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 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 Nati ...

(UNEP).

Personal life

Töpfer was born in Waldenburg,

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, ...

. He studied economics in

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 ...

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 forela ...

and

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 ...

. In 1968 he earned his doctorate at the

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 ...

. 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 Speyer (, older spelling ; ; ), historically known in English as Spires, is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate in the western part of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located on the left bank of the r ...

, 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 Health in the government of Minister-President Bernhard Vogel of

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; ; ; ) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the sixteen states. Mainz is the capital and largest city. Other cities are ...

. In 1987, Töpfer became Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety under

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

Helmut Kohl Helmut Josef Michael Kohl (; 3 April 1930 – 16 June 2017) was a German politician who served as chancellor of Germany and governed the ''Federal Republic'' from 1982 to 1998. He was leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1973 to ...

. During his time in office, Germany established the Federal Office for Radiation Protection as a response to the

Chernobyl disaster On 26 April 1986, the no. 4 reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, located near Pripyat, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine), exploded. With dozens of direct casualties, it is one of only ...

and the

Transnuklear NUKEM Technologies GmbH（branded as NUKEM）is a German nuclear engineering company based in Karlstein am Main, with a history dating back to 1960. The company specializes in nuclear decommissioning, radioactive waste management, spent fuel hand ...

scandal. From 1994 to 1998 he served as Federal Minister for Regional Planning, Civil Engineering and Urban Development. He was a member of 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 ...

from 1990 to 1998 and a member of the Steering Committee of the CDU from 1992 to 1998. In 1998, Töpfer was appointed Under Secretary General of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

, General Director of the United Nations office in

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

and Executive Director of the

. Among the milestones of his eight-year tenure are a number of important environmental agreements, including the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety and the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. Töpfer was also closely involved in behind-the-scenes negotiations in support of the

Kyoto Protocol The was an international treaty which extended the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that commits state parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, based on the scientific consensus that global warming is oc ...

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

. In June 2006 he was succeeded in this office by

Achim Steiner Achim Steiner (born 17 May 1961) is a Brazilian-German environmentalist who currently serves as the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme and vice-chair of United Nations Sustainable Development Group. Before joining UNDP, ...

. As director of UNEP, he had a key role in gauging and attempting to remedy the environmental costs of the 2004 Asian tsunami.

Later career

In 2009 Töpfer was appointed founding director of the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) which performs research between climate problems and sustainable economics. This institute is located at

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and largest city of the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the Havel, River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

, Germany. The institute's funding is provided by the federal government of Germany

Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Germany) The Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (; abbreviated BMFTR) is a Cabinet of Germany, cabinet-level ministry of Germany. It is headquartered in Bonn, with an office in Berlin. The Ministry provides funding for research projects an ...

. Töpfer was rumored as a possible successor to the German presidency after

Christian Wulff Christian Wilhelm Walter Wulff (; born 1959) is a retired German politician and lawyer who served as President of Germany from 2010 to 2012. A member of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany, Christian Democratic Union (CDU), he previously ...

's resignation. He later served as co-chairman of the Federal Government’s Ethics Commission on a Safe Energy Supply. From 2013 Töpfer headed the project "DEMOENERGY – The Transformation of the Energy System as the Engine for Democratic Innovations" together with Claus Leggewie and Patrizia Nanz (both Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities

Essen Essen () is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Dortmund, as well as ...

, Germany). In 2016, the

United Nations Economic and Social Council The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is one of six principal organs of the United Nations, responsible for coordinating the economic and social fields of the organization, specifically in regards to the fifteen specialized ...

(ECOSOC) appointed Töpfer as co-chairman (alongside Juan Somavia) of an Independent Team of Advisors on positioning the UN development system for the

Sustainable Development Goals The ''2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development'', adopted by all United Nations (UN) members in 2015, created 17 world Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The aim of these global goals is "peace and prosperity for people and the planet" – wh ...

. In 2018,

Energy Community The Energy Community, commonly referred to as the Energy Community for South East Europe (ECSEE), is an international organization consisting of the European Union (EU) and a number of non-EU countries. It aims to extend the Energy policy of t ...

appointed Töpfer to serve as a mediator in an energy dispute between

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

and Serbia.

Other activities

Corporate boards

* Theva, Member of the Senior Advisory Council (from 2017) *

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in luxury, high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Th ...

, Member of the Sustainability Advisory Board (from 2016) * ProSiebenSat.1 Media, Member of the Advisory Board (from 2011) *

Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (, ) is a Germany, German multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. ...

, Member of the Climate Change Advisory Board (2011) * Volkswind Gruppe, Member of the Advisory Board (2009–2015)

Non-profit organizations

* atmosfair, Patron * Stiftung Zukunftsfähigkeit, Member of the Advisory Board *

Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres The Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres () is the largest scientific organisation in Germany. It is a union of 18 scientific-technical and biological-medical research centers. The official mission of the Association is "solving the g ...

, Member of the Senate (2007–2009) * Institute for Energy Efficiency in Production (EEP), University of Stuttgart, Member of the Advisory Board * German Foundation for World Population (DSW), Member of the Advisory Board * German-Russian Raw Materials Forum, Patron * Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction, Member of the Board * Agora Energiewende, Chairman of the Council (2013–2018)Prof. Dr. Klaus Töpfer übergibt Vorsitz des Rates der Agora Energiewende an Dr. Hans-Joachim Ziesing
Agora Energiewende, press release of 5 March 2018. * German Council for Sustainable Development (RNE), Member (2001–2010, appointed ad personam by

Gerhard Schröder Gerhard Fritz Kurt Schröder (; born 7 April 1944) is a German former politician and Lobbying, lobbyist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. From 1999 to 2004, he was also the Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (S ...

)

References

External links

*https://archive.today/20130416041104/http://www.unep.org/Documents/Default.asp?DocumentID=43&ArticleID=3174 *https://web.archive.org/web/20110524114350/http://www.gleeds.tv/index.cfm?video=99 *https://www.iass-potsdam.de/en/people/klaus-topfer {{DEFAULTSORT:Topfer, Klaus 1938 births 2024 deaths People from Wałbrzych Environment ministers of Germany Club of Rome members Christian Democratic Union of Germany politicians Members of the Bundestag for Saarland Members of the Bundestag 1994–1998 German officials of the United Nations People from the Province of Lower Silesia United Nations Environment Programme Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany People from Freiberg Members of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts State ministers of Rhineland-Palatinate