Politics

In May, shortly before the run-off election for the Romanian presidency, I traveled to Romania and Moldova with a group from the German Society on Foreign Relations (DGAP). It was up-close and personal political education in crucial times. Romania, a country that is already a member of the EU, was…

Invented 100 years ago and as relevant as ever: Fischer-Tropsch synthesis celebrated its 100th birthday at the beginning of May. As the process was developed in Mülheim-Ruhr, my home town, I attended the conference at the beginning of May. It was about how the legendary process can be used today….

A dead whale on the beach! Are there whales here in the Caspian Sea? No, it is an object created by a group of artists to show how vulnerable our world is. After all, it could be that a whale had been washed ashore. The whale object was produced by…

Insults, sexist remarks and death threats: What women (and men) experience on social media today is nothing new. In the film “Petra Kelly – Act now”, it becomes clear how the activist was already exposed to constant verbal abuse in the 1980s, before the internet existed. This is one of…

China maintained its position as Germany’s largest trading partner last year, just ahead of the USA. At 253.1 billion euros, imports and exports were slightly higher than trade in goods with the USA (252.3 billion euros). The trip, which was organized by the Economic Forum of the Social Democratic Party…

One can only be torn. On the one hand, while we are in Georgia with the German Council on Foreign Relations (DAGP), tens of thousands of people have been on the streets for over a month protesting against the law “on foreign agents”. It was passed on May 28 against…

I accepted this volontary position without hesitation: As of this month, I am an ambassador for the German Committee of the UN Decade of the Oceans (2021-2030) for three years. The aim of the ambassadors is to create understanding and publicity for the goals of the Decade and to anchor…

The Fraunhofer Institute in Munich has analyzed that around 85,000 to 88,000 terawatt hours of climate-neutral synthetic fuel could be produced outside Europe. Around three quarters of Africa’s coastline would be suitable for producing solar or wind power. With this information in mind, I excitedly traveled to the African Energy…

The biggest challenge of our times is the challenge of climate change. I am convinced, that with the help of efuels, we can reach the necessary goals – and with taking over a global view to the problem. Representing many highly developed industrialized countries, Germany faces the major challenge of…

People who are publicly active have to endure public criticism. And they do. But there are limits that are being crossed more and more frequently, especially in the anonymity of the Internet. The Green Party member of the Bundestag Renate Künast, my esteemed colleague for many years, has now won…

Sima Samar received the “Alternative Nobel Prize” in 2012 (with Monika Griefahn and Jakob von Uexküll). In 2012 Sima Samar received the Right Livelihood Award (“Alternative Nobel Prize”). We were very impressed by her fight for human rights and especially for women’s rights.  Afghanistan is a…

Erhard Eppler has passed away on Saturday at the age of 92. We keep his relatives and friends in our thoughts at this difficult time and wish them the strength to be able to fill the gap he leaves in their everyday lives with beautiful memories. Erhard Eppler was a…

…not least as an economic factor. That was the conclusion drawn at an event titled “Climate protection as an innovation driver for the economy” organized recently by Svenja Schulze, Germany’s Federal Minister for the Environment. The realization should be reason enough to finally take the foot off the brakes in…

For two days in early May, a number of people committed to the protection of climate and the environment met in the north-eastern German town of Greifswald to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Michael Succow Foundation. Among them were Michael Otto, a prominent entrepreneur from Hamburg, Alexander Bonde, Secretary…

Most people will by now have seen the frightening images of plastic waste in the oceans. Studies of seabirds have shown that the animals will starve to death in spite of a full stomach – however, it is filled with indigestible pieces of plastic. And we haven’t even begun getting…

In Berlin, 8 March – International Women’s Day – is now a public holiday. The city’s Chamber of Deputies voted in favor of the plan in January! It isn’t the worst of ideas if you ask me. The event “100 years of women’s suffrage – our goal is parity”, which…

When I was recently invited to speak at the event “Change at next stop” in Bonn, organised by the Goethe-Institute, I was full of anticipation. The event had been devised for environmental activists and educators from North African countries and the Middle East to meet each other and learn more…

It’s a small step towards sustainability, and it has now been implemented by the vast majority of companies obliged to do so: they have based their reporting systems on the requirements laid out by the so-called CSR-RUG. Under this law German capital market-oriented corporations, banks and insurance companies above a…

A lot has changed at TUHH – most notably its name. The institution is now called the Technical University of Hamburg. The addition “Harburg” has been dropped so that the university is abel to sharpen its image internationally. There has also been a change at the top of the university….

Olaf Lies freely admitted that he didn’t have the easiest of jobs. Monika Griefahn’s “successor-successor-successor”, as the current environment minister of the German federal state of Lower Saxony smirkingly described himself, said: “You can’t list all of Monika Griefahn’s merits – you can only mention the highlights.” Lies was speaking…

Dr. Michael Otto. Foto: Otto Group Michael Otto did not want a big party for his 75th birthday. What he did want to do was talk about the issues that are important to him. That’s why the CEO of the Otto Group, Alexander Birken, used the…

Congratualtions by Uwe-Karsten Heye and Monika Griefahn, Willy-Brandt-Haus Berlin. Foto: Florian Gaertner/photothek.net “Nothing is finished” – that’s the motto under which Klaus Staeck invited guests to celebrate his 80th birthday at the Willy-Brandt-Haus in Berlin. More precisely it was the Social Democratic Party’s executive, who organised…

Helge Wendenburg, Monika Griefahn and Ditmar Horn (v.l.) One of my long-time companions, Helge Wendenburg, is retiring. Most recently, he was the director of the Department of Water Resource Protection at the German Federal Environment Ministry. His deputies organised a wonderful symposium in his honour in…

Adventurer and human rights activist Rüdiger Nehberg in Buchholz. One of the guests at the 2014 Cradle to Cradle congress in Lueneburg was the German adventurer and human rights activist Rüdiger Nehberg. With his open and humorous temperament he proved that he knows how to inspire…

Monika Griefahn in 2015 at the award ceremony of the German “Computerspielpreis”.Photo (archives): Franziska Krug/Getty Images for Quinke Networks Just ahead of the recent general elections the German Cultural Council issued a gratifying news release: “The Chancellor and the Secretaries-General of the CDU, SPD, Greens, the…

The Africa Mercy as the sun sets over the port of Cotonou, Benin 2017. Photo: Mercy Ships. The main headlines about the G20 summit in the German city of Hamburg in June were about the heavy and destructive violence that was perpetrated by protesters. The fact…

Wind turbines at the North Sea coast. Here’s the good news: yes, we can! Christina von Haaren of the Institute of Environmental Planning at the University of Hanover and her team are currently preparing a study for the Federal Ministry of the Environment in Germany to…

Already, the campaign for this year’s parliamentary elections in Germany is looming. In order to inspire citizens, and especially young people, to get involved with politics (again) the Friedrich Ebert foundation and our local Member of Parliament, Svenja Stadler from the Social Democratic Party (SPD), decided to organize an alternative…

Photo: Andreas Conradt It’s very important that we all remind ourselves of the following: on the occasion of the sixth anniversary of the nuclear catastrophe at the Fukushima power plant in Japan the literature festival “Reading without Nuclear Power” took up a topic that’s all but…

Slowly but surely those in the German real estate industry – and possibly some day also those responsible for federal subsidy policy – seem to realise that, while not requiring a lot of energy, a well-insulated building still comes with its own difficulties: bad room air, elaborate ventilation solutions in order to…

For the second time within the space of only a few weeks the young generation has given away a victory to those they would normally reject. First, many neglected to go to the polls when the people of Britain voted in the Brexit referendum over whether the country should remain…

Two important United Nations covenants turn 50 years old this year: the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) as well as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). Both treaties are of great significance for civil society organisations around the world, including trade unions, disabled federations…

As is often the case when it comes to technological investments, they aren’t very visible from the outside. But with the introduction of the shore power supply for cruise ships in the Altona district of Hamburg both the city’s port and its shipping industries have taken a huge step towards…