Bärbel Höhn (born 4 May 1952) is a German

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

for

Alliance '90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens (, ), often simply referred to as Greens (, ), is a Green (politics), green political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 by the merger of the Greens (formed in West Germany in 1980) and Alliance 90 (formed in East Ger ...

. She was elected to the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...

in the 2005 national elections, after serving as State Minister of Agriculture of

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

from 1995 to 2005.

Early life and education

Born in

Flensburg Flensburg (; Danish language, Danish and ; ; ) is an independent city, independent town in the far north of the Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. After Kiel and Lübeck, it is the third-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg's ...

, Höhn attended the

University of Kiel Kiel University, officially the Christian Albrecht University of Kiel, (, abbreviated CAU, known informally as Christiana Albertina) is a public research university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded in 1665 as the ''Academia Holsator ...

, majoring in

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

and

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

, and earned her

Diplom A ''Diplom'' (, from ) is an academic degree in the German-speaking countries Germany, Austria, and Switzerland and a similarly named degree in some other European countries including Albania, Bulgaria, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia ...

in 1976. From 1978 to 1990 she was a research assistant at the

University of Duisburg-Essen The University of Duisburg-Essen () is a public research university in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. In the 2019 ''Times Higher Education World University Rankings'', the university was awarded 194th place in the world. It was originally ...

Political career

Höhn began her political career as an activist in a local initiative against air pollution and as a city councilor in her home town of

Oberhausen Oberhausen (, ) is a city on the river Emscher in the Ruhr Area, Germany, located between Duisburg and Essen ( ). The city hosts the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen and its Gasometer Oberhausen is an anchor point of the European Rout ...

. In 1985, she joined

, and gained a seat in the

Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia The Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia is the state parliament (''Landtag'') of the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, which convenes in the state capital of Düsseldorf, in the eastern part of the district of Düsseldorf-Hafen, Hafen ...

in 1990.

State Minister for Environment and Agriculture in North Rhine-Westphalia, 1995-2005

In the fifth cabinet of

Johannes Rau Johannes Rau (; 16 January 193127 January 2006) was a German politician who served as President of Germany from 1999 to 2004. A member of the Social Democratic Party, he previously served as the Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia fro ...

, Höhn became Minister for Environment and Agriculture, serving in that position under Rau's successor Wolfgang Clement until 2005. In that capacity, she played a leadership role in Europe's response to the

mad cow disease Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow disease, is an incurable and always fatal neurodegenerative disease of cattle. Symptoms include abnormal behavior, trouble walking, and weight loss. Later in the course of th ...

epidemic in 2001, improved consumer rights and promoted energy efficiency and renewable sources of energy. Höhn has long criticized the industrial production methods of German farmers. Even before entering the German Bundestag, Höhn was a Green Party delegate to the Federal Convention for the purpose of electing the

President of Germany The president of Germany, officially titled the Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany (),The official title within Germany is ', with ' being added in international correspondence; the official English title is President of the F ...

in May 2004.

Member of the German Bundestag, 2005-2017

Höhn first became a member of the German

in the 2005 federal election. She first served as chairwoman of the Committee on Committee on Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection from 2005 to 2006. Between 2006 and 2013, she was vice-chair of the Green Party's parliamentary group – then led by co-chairs

Renate Künast Renate Elly Künast (born 15 December 1955) is a German politician of Alliance 90/The Greens party. She was the Minister of Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture from 2001 to 2005 and subsequently served as chairwoman of her party's parliame ...

and

Fritz Kuhn Fritz Kuhn (born 29 June 1955) is a German politician who served as Mayor of Stuttgart from 2012 until 2021. He was co-chairman of Alliance 90/The Greens, the German Green party, in 2002 and its parliamentary group from 2002 to 2013. Early lif ...

(2005-2009) or

Jürgen Trittin Jürgen Trittin (born 25 July 1954) is a German Green politician who served as Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety in the government of Chancellor Gerhard Schröder from 1998 to 2005. Early life and education ...

(2009-2013), respectively – and headed its working group on environmental, energy, transport, agricultural and consumer policy. From 2005, she was also deputy chairwoman of the German-Brazilian Parliamentary Friendship Group. Between 2009 and 2013, she was part of the Parliamentary Friendship Group for Relations with the

Baltic States The Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term encompassing Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. The three sovereign states on the eastern co ...

. Following the 2013 federal elections, Höhn stated that agreeing to a coalition with Chancellor

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German retired politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. She is the only woman to have held the office. She was Leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2005 and Leade ...

would be a "

kamikaze , officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending to d ...

" act for the Green Party. Exploratory coalition talks with Merkel's Christian Democratic Union ended soon after, without results. From 2014, Höhn served as chairwoman of the Committee on the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. Having participated in various UN climate conferences, she was a regular speaker at international

climate and energy In the 21st century, the Earth's climate and its energy policy interact and their relationship is studied and governed by a variety of national and international institutions. The relationships between energy-resource depletion, climate change, ...

conventions. Only a few days before a trip to the

2014 United Nations Climate Change Conference The United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP20 or CMP10 was held in Lima, Peru, from December 1 to 12, 2014. This was the 20th yearly session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 20) to the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention o ...

in Lima, the Ecuadorian government banned a parliamentary delegation led by Höhn from entering the country. Höhn and her group had planned to visit the

Yasuni National Park Yasuni can mean: * Yasuní National Park Yasuní National Park () is a protected area comprising roughly between the Napo River, Napo and Curaray Rivers in Pastaza Province, Pastaza and Orellana Province, Orellana Provinces within Amazon basi ...

and meet with people opposed to drilling there. In April 2016, Höhn announced that she would not stand in the 2017 federal elections but instead resign from active politics by the end of the parliamentary term.

Life after politics

Since November 2017, Höhn has been acting as unpaid Commissioner for Energy Reform in Africa for the

Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development The Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (, ; abbreviated BMZ) is a German Cabinet, cabinet-level ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany. Its main office is at the former German Chancellery in Bonn with a second major of ...

Other activities

* German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU), Member of the Board of Trustees * GLOBE Germany, Member of the Board * German-Brazilian Society (DBG), Member of the Board of Trustees * German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), Chairwoman of the Study Group on Global IssuesStudy Groups, Discussion Groups and Task Forces
German Council on Foreign Relations. * Development and Peace Foundation (SEF), Member of the Board of Trustees (2005-2009) *

ver.di (''Verdi'' (stylized as ''ver.di''; �vɛʁdiː; English: ''United Services Trade Union'') is a German trade union based in Berlin, Germany. It was established on 19 March 2001 as the result of a merger of five individual unions and is a m ...

, Member

References

External links

*
Official website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hohn, Barbel 1952 births Living people German women economists University of Kiel alumni Members of the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia Members of the Bundestag for North Rhine-Westphalia Female members of the Bundestag People from Flensburg 21st-century German women politicians Members of the Bundestag 2013–2017 Members of the Bundestag 2009–2013 Members of the Bundestag 2005–2009 Members of the Bundestag for Alliance 90/The Greens