Klaus Töpfer is a pioneer in Environmental Politics, both in Germany and worldwide. From 1987 until 1994 he was Federal Minister for the Environment in Germany and after that became the Executive Director of UNEP, the United Nations Environmental Program. Töpfer is also a member of the Board of the German Federal Environment Foundation. Currently he lectures at Tongji-University in Shanghai, China.I met Klaus Töpfer for the first time a few months in Berlin. Over a cup of coffee he explained to me how he is settling down again for the xxst time, installing a new office. Traveling back and forth is rather challenging for the 69 year old Töpfer. But China is worth it. As he pointed out in the Vodcast interview you can see and rate above, China is according to him no longer ignorant of the role it plays in combating climate change. I remembered my interview with Professor Kjiang from Peking in May who also told me how China is day by day experiencing the immediate effects of climate change, energy waste and pollution. The country must, Kjiang added, with the support of the international community, take the first steps.Knowing of the necessity to envision a future of sustainable mobility, Töpfer asks for a competition with the best technological innovations. BMW, the former politician says, is a company that invested a lot into the development of its hydrogen vision in the last 25 years.

Prof. Toepfer and Alex Goerlach talkingAlthough it was really loud in the place where we did the interview, I enjoyed talking to Töpfer who with just a few words showed us why politics and industry need to start on an energy-efficient and sustainable age.