2001-2024
16. Jahreskonferenz des Rates für Nachhaltige Entwicklung (RNE) am 31. Mai 2016 im WECC, Berlin
Former Chairpersons
Dr Werner Schnappauf
Lawyer and consultant; Former Minister of State, has been a member of the German Council for Sustainable Development since November 2016. He chaired the Council from 2020 to 2022.
Marlehn Thieme
Chairwoman of the German Council for Sustainable Development from 2012 to November 2019, President of Welthungerhilfe, member of the Council of Lutheran Churches in Germany (EKD)
Member from April 2004 – November 2019
Hans-Peter Repnik
Chairman of the German Council for Sustainable Development from May 2010 to January 2012, former Parliamentary State Secretary to the German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development
Member from May 2010 – January 2012
Dr Volker Hauff
Chairman of the German Council for Sustainable Development from September 2001 to May 2010, former Senior Vice President at BearingPoint, former German Federal Minister of Research, Technology and Transport
Member from April 2001 – May 2010
Matthias Platzeck
Chairman of the German Council for Sustainable Development from April to August 2001, former Prime Minister of the State of Brandenburg, former Mayor of Potsdam
Member from April 2001 – May 2003
Former Secretaries-General
Dr Marc-Oliver Pahl
Secretary-General from March 2020 – December 2024
Prof. Dr Günther Bachmann
Secretary-General from 2001 – February 2020
Former Council members
Prof. Dr Alexander Bassen
Professor of economics, in particular capital markets and management, at the University of Hamburg
Member from July 2013 – December 2022
Dr Heinrich Graf von Bassewitz
Former Commissioner for Organic Farming within the German Farmers’ Association (DBV) and former member of the DBV’s Executive Committee
Member from July 2010 – June 2013
Ulla Burchardt
Former member of the German Bundestag; freelance strategy consultant
Member from October 2016 – December 2022
Philip Freiherr von dem Bussche
Former President of the German Agricultural Society
Member from April 2001 – April 2002
Dr Ursula Eid
Former Parliamentary State Secretary to the German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development
Member from July 2010 – June 2013
Dr Joachim Faber
Former CEO of Allianz Asset Management
Member from July 2010 – June 2013
Jochen Flasbarth
Former President of the German Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU)
Member from April 2001 – January 2003
Horst Frank
Former Mayor of Konstanz
Member from May 2003 – May 2010
Prof. Dr Wolfgang Franz
Former President of the Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW)
Member from April 2001 – March 2004
Prof. Dr Cornelia Füllkrug-Weitzel
Former President of Brot für die Welt
Member from December 2019 – December 2022
Vera Gäde-Butzlaff
Former CEO of the Berlin municipal cleaning company Berliner Stadtreinigungsbetriebe (BSR); former CEO of GASAG AG
Member from July 2013 – October 2016
Dr Hans Geisler
Former Saxony State Minister of Social Affairs, Health and Family
Member from June 2006 – June 2013
Alois Glück
Former President of the Central Committee of German Catholics, former President of the Bavarian State Parliament; died
Member from July 2011 – October 2016
Rainer Grohe
Former Chairman of the Environment Committee of the Federation of the German Industries (BDI)
Member from April 2001 – March 2007
Gerda Hasselfeldt
President of the German Red Cross (DRK e.V.)
Member from January 2020 – December 2021
Hermann Graf Hatzfeldt
Former Chairman of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) in Germany
Member from May 2003 – March 2007
Roland Heinisch
Former member of the Management Board of Deutsche Bahn AG
Member from April 2001 – March 2007
Dr Claus Hipp
Entrepreneur, HiPP GmbH & Co. KG, former Vice President of the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry (DIHK)
Member from April 2001 – January 2003
Walter Hirche
Former President of the German Commission for UNESCO, former Parliamentary State Secretary within the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, former Secretary of Commerce of Lower Saxony and Brandenburg
Member from July 2010 – October 2016
Prof. Dr Stefan Homburg
Former Professor of Public Finance, Leibniz University Hannover
Member from April 2004 – March 2007
Prof. Dr-Ing. Eberhard Jochem
Former Professor of Energy Management and National Economics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich)
Member from April 2001 – March 2007
Dr Margot Käßmann
Former Regional Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church
Member from April 2001 – March 2004
Prof. Dr Ute Klammer
Professor of Social Policy, University of Duisburg-Essen
Member from June 2008 – May 2010
Prof. Dr Edward G. Krubasik
Former member of the Central Management Board of Siemens AG, former President of the German Physical Society (DPG)
Member from September 2006 – May 2010
Markus Lewe
Mayor of the city of Münster, President of the Association of German Cities
Member from December 2019 – December 2022
Thomas Loster
Former member of the Geoscience Research Group at Munich Re
Member from September 2006 – May 2010
Lisi Maier
Director of the Federal Foundation for Gender Equality
Member from December 2019 – December 2022
Kathrin Menges
Former member of the Management Board at Henkel KGaA
Member from 2013 – April 2019
Jennifer Morgan
Former Director of the climate programme at the World Resources Institute
Member from July 2013 – October 2016
Alexander Müller
Managing Director of TMG – ThinkTank for Sustainability, former State Secretary within the German Federal Ministry of Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture, former Assistant Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations
Member from July 2013 – November 2019
Prof. Dr Edda Müller
Former member of the Management Board of the Federation of German Consumer Organisations, former Minister for Nature and the Environment of the State of Schleswig-Holstein
Member from April 2001 – March 2007
Dr Franz-Josef Overbeck
Bishop of Essen
Member from June 2010 – June 2011
Heinz Putzhammer
Former member of the Federal Executive Board of the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB); died
Member from April 2001 – June 2006
Katherina Reiche
Chairwoman of the Management Board of Westenergie AG
Member from October 2016 – December 2022
Prof. Dr Lucia A. Reisch
Professor at Copenhagen Business School
Member from June 2010 – November 2019
Prof. Dr Jürgen Rimpau
Former member of the Management Board of the German Agricultural Society (DLG)
Member from May 2003 – May 2010
Prof. Dr Josef Sayer
Former Director-General and CEO of MISEREOR, the German Catholic bishops’ organisation for development cooperation
Member from April 2001 – March 2007
Tobias Schlegl
Former radio and television presenter
Member from May 2004 – March 2007
Prof. Dr Imme Scholz
Board of Heinrich Böll Foundation e.V.; Honorary professor at the University of Applied Sciences Bonn-Rhein-Sieg
Member from July 2013 – December 2022
Max Schön
Entrepreneur, former Chairman of Foundation 2° – German Businesses for Climate Protection, former President of the Deutsche Gesellschaft Club of Rome, co-founder of the Desertec Foundation
Member from July 2010 – October 2016
Prof. Dr Ulrich Schraml
Director of the Forest Research Institute (FVA) of Baden-Württemberg
Member from November 2016 – November 2019
Prof. Dr Wolfgang Schuster
Former Chairman of the Management Board of Deutsche Telekom Stiftung, former Mayor of Stuttgart
Member from February 2012 – November 2019
Dr Eric Schweitzer
Former President of the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry, former CEO of ALBA Group plc & Co. KG
Member from July 2010 – June 2013
Achim Steiner
Head of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), former Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP)
Member from November 2016 – June 2017
Prof. Dr Georg Teutsch
Former Scientific Managing Director of the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ)
Member from June 2007 – May 2010
Prof. Dr Klaus Töpfer
Former Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), Founding Director of the IASS, former German Federal Minister for Regional Planning, Building and Urban Development, former German Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety; died
Member from April 2001 – May 2010
Holger Tschense
Former Mayor and Alderman of Leipzig
Member from May 2003 – January 2006
Olaf Tschimpke
Former President of the German Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU)
Member from June 2010 – November 2019
Christiane Underberg
Co-owner of Underberg KG
Member from June 2007 – November 2008
Prof. Dr Fritz Vahrenholt
Former CEO of REpower Systems, former Senator for the Environment of Hamburg
Member from April 2001 – March 2007
Michael Vassiliadis
Chairman of the trade union IG Bergbau, Chemie, Energie (IG BCE)
Member from 2007 – October 2016
Eggert Voscherau
Former member of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE
Member from May 2003 – January 2006
Susanne Weber-Mosdorf
Former Assistant Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO)
Member from June 2007 – December 2007
Prof. Dr Hubert Weiger
Honorary Chairman of Friends of the Earth Germany (Bund für Umwelt- und Naturschutz Deutschland, BUND)
Member from July 2013 – December 2022
Hubert Weinzierl
Former President of the German League for Nature and Environment (DNR), former Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU), former Chairman of Friends of the Earth Germany (BUND)
Member from April 2001 – June 2013
Ranga Yogeshwar
TV presenter
Member from June 2007 – August 2008
Prof. Dr Angelika Zahrnt
Former Chairwoman of Friends of the Earth Germany (BUND)
Member from April 2001 – June 2013
Experts co-opted by the German Council for Sustainable Development
Prof. Dr Gerhard de Haan
Former Head of the Institute for Future Studies in Education Science (Institut Futur) at Freie Universität Berlin
Co-opted expert from January 2014 – June 2015
Prof. Dr Gesche Joost
Professor of Design Research at Berlin University of the Arts
Co-opted expert from November 2017 – June 2019
Dominik Naab
National Chairman of the German Catholic Scout Organization (DPSG)
Co-opted expert from November 2017 – June 2019
Dr Andreas Marcus Rickert
Chairman of the Board of the non-profit analysis and consulting organisation PHINEO AG
Co-opted expert from November 2017 – June 2019
Prof. Dr Harald Welzer
Co-founder and Director of the non-profit Futurzwei Foundation, Honorary Professor of Transformation Design at Europa-Universität Flensburg
Co-opted expert from January 2015 – October 2016
Jochen Zeitz
Former Chairman of the Administrative Board of Puma SE
Co-opted expert from October 2011 – September 2012