In addition to the application option, there will also be a comprehensive search in 100 sectors in 2024.
The aim is to find the pioneers in all sectors and bring transformation to the entire economy more quickly.
There are successful solutions to the challenges of sustainability in all sectors. Now it is a matter of spreading them. That is why the GSA - based on intensive research of publicly available information with the help of AI and applications - honours the pioneers in 100 sectors.
Around 220 expert jurors from research, associations, consulting and civil society decide on role models for change in all sectors of the German economy. These are the 100 companies that the experts consider to be making particularly effective, successful and exemplary contributions to transformation in their sectors. They symbolise a joint effort that unites rather than divides all companies in an industry.
The award will be presented on Thursday, 28 November 2024, as part of the 17th German Sustainability Day at the MARITIM Hotel Düsseldorf. The CEOs and sustainability managers of the 100 pioneering companies from all sectors, prominent speakers, guests of honour from business, politics and society and around 100 media representatives will be guests at the congress during the day and at the award ceremony in the evening.
The 100 industry winners will receive their trophies in a special presentation. In addition, the five cross-industry winners who have made particularly exemplary achievements in the five transformation fields of climate, resources, nature, value chain and society will be honoured.
Everything you need to know about the new methodology can be found below on this page or in detail here. Here you will find a list of all members of the expert juries 2024.
Find all sectors und industry sub pages here (available in German only).
100 industries.
Transformation is industry-specific. Every company and every business model is covered and assigned to a sector and an industry. The categorisation is based on core business and sales focus. The categorisation is derived from the ISIC, WZ and NACE classifications.
Application and research.
Companies no longer fill out an application form, but instead create their sustainability profile in line with the new EU reporting framework (CSRD/ESRS). There is also room for additional information for the jury. At the same time, AI-supported sustainability profiles are created for thousands of companies from all sectors by researching sustainability reports, publications, codes/indices and rankings.
Sustainability profiles.
The sustainability profiles with which companies apply and on the basis of which the jury selects the finalists and winners depict the key challenges of an industry in the fields of climate, resources, nature, value chain and society. They make the highlights of each company's measures visible and increase comparability within an industry through standardised criteria. Applicants fill them out, and they are created by the research partners for companies that have been researched. There are no costs involved.
More about the sustainability profiles
Specially developed scoring system.
From all the profiles, the research partner's scoring system identifies the companies with particularly effective, innovative and exemplary contributions to transformation, the pioneers in each industry. Based on a 6-stage evaluation methodology, a ranking is created in each of the 100 industries.
Expert juries for all industries.
Independent expert juries for all industries nominate 10 pioneers in each industry. The four- to five-member panels include representatives from industry practice, civil society, consulting and research. The nominees/leaders can update or supplement their profile. The expert juries then decide on the top 3 (finalists) and the winner in each of the 100 sectors.
Role models of transformation.
The sector analysis is followed by an overarching perspective according to transformation fields. In addition to the industry pioneers, the GSA - together with the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, among others - gives cross-sectoral awards to those companies from the 100 winners that have made particularly important and exemplary contributions in the transformation fields assigned to them. The assessment partners evaluate; the GSA's corporate jury decides.
More about the award by transformation fields
Everything you need to know about the new methodology in detail.
Read here our FAQs
By acquiring the GSA-seal, successful participants in the competition can document their top position in the field of sustainability - in the direction of customers, suppliers, the media and the financial world. The GSA-seal is a renowned external recognition, makes the pioneers recognizable and ensures a head start in the market. The GSA-seal gives consumers orientation in their search for sustainable alternatives.
The GSA's research partner for companies is the Berlin-based startup score4more. It specializes in creating differentiated sustainability profiles of companies and evaluating them, after the founders previously accompanied the GSA for more than ten years and contributed significantly to the methodological development of the company competition. From 2023, score4more will provide the digital architecture for research across all sectors and industries and the resulting company profiles.
Companies of any size, whether reporting or not, can create their profiles free of charge and thus use the platform to apply for the GSA. score4more has also developed the sector-specific scoring approach, which allows companies to be compared and rated. The GSA uses score4more's technological platform to map and evaluate thousands of companies, measures and key performance indicator values in the competition and to determine the pioneers of sustainability in Germany via transparent jury processes.
Since 2008, success in the GSA has rewarded and motivated the participating companies. Nomination, participation in the finals and the award have a powerful effect on the companies; they strengthen the sustainability managers and their teams. The successful participants also benefit from their success externally. They are intensively involved in the reporting of the GSA Foundation and its cooperation and media partners and use good results for their own press and public relations work.
