Thilo Bode (born 14 January 1947) is the founder and International Director of the consumer rights advocacy group

Foodwatch Foodwatch is a European advocacy group that focuses on protecting consumer rights as they pertain to food quality. The organization was founded in October 2002 in Berlin by former Greenpeace executive director Thilo Bode. , the organization is a ...

, and was previously the

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by a group of Environmental movement, environmental activists. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its biod ...

Career

Born in

Eching am Ammersee Eching am Ammersee is a municipality in the district of Landsberg in Bavaria in Germany. It has a size of 6.15km2. Situated at the northern shore of the Ammersee Ammersee (; English: Lake Ammer) is a '' Zungenbecken'' lake in Upper Bavaria, ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, Bode is the son of journalist Thilo Bode and a bookseller. After graduating from the Karlsgymnasium München-Pasing high school in 1966, he founded the Working Group of Young Socialists in the SPD (

Jusos ''Working Group of'' Young Socialists ''in the SPD'' (, Jusos) is a volunteer youth organization of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). As of 2025, there are over 50,000 official Juso members. Membership Every member of the SPD w ...

) union for the municipality of Herrsching am Ammersee and served as Jusos chairman for the district of

Starnberg Starnberg is a Town#Germany, town in Bavaria, Germany, some southwest of Munich. It is at the north end of Lake Starnberg, in the heart of the "Five Lakes Country", and serves as capital of the Starnberg (district), district of Starnberg. Recor ...

. He began studying

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

at the universities of

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

and

Regensburg Regensburg (historically known in English as Ratisbon) is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the rivers Danube, Naab and Regen (river), Regen, Danube's northernmost point. It is the capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the ...

, before changing course to

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 ...

. After graduating with a degree in economics in 1972, Bode received a doctoral scholarship and, in 1975, Bode became a doctor of political sciences. His dissertation was on direct investments. Bode later worked for engineering company Lahmeyer International, for the development bank

Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau The KfW, which together with its subsidiaries DEG, KfW IPEX-Bank and FuB forms the KfW Bankengruppe ("banking group"), is a German state-owned investment and development bank, based in Frankfurt. As of 2014, it is the world's largest national d ...

(KfW) and as an executive assistant to a medium-sized Düsseldorf company in the metal industry. From 1989 to 1995, he served as

managing director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of the German arm of the environmental organization

and from 1995 to 2001, he served in the same position at

Greenpeace International Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by a group of environmental activists. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its diversity" and focuses its ...

. In 2002, Bode founded the consumer protection organization

, and led the organization as managing director. In April 2017, he relinquished the management of Foodwatch Germany to Martin Rücker and has since served as director for Foodwatch International. He also regularly publishes political science papers, for example in the Blättern für deutsche und internationale Politik.

Anti-TTIP Actions

Bode is a prominent critic and activist against the proposed

Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) was a proposed trade agreement between the European Union (EU) and the United States, with the aim of promoting trade and multilateral economic growth. According to Karel De Gucht, Euro ...

(TTIP). In 2015, he helped organise an anti-TTIP rally in Berlin which drew more than 150,000 demonstrators.

Friedrich Merz Joachim-Friedrich Martin Josef Merz (; ; born 11November 1955) is a German politician serving as Chancellor of Germany since 6 May 2025. He has also served as Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) since January 2022, leading the CDU/CSU ...

, a former MEP and former 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 ...

, criticized Bode's actions by stating “''the fact that he’s speaking of hypothetical scenarios ... demonstrates that he can’t find anything in the texts to prove his point''.” As a result of anti-TTIP actions, including Bode's, support for the partnership dropped from 55% to 17% in Germany and major trade unions, who once supported the agreement, began to oppose it.

Awards

2009: ''Social Entrepreneur of the Year - Germany'', awarded by the

Schwab Foundation The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship is a Swiss Non-profit, not-for-profit organization founded in 1998 that provides platforms at regional, national, and global levels to promote social entrepreneurship.Schwab Foundation for Social E ...

Controversy

In 2010, Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture Minister Ilse Aigner (

CSU CSU may refer to: Universities and university systems United States * Columbia Southern University, in Orange Beach, Alabama * California State University system * Colorado State University, in Fort Collins, Colorado * Connecticut State Univers ...

), who has been frequently criticized by Foodwatch for her consumer policies, accused Thilo Bode and Foodwatch's campaigns for using "scandal" as a business model, focussing on "campaigns which stir up a climate of uncertainty".

Works

* * * * *

References

External links

Thilo Bode
personal website {{DEFAULTSORT:Bode, Thilo German environmentalists 1947 births Living people German economists Greenpeace