Klaus Töpfer

Klaus Töpfer (29 July 1938 – 8 June 2024) was a German politician (CDU) and environmental politics expert. From 1998 to 2006 he was executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Personal life Töpfer was born in Waldenburg, Silesia. He studied economics in Mainz, Frankfurt and Münster. In 1968 he earned his doctorate at the University of Münster. Töpfer died on 8 June 2024, at the age of 85.

Early career In 1971, Töpfer was appointed Head of Planning and Information of the Federal State of Saarland, a post he held until 1978. During that time, he also served as a visiting professor at the Academy of Administrative Sciences in Speyer, and consulted several countries on development policy, among them Egypt, Brazil and Jordan. He spent the following year at the University of Hannover as Professor and Director of the Institute for Spatial Research and Planning. He later served as co-chairman of the Federal Government's Ethics Commission on a Safe Energy Supply.

From 2013 Töpfer headed the project "DEMOENERGY – The Transformation of the Energy System as the Engine for Democratic Innovations" together with Claus Leggewie and Patrizia Nanz (both Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities Essen, Germany). In 2016, the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) appointed Töpfer as co-chairman (alongside Juan Somavia) of an Independent Team of Advisors on positioning the UN development system for the Sustainable Development Goals.

In 2018, Energy Community appointed Töpfer to serve as a mediator in an energy dispute between Kosovo and Serbia.

Other activities

Corporate boards Theva, Member of the Senior Advisory Council (from 2017) Porsche, Member of the Sustainability Advisory Board (from 2016) ProSiebenSat.1 Media, Member of the Advisory Board (from 2011) Deutsche Bank, Member of the Climate Change Advisory Board (2011) Volkswind Gruppe, Member of the Advisory Board (2009–2015)

Non-profit organizations atmosfair, Patron Stiftung Zukunftsfähigkeit, Member of the Advisory Board Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, Member of the Senate (2007–2009) Institute for Energy Efficiency in Production (EEP), University of Stuttgart, Member of the Advisory Board German Foundation for World Population (DSW), Member of the Advisory Board German-Russian Raw Materials Forum, Patron Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction, Member of the Board Agora Energiewende, Chairman of the Council (2013–2018) German Council for Sustainable Development (RNE), Member (2001–2010, appointed ad personam by Chancellor Gerhard Schröder)