North Rhine-Westphalia is about to embark on a special environmental project, and one that is aimed at the decision-makers of tomorrow. The Ruhr Natur ideas competition was presented, in which all school classes in the Ruhr region are invited to submit their ideas on environmental protection and sustainability. The prize is a student exchange with a school in South Tyrol with financial support from the Brost Foundation based in Essen.

The kick-off event was a panel discussion at Zeche Zollverein in the Brost Pavilion with Minister President Hendrik Wüst and mountaineering legend Reinhold Messner in front of more than 200 guests, including numerous schoolchildren. The event was preceded by a welcoming speech by Professor Bodo Hombach, Chairman of the Brost Foundation, who summed up: "It's not what's well-intentioned that counts, but what's done well," as well as a good-humored moderation by journalist and podcaster Dr. Hajo Schumacher. 

Reinhold Messner understood it to pull the listeners into its spell. His important concern is the thought-provoking "renunciation" that is also the core element of his new book "Sinnbilder". He described himself as the initiator of renunciation alpinism, the 3rd phase of alpinism - he had started with 60 kg on Nanga Parpat, had renounced hooks and oxygen, among other things. He described his experiences as an arena of loneliness. In the face of death, life would become absurd. Renunciation, on the other hand, would give joy to life. One of his goals today, he said, is for South Tyrol to become the pioneer in mountain tourism. On the subject of climate change in general, he also emphasized that we are living in a warm period, as we did 10,000 years ago, except that there are no records of it.

In his speech, he emphasized how important it is for the young generation to listen to nature. Asked by the young people how he privately practiced environmental protection and sustainability, he said that he referred to the Inuit way of life, drinking only one coffee in the morning and eating only once a day. In addition, he drives a diesel, because an electric car would not be usable in his work. 

February 23,  2023

Interview Directory 

LEADER

Name: Reinhold Messner, Italian mountaineer, explorer, and author from South Tyrol.

He made the first solo ascent of Mount Everest and, along with Peter Habeler, the first ascent of Everest without supplemental oxygen

Residence: Castle Juval, South Tyrol

Current project: Ruhr Natur ideas competition of the Brost Stiftung

"One big problem is overconsumption, and that's where each and every one of us can start."

I have already reported on your Messner Mountain museums. Now you are building another museum?

I'm not building another museum, but rather adding another location to the existing museum structure: namely, an old cable car with a mountain station, which are in a perfect position for a museum facility. The operation of the cable car was discontinued because it was no longer up to date. I negotiated with the new owners and the district government for two years and managed to get it allowed to remain standing. Now it can be renovated and used for play. With an architect, I'm doing a restoration job that costs less than taking the steel and concrete to hazardous waste. 

You wrote the book "Sinnbilder" with your wife. Here at the Brost Foundation event, after all, the main focus is on young people. How can you motivate them on the subject of renunciation?

That is precisely the subject of this book. Renunciation only works on a voluntary basis. Children have to realize in the voluntary process that it makes sense to do without. Even if individual renunciation is only a drop in the bucket when it comes to stopping global warming, if many join in, you can make a difference. 

One big problem is overconsumption, and that's where each and every one of us can start. Of course, I can also do without my car, in which case I am a fossil fuel renouncer. But politicians must also act and intervene in a regulatory way, they must ensure that fossil fuels are pushed back more and more. Of course, this is also a global political issue. Who will then still have the opportunity to sell oil and gas? Rulers like Putin will have to change their ways if they no longer have the opportunity to make very big profits. Exactly, that is what is happening. Of course, people will still have to fly and drive cars, but there's no need for me to drive my car around on weekends or order 5 pieces of clothing a week from Amazon, which are then sent back and ordered again. That's a huge apparatus that produces a lot of waste, uses a lot of fossil fuels. Politicians will not do a damn thing to reduce consumption, because consumption is the guarantor for the growth of the national economy. That's the problem. 

In the context of this discussion we made our book, in which we tell many such stories and show examples, and it even became an orderer.

Zeche Zollverein 23. February 2023: Bodo Hombach, Hendrik Wüst, Reinhold Messner, Dr. Boris Berger ©Brost Stiftung

Zeche Zollverein 23. February 2023: Moderator Dr. Hajo Schuhmacher, Bodo Hombach, Reinhold Messner and Hendrik Wüst ©Brost Stiftung

Zeche Zollverein 23. February 2023: Reinhold Messner, Diane Messner and students taking part in the competition ©Brost Stiftung