While the whole of Germany is complaining about a shortage of skilled labour, more and more highly qualified international professionals are settling in Düsseldorf. The Expat Service Desk helps them get started in the state capital.

The aviation industry is on course. After difficult years, global passenger and flight numbers are almost back to pre-pandemic levels. Good for the industry, bad for the environment: CO2 emissions in aviation are still high. Politicians, researchers and airlines are called upon to develop innovations and measures that make flying more sustainable. Airports also have a role to play - such as DUS Airport with its Masterplan 2045.

A greener future requires innovative solutions, as well as the companies that develop them. Many of these solutions originate from Asia. For these companies, GreenTech has long been a global business model and recipe for success. To strengthen their presence in Germany further, Düsseldorf is becoming more and more the location of choice. Just like for Toshiba and EcoFlow.

20 per cent of green startups in Germany are based in North Rhine-Westphalia! This is a remarkable finding of the 'Green Startup Monitor 2024', a study published by the German Startups Association (Bundesverband Deutsche Startups e.V.) in collaboration with the Borderstep Institute for Innovation and Sustainability. This puts North Rhine-Westphalia ahead of Berlin (17 per cent), Bavaria (12 per cent), and Baden-Württemberg (11 per cent). It is also interesting to note that women are more likely to be part of the founding team of green startups than of non-green startups (24 per cent versus 17 per cent). Another striking finding is that greentech startups collaborate more closely with universities and research institutions, who support them more frequently during the startup phase. According to the study, one of the biggest challenges remains, hardly surprisingly: financing. Düsseldorf, which has been the GreenTech Hub of the nationwide Digital Hub Initiative for a number of months now, offers founders a particularly attractive ecosystem for growth. Three startups, two of which are in the greentech sector, can confirm this: curtains up for ESG-X, Qualimero and Co-reactive!