CDU politician
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Audi: rbb24 Info | June 11, 2024 | Birgit Röhricht/Elke Vieth | image: image alliance/SvenSimon/Malte Ossowski
The long-time Federal Setting Minister Klaus Töpfer has died on the age of 85. For years he was thought of the “inexperienced conscience” of the CDU and, as development minister, he performed a key position within the switch of the Bundestag to Berlin .
The previous Federal Minister of the Setting (1987 to 1994) and CDU politician Klaus Töpfer is lifeless on Saturday after a brief, critical sickness, as a spokesperson for the federal CDU confirmed on Tuesday. Töpfer was 85 years outdated.
The newspapers “Neue Westfälische” and “Westfalen-Blatt” had beforehand reported on Töpfer’s dying.
He was Germany’s second atmosphere minister – however the first to have an enduring influence on the workplace. For years, Klaus Töpfer was thought of the “inexperienced conscience” of the Christian Democrats; even in his outdated age, he by no means uninterested in attempting for sustainable politics.
A political profession started in Saarland
Töpfer was born in Silesia in 1938 and got here to Höxter in Westphalia after the Second World Battle. Töpfer entered politics within the Seventies in Saarland, the place he took a place within the State Chancellery. He was later Secretary of State in Rhineland-Palatinate after which Minister of State for the Setting and Well being earlier than transferring into federal politics. Töpfer was twice unsuccessful as the principle candidate of the CDU within the state elections in Saarland.
As development minister accountable for the Bundestag transfer to Berlin
The Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe in April 1986 prompted the federal government of Chancellor Helmut Kohl (CDU) on the time to incorporate environmental points and the sphere of nuclear security in a separate ministry. The next yr – his predecessor Walter Wallmann didn’t even final a yr in workplace – Töpfer grew to become accountable for the Ministry, and in 1988 he known as for a future with out nuclear vitality and fewer fossil fuels.
Töpfer grew to become identified, amongst different issues, for bravely leaping from a police boat into the Rhine in 1988 – the trigger, as he has repeatedly stated, was a misplaced wager.
Töpfer remained in workplace as Minister of the Setting till 1994 – when he was changed by future Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU). Töpfer then acted as development minister for one more 4 years and primarily ready the transfer of the German Bundestag from Bonn to Berlin.
The atmosphere and sustainability remained vital to Töpfer
Throughout this time and till his dying, environmental safety and sustainability – together with social points – have been his themes. In 1996 Töpfer represented Germany on the UN Habitats Convention in Istanbul. It was in regards to the high quality of life in cities and due to this fact in regards to the problems with poverty and the atmosphere.
From 1998 to 2006, Töpfer was director of the United Nations Setting Programme. He lately lived along with his spouse in Höxter in North Rhine-Westphalia.
The heads of presidency of Berlin and Brandenburg pay tribute to Töpfer
The heads of presidency in Berlin and Brandenburg paid tribute to the late former Federal Minister for the Setting. Berlin’s governing mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) stated on Tuesday that Töpfer was a local weather defender from the beginning. The CDU politician was already conscious of the results of local weather change when there was no environmental coverage in any respect. Töpfer additionally ensured that local weather safety was acknowledged internationally as a problem.
Brandenburg Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke (SPD) stated Töpfer had completed loads to advertise environmental safety in Germany throughout his tenure as Setting Minister. His work and warnings would all the time be influential, particularly in Potsdam, the place he was the founding director of the Institute for Superior Research in Sustainability, a sustainability analysis institute.
Broadcast: rbb24 Inforadio, June 11, 2024, 11:00 pm