Born in Göttingen, Germany in 1968, Jörg-Andreas Krüger studied landscape architecture. Before heading the German Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU), which he joined as a member back in 1982, he was an administrative officer for the city of Oldenburg and later a personal assistant to member of the Bavarian Parliament Dr Christian Magerl. From 2004 to 2013 he was head of nature conservation and environmental policy at NABU and from 2013 to 2019 he worked for WWF Germany – as Director, Ecological Footprint since 2017. In 2019 he was elected President of NABU Germany by the federal delegates’ assembly.
Krüger is inter alia a member of the German government’s Commission on the Future of Agriculture. He sits on the scientific advisory board of the Thünen Institut, the scientific advisory board of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, the board of trustees of the Michael Otto Environmental Foundation and the board of Agora Agrar.
A member of the German Council for Sustainable Development since January 2020, Jörg-Andreas Krüger was reappointed for a further term in January 2023.
Three questions for Jörg-Andreas Krüger
Let’s get to it: What does sustainability mean to you? What do you associate with the term?
Jörg-Andreas Krüger: For me, the term sustainability stands for a positive future worth living in. If we are to overcome the many challenges of our time, we must succeed in taking a more comprehensive approach to bringing together the different environmental, social and economic aspects at play. Our natural environment forms the very basis of our existence; protecting and restoring this foundation will play a key role in maintaining this vital basis for life and business for future generations.
What is your personal priority in your work as part of the Council for Sustainable Development?
We have long since reached and even exceeded the limits of many an ecological or social system – at home and abroad alike. I want to focus my work on implementing approaches for agriculture and forestry, a sustainable food system, decent housing that conserves land, and the development of green infrastructure.
In the context of sustainability, what do you believe will pose the greatest challenge in the coming years?
We’ve talked the talk – it’s time to walk the walk. Yes, some questions remain open, but we have long known enough to take important steps. Changing long-established consumption habits and business practices is a social challenge, and we tend to remain loyal to unsustainable solutions against our better judgement because change goes hand in hand with the loss of comfortable habits. We see this across climate and nature conservation as well as in education, civic engagement, prosperity models and more. But these delays lead to too many trouble spots, all of which are connected within our society. If we neglect or postpone one crisis, we will struggle to tackle the others.
Curriculum vitae
Jörg-Andreas Krüger detailed CV available to download (PDF, 74 KB)
Quote
“We can only overcome these individual crises – including the nature and climate crises – if we tackle them holistically. If we neglect or postpone one crisis, we will struggle to tackle the others.”
Press photo
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Jörg-Andreas Krüger, Photo: © NABU/Frank Müller Fotografie
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