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Klaus Töpfer
Klaus Töpfer (29 July 1938 – 8 June 2024) was a German politician ( CDU) and environmental politics expert. From 1998 to 2006 he was executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Personal life Töpfer was born in Waldenburg, Silesia. He studied economics in Mainz, Frankfurt and Münster. In 1968 he earned his doctorate at the University of Münster. Töpfer died on 8 June 2024, at the age of 85. Early career In 1971, Töpfer was appointed Head of Planning and Information of the Federal State of Saarland, a post he held until 1978. During that time, he also served as a visiting professor at the Academy of Administrative Sciences in Speyer, and consulted several countries on development policy, among them Egypt, Brazil and Jordan. He spent the following year at the University of Hannover as Professor and Director of the Institute for Spatial Research and Planning. Political career In 1985, Töpfer became State Minister for the Environment and ...
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United Nations Environment Programme
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm in June 1972. Its mandate is to provide leadership, deliver science and develop solutions on a wide range of issues, including climate change, the management of marine and terrestrial ecosystems, and green economic development. The organization also develops international environmental agreements; publishes and promotes environmental science and helps national governments achieve environmental targets. As a member of the United Nations Development Group, UNEP aims to help the world meet the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. UNEP hosts the secretariats of several multilateral environmental agreements and research bodies, including Conven ...
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Wałbrzych
Wałbrzych (; ; or ''Walmbrich''; or ) is a city located in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in southwestern Poland, seat of Wałbrzych County. Wałbrzych lies approximately southwest of the voivodeship capital Wrocław and about from the Czech Republic, Czech border. Wałbrzych has the status of municipality. Its administrative borders encompass an area of with 110,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the voivodeship and the 33rd largest in the country. Wałbrzych was once a major coal mining and industrial center alongside most of Silesia. The city was left undamaged after World War II and possesses rich historical architecture; among the most recognizable landmarks is the Książ Castle, the largest castle of Lower Silesia and the third-largest in Poland. In 2015 Wałbrzych became widely known due to the search for an allegedly buried Nazi gold train, which however was not found. Etymology According to the city's official website, the earliest Polish na ...
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Münster
Münster (; ) is an independent city#Germany, independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a Münster (region), state district capital. Münster was the location of the Münster Rebellion, Anabaptist rebellion during the Protestant Reformation and the site of the signing of the Treaty of Westphalia ending the Thirty Years' War in 1648. Today, it is known as the bicycle capital of Germany. Münster gained the status of a ''Großstadt'' (major city) with more than 100,000 inhabitants in 1915. , there are 300,000 people living in the city, with about 61,500 students, only some of whom are recorded in the official population statistics as having their primary residence in Münster. Münster is a part of the international EUREGIO, Euregio region with more than 1,000,000 inhabitants (Enschede, Hengelo, Gronau, North Rhine-Westphalia, G ...
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Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the foreland of the Taunus on its namesake Main (river), Main, it forms a continuous conurbation with Offenbach am Main; Frankfurt Rhein-Main Regional Authority, its urban area has a population of over 2.7 million. The city is the heart of the larger Rhine-Main metropolitan region, which has a population of more than 5.8 million and is Germany's Metropolitan regions in Germany, second-largest metropolitan region after the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region, Rhine-Ruhr region and the List of EU metropolitan regions by GDP#2021 ranking of top four German metropolitan regions, fourth largest metropolitan region by GDP in the European Union (EU). Frankfurt is one of the ''de facto'' four main capitals of the European Union (alongside Brussels, Luxembourg Cit ...
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Mainz
Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in the Frankfurt Rhine-Main, Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region—Germany's second-largest metropolitan region after Rhine-Ruhr—which also encompasses the cities of Frankfurt am Main, Wiesbaden, Darmstadt, Offenbach am Main, and Hanau. Mainz is located at the northern end of the Upper Rhine Plain, on the left bank of the Rhine. It is the largest city of Rhenish Hesse, a region of Rhineland-Palatinate that was historically part of Grand Duchy of Hesse, Hesse, and is Rheinhessen (wine region), one of Germany's most important wine regions because of its mild climate. Mainz is connected to Frankfurt am Main by the Rhine-Main S-Bahn rapid transit system. Before 1945, Mainz had six boroughs on the other side of the Rhine (see: :de:Rechtsrheinische St ...
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Silesia
Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8,000,000. Silesia is split into two main subregions, Lower Silesia in the west and Upper Silesia in the east. Silesia’s culture reflects its complex history and diverse influences, blending Polish, Czech, and German elements. The region is known for its distinctive Silesian language (still spoken by a minority in Upper Silesia), richly decorated folk National costumes of Poland, costumes, hearty regional Silesian cuisine, cuisine, and a mix of Gothic, Baroque, and industrial-era Silesian architecture, architecture seen in its cities and towns. The largest city of the region is Wrocław. Silesia is situated along the Oder River, with the Sudeten Mountains extending across the southern border. The region contains many historical landmarks ...
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Christian Democratic Union (Germany)
The Christian Democratic Union of Germany ( , CDU ) is a Christian democracy, Christian democratic and Conservatism in Germany, conservative List of political parties in Germany, political party in Germany. It is the major party of the Centre-right politics, centre-right in Politics of Germany, German politics. Friedrich Merz has been federal chairman of the CDU since 31 January 2022, and has served as the Chancellor of Germany since 6 May 2025. The CDU is the largest party in the Bundestag, the German federal legislature, with 208 out of 630 seats, having won 28.5% of votes in the 2025 German federal election, 2025 federal election. It forms the CDU/CSU Bundestag faction, also known as the Union, with its Bavarian counterpart, the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU). The group's parliamentary leader is also Friedrich Merz. Founded in 1945 as an interdenominational Christian party, the CDU effectively succeeded the pre-war Catholic Centre Party (Germany), Centre Party, with ...
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Institute For Advanced Sustainability Studies
The Research Institute for Sustainability (RIFS) in Potsdam, Germany, previously known as the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS), is affiliated with the Helmholtz Association through the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences. RIFS collaborates with various stakeholders, including researchers, governmental bodies, the private sector, and civil society, to address sustainability challenges. Its research covers climate change mitigation, sustainable governance, and cultural transformations in the Anthropocene. RIFS also offers a Fellow Program. Organization RIFS employs approximately 120 people from over 30 countries. The institute's research program is overseen by its scientific directors, Doris Fuchs and Mark Lawrence, who are in turn advised by the institute's advisory board and the department heads for each research division. RIFS receives funding from the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (85%) and Federal State of Brandenburg (15%) ...
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University Of Münster
The University of Münster (, until 2023 , WWU) is a public research university located in the city of Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. With more than 43,000 students and over 120 fields of study in 15 departments, it is Germany's fifth largest university and one of the foremost centers of German intellectual life. The university offers a wide range of subjects across the sciences, social sciences and the humanities. Several courses are also taught in English, including PhD programmes as well as postgraduate courses in geoinformatics, geospational technologies or information systems. Professors and former students have won ten Leibniz Prizes, the most prestigious as well as the best-funded prize in Europe, one Fields Medal and two Nobel Prizes. The University of Münster has also been successful in the German government's Excellence Initiative. History The university has its roots in the Münster's Jesuit College (''Jesuiten-Kolleg Münster''), founded in 1588 ...
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Christian Democratic Union Of Germany
The Christian Democratic Union of Germany ( , CDU ) is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is the major party of the centre-right in German politics. Friedrich Merz has been federal chairman of the CDU since 31 January 2022, and has served as the Chancellor of Germany since 6 May 2025. The CDU is the largest party in the Bundestag, the German federal legislature, with 208 out of 630 seats, having won 28.5% of votes in the 2025 German federal election, 2025 federal election. It forms the CDU/CSU Bundestag faction, also known as the Union, with its Bavarian counterpart, the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU). The group's parliamentary leader is also Friedrich Merz. Founded in 1945 as an interdenominational Christian party, the CDU effectively succeeded the pre-war Catholic Centre Party (Germany), Centre Party, with many former members joining the party, including its first leader Konrad Adenauer. The party also included politicians of other ...
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Höxter
Höxter () is a town in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany on the left bank of the river Weser, 52 km north of Kassel. It lies the heart of the Weser Uplands, and is the seat of the Höxter district. The district of Höxter has a population of 30,000, with the city itself making up around half of the population. Historical place names of Höxter are Hoxer and Huxaria. Subdivisions As part of North Rhine-Westphalia's municipal reforms, the collective municipality of Höxter came into being on 1 January 1970, formed out of the eleven communities of the former '' Amt'' of Höxter-Land, the main town, and the community of Bruchhausen from the former ''Amt'' of Beverungen. The communities voluntarily merged to pool their resources and establish a unified administration. The constituent communities are: *Albaxen *Bosseborn * Bödexen *Brenkhausen *Bruchhausen *Fürstenau *Godelheim *Lüchtringen *Lütmarsen *Ottbergen *Ovenhausen *Stahle History Höxter (Latin: Huxaria ...
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Bavaria
Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total land area of Germany, and with over 13.08 million inhabitants, it is the list of German states by population, second most populous German state, behind only North Rhine-Westphalia; however, due to its large land area, its population density is list of German states by population density, below the German average. Major cities include Munich (its capital and List of cities in Bavaria by population, largest city, which is also the list of cities in Germany by population, third largest city in Germany), Nuremberg, and Augsburg. The history of Bavaria includes its earliest settlement by Iron Age Celts, Celtic tribes, followed by the conquests of the Roman Empire in the 1st century BC, when the territory was incorporated into the provinces of Ra ...
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