes technical solutions for marine, industrial, scheduling, safety and vehicle technology sectors in Germany, Austria, Hungary and the Czech Republic. In 2003, Marx was elected for the position of President of the German Marine Federation, following a four-year term as Vice President there. In addition, Robert Marx has been President of boot Düsseldorf since 2006. On a European level, he was the President of the ECNI (European Confederation of Nautical Industries) and was actively involved in the founding of an umbrella organization: the European Boating Industry (EBI). Marx was a leader of the EBI in his role as board member from 2009 onwards and was named President of the EBI in 2011.