To address some of the major challenges of our time, the Michael Otto Foundation for Sustainability is dedicated to four focus areas: promoting liberal democracy, strengthening human rights, conserving biodiversity, and supporting innovative educational concepts aimed at sustaining democracy and sustainability.

The foundation, established in late 2023, places its main emphasis on promoting liberal democracy, particularly with regard to countering increasing polarization in Germany. To this end, it supports concrete approaches in the fields of media literacy and discourse competence, as well as citizen participation and dialogue formats.

Another current focus is the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystems internationally, with a particular emphasis on wildlife conservation in East Africa. The primary aim is to work together with local communities to protect ecosystems and link biodiversity conservation with local development—supporting sustainable progress in education, health, economic development, and environmental protection.

Impossible Founders aims to build Europe’s leading deep-tech ecosystem for science-based startups. Rooted in Hamburg’s innovation landscape, a new model for founding scientific enterprises is emerging: entrepreneurial, co-financed, and closely connected with universities, research institutions, and companies.

As a central link between science and industry, Impossible Founders will support innovative spin-offs throughout the entire process — from idea development and prototyping to financing and scaling. In this way, the number of science-based startups is expected to grow significantly, and the Hamburg metropolitan region is set to become one of Germany’s leading hubs for deep-tech spin-offs.

The Hamburg Sustainability Conference (HSC) brings together international leaders from politics, business, science, and civil society to accelerate the implementation of the United Nations 2030 Agenda. At its core, the conference is about scalable solutions and collective action to drive the global transformation toward sustainability. With innovative formats and a strong co-creation approach, the HSC creates spaces for multilateral and cross-sector dialogue, fostering new alliances and bold action that turn ideas into impact. A key focus lies on mobilizing the private sector to deliver change at scale and drive the transition toward a more sustainable global economy. The HSC was initiated by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, and the Michael Otto Foundation.