Monika Griefahn

Biographical Information
"Monika Griefahn, Former Member German Parliament, Former Minister of Environment, Lower Saxony

"Monika Griefahn is co-founder of Greenpeace Germany and a German politician.

"She was a Member of the German Parliament (1998–2009), functioning as an expert on culture and the media as well as foreign (cultural) policy. From 1990 to 1998 she was the Minister of the Environment in the State of Lower Saxony. Prior to this, she was an activist in the environmental organisation Greenpeace and the first woman on the international board of Greenpeace (1984–1990).

"After university and work for the German-French Youth Organisation and for YMCA Hamburg, Monika became active in establishing Greenpeace in Germany, with its main office in Hamburg. She was the executive director until 1983. With Greenpeace Germany she organised campaigns against, among other environmental issues, chemical pollution as well as campaigns for the protection of the North Seas and the rivers Rhine and Elbe. In 1984 she became the first female member of the international board of Greenpeace. She was responsible for developing programmes and skill training for the people working for Greenpeace all over the world until 1990. Additionally she helped found new offices in Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Latin America and the former Soviet Union.

"In 1990, German chancellor Gerhard Schröder named her as the Minister for the Environment in the state of Lower Saxony, where she started special programmes to support removable energy systems (wind, solar, biomass) in order to stop the use of nuclear power.

"She became a Member of the German Parliament in 1998 and served until 2009 where she undertook a number of roles including Head of the Commission for Culture and the Media (2000-2005) and chaired a number of committees."

Affiliations

 * Trustee (2007), Right Livelihood Award
 * Advisory Board (2009), World Future Council

Related Sourcewatch

 * Fritjof Capra