Klaus Töpfer is Germany’s most outstanding environmental politician. For decades, he persistently promoted environmental protection.

He is personally committed to the research of solutions – such as ecological satisfactory, economically reasonable and socially fair terms – facing the increasingly global environmental problems. He has received numerous awards and honors, including in 2008, the German Sustainability Award for his lifetime achievement in the field of sustainability.

Klaus Töpfer is a former Minister for Environment and Health of Rhineland-Palatinate (1985 - 1987). He was Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (1987 – 1994) and Federal Minister for Regional Planning, Building and Urban Development (1994 – 1998). From 1990 to 1998 he was a member of the German Bundestag. From 1998 to 2006 Klaus Töpfer was Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and executive director of the UN Environment Programme UNEP.

For further information about Prof. Dr. Töpfer and his publications click here.