Prof.Dr.Klaus Töpfer, Deputy Chairman of the German Council for Sustainable Development (RNE)
„Der Ruin von Finanzwirtschaft und der realen Wirtschaft ist, wenn auch mit großen Schwierigkeiten, zu überwinden - ein durch den Klimawandel ruinierter Planet dagegen nicht.”
CV
| Born in Waldenburg / Silesia on 29.07.1938; Roman-Catholic; married; three children | |
| 1945 | expulsion from Silesia |
| 1959 | Abitur (upper secondary leaving certificate) at the König-Wilhelm-Gymnasium at Höxter |
| 1959-1960 | Did his military service and was discharged as reserve lieutenant |
| 1960-1964 | Studied economics at the Universities of Mainz, Frankfurt and Munster, graduated economist (Dipl.-Volkswirt) |
| 1965-1971 | Assistant of professor Hans-Karl Schneider at the Central Institute for Regional Research and Planning at the University of Munster, |
| Teaching assistant at the Economic Academy Hagen and at the University of Bielefeld | |
| 1968 | Finished his Ph.D. in political science |
| 1970-1971 | Head of the department of economics at the Munster Central Institute for Regional Planning |
| 1971-1978 | Head of the department of planning and information at the chancellery of state of Saar |
| Teaching assistant at the University of Administrative Science of Speyer | |
| Expert in the field of developmental policy in Egypt, Malawi, Brazil and Jordan | |
| Since 1972 | member of the Christian Democratic Party (CDU) |
| 1977-1979 | Chairman of the CDU Saarbrücken, member of the executive committee of the CDU Saar |
| 1978-1979 | Full time professor at the University of Hanover |
| Director of the Institute for Regional Research and Planning | |
| Member in the Council of Experts on Environmental Issues | |
| 1978-1985 | Undersecretary of state in the Ministry of Social Affairs, Health and Environment in Rhineland-Palatinate |
| 1983-1987 | Member of the CDU federal expert committee on the environment |
| 1985-1986 | Extraordinary professor for environmental and resource economy at the University of Mainz |
| 23 May 1985 until 6 May 1987 | Minister for the Environment and Health in Rhineland-Palatinate |
| 7 May 1987 until Nov. 1994 | Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Protection and Nuclear Safety |
| 1987-1989 | Chairman of the CDU Rhine-Hunsrück |
| Since Sep. 1989 | member of the federal executive committee of the CDU |
| 19 May 1990 until 18 Nov. 1995 | Chairperson of the CDU Saar |
| Dec. 1990 until Feb. 1998 | Member of the German Bundestag |
| 26 Oct. 1992 | Member of the presiding committee of the CDU |
| May 1994 until May 1995 | Chairman of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) |
| 17 Nov. 1994 until 14 Nov. 1998 | Federal Minister for Regional Planning, Building and Urban Development, commissioned by the Federal Government for the move of the German government from Bonn to Berlin |
| 1 Feb. 1998 until 31 Mar. 2006 | Executive director for the UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) with residence in Nairobi |
| 9 Feb. 1998 until 31 Mar. 2006 | Chief executive of the UN Office at Nairobi (UNON) |
| 13 July 1998 until 31 Aug. 2000 | Managing director of the United Nation's Centre for Human Settlements (UNCHS/Habitat) |
| Since Feb. 2009 | Founding director of the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) in Potsdam |
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