Partner Spotlight: TÜV SÜD on Turning Climate Ambition into Trusted Action

With the start of Munich Climate Week approaching, we are excited to introduce another sponsor in our partner spotlight series. This time, we talk to TÜV SÜD, about why it chose to support Munich Climate Week and how it turns climate ambition into trusted action.

“Supporting Munich Climate Week reflects what TÜV SÜD has done for 160 years: building trust so new ideas can scale and create real-world impact.”

— Dr. Céline Bilolo, Chief Sustainability Officer & Global Head of Sustainability Business Unit TÜV SÜD

In the interview, Dr. Céline Bilolo explains why climate solutions only scale with trusted data, how its 25 years of verifying climate projects supports the transition across industries, and what it takes to move from pilots to impact at scale.

What made TÜV SÜD want to be part of the very first Munich Climate Week (MCW) as a sponsor?

We are supporting Munich Climate Week because climate ambition alone does not reduce a single ton of emissions. What turns ambition into impact is implementation, and implementation requires trust.
Munich Climate Week brings business, policy, science, investors, and civil society together in one of Germany’s leading innovation regions, and in our hometown. So it’s a natural fit for us. As an independent testing, inspection, and certification company, TÜV SÜD helps turn bold ideas into solutions people can trust: through transparent, robust methodologies, and credible evidence.
Supporting Munich Climate Week reflects what TÜV SÜD has done for 160 years: building trust so new ideas can scale and create real-world impact.

As a business, what would you say is TÜV SÜD’s own impact on climate change today, and what part of that is within your direct control to change?

Our own footprint starts with laboratories, offices, testing facilities, mobility, business travel, energy, and supply chains. We are reducing it through greater efficiency, renewable energy, lower-emission mobility, and supplier engagement - guided by validated near- and long-term Science Based Targets. But our greatest impact is not our own footprint. It is the role we play in enabling others to decarbonize with confidence. We help customers and markets make climate progress that is proven, not merely promised.

Beyond its own operations, how does TÜV SÜD’s work with clients, pertaining to testing, auditing, certifying but also advising multiply its climate impact?

Climate solutions scale only when people trust the technology, the data, and the claims behind them. For more than 25 years, from the Kyoto Protocol to the EU Emissions Trading System, TÜV SÜD has assessed, validated, verified, and certified climate-protection projects all over the world.
Few organizations can draw on such extensive experience across carbon markets, climate projects, verification, and certification. Today, we support solutions in the field of renewable energy, hydrogen, sustainable mobility, industrial decarbonization, carbon markets, and carbon removals. Our independent assurance demonstrates that solutions are safe, effective, compliant, and credible, turning uncertainty into confidence. That confidence helps attract investment, supports implementation, and accelerates adoption at scale.

What’s still ahead for TÜV SÜD on this path, and who would you like to see join you as a collaborator to raise ambition and drive implementation?

The next challenge is moving from promising pilots to measurable impact at scale. TÜV SÜD is strengthening that role through the Global Decarbonization Center of Excellence in Singapore launched last month and the acquisition of SustainCERT, combining digital MRV, carbon market expertise, and independent assurance to support the next generation of climate solutions.
At the same time, the conversation must expand beyond carbon to include water stewardship, biodiversity, and nature-related impacts. But no organization can achieve this alone. We need innovators, investors, policymakers, academia, companies, and civil society working from shared standards and trusted data—with the courage to turn ambition into implementation and build a liveable future together.

Munich Climate Week kicks off next Monday, and we are grateful to have TÜV SÜD alongside us, bringing its 160 years of experience in building trust to a conversation that reaches everyone in the city.
Discover the four events TÜV SÜD is hosting or co-hosting in the events calendar, as well as explore the full programme from October 19 to 25 at munichclimateweek.com.