CLEAN AIR EVERYWHERE: Blowing the winds of change into

CLEAN AIR EVERYWHERE:
Blowing the winds of change into European air policy
8 January 2013
SPEAKER AND PANELISTS BIOGRAPHIES
In order of appearance
Rainer Steffens (July 26, 1960 in Armstorf) has been a director of the
Representation of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia to the European
Union since July 2011. Before that he worked, among others, in the
Permanent Representation of the Federal Republic of Germany to the
European Union, the Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature
Conservation and Nuclear Safety and in the Representation of the State
of Lower Saxony to the Federal Government.
Rainer STEFFENS, Head of the North
Rhine Westphalia representation
Jeremy WATES, EEB Secretary General
Janez POTOČNIK, EU Environment
Commissioner
Jeremy Wates is the Secretary General of the European Environmental
Bureau, Europe’s largest federation of environmental organizations.
Prior to taking up his present post in May 2011, Jeremy served for more
than a decade as Secretary to the Aarhus Convention with the Genevabased United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. The Aarhus
Convention is the world’s most far-reaching legally binding treaty on
access to information, public participation in decision-making, and
access to justice in environmental matters.
During the 1990s, Jeremy led the campaign by the European ECO
Forum, an NGO coalition, to persuade governments to start work on a
treaty on environmental democracy and then coordinated the input
from civil society organizations into the official negotiations over the
Aarhus Convention text.
In the 1980s, he founded the Irish environmental organization
Earthwatch, the Irish member of Friends of the Earth International, and
led the organization for more than a decade.
Jeremy holds an MA Honours Degree in Philosophy and Social and
Political Sciences from Cambridge University, UK.
His permanent home is in West Cork in the south west of Ireland.
Dr Janez Potočnik was born in 1958. He graduated with honours from
the Faculty of Economics at the University of Ljubljana. He continued
his studies at the same University where he did his Master's degree in
1989 and a Ph.D. degree in 1993.
For several years (1989-1993), he worked as a researcher at the
Institute of Economic Research in Ljubljana. In July 1994, he was
appointed Director of the Institute of Macroeconomic Analysis and
Development of the Republic of Slovenia. In April 1998, the
Government of the Republic of Slovenia appointed Dr Potočnik Head of
Negotiating Team for Accession of the Republic of Slovenia to the
European Union. From June 2000 to December 2000, he was also the
acting director of Government Office for European Affairs. In June 2001,
he was appointed a Minister Councillor at the Office of the Prime
Minister. On January 24, 2002, the Government of the Republic of
Slovenia appointed him for the Minister without portfolio responsible
for European Affairs.
From 1991 until 2004 Dr Potočnik has also been an assistant professor
at the Faculty of Law at the University of Ljubljana, where he lectured
on statistics and economy.
Dr Potočnik became a Member of the European Commission on the
May 1 2004. In his first mandate (2004 – 2009) he was responsible for
the Science and Research. In February 2010 he started a second
mandate as a Commissioner for Environment.
In May 2008 he was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Science
by London Imperial College. In March 2009 he received the honorary
degree from Ghent University (Belgium).
PANEL I: CUTTING AIR POLLUTION AT THE SOURCE AS THE MOST
COST EFFECTIVE REMEDY TO POOR AIR QUALITY
What remains to be done in 2013
Kathleen Van Brempt served as a member of the European Parliament
from 2000 to 2003, when she resigned to become State Secretary for
Labor organization and Welfare in the workplace in the Belgian federal
government. During the regional elections of 2004, Van Brempt was
elected to the Flemish Parliament and she became Minister for
Mobility, Social Economy and Equal Opportunities in the Flemish
government.
In the European Elections of 2009 Van Brempt was elected as Member
of the European Parliament - she is a member of the Socialist and
Democrats group.
She is a member of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy
and also a substitute in the Committee on the Environment, Public
Health and Food Safety.
Kathleen VAN BREMPT MEP (S&D, BE)
Prof. Jacqueline MCGLADE, Executive
Director, European Environment Agency
Professor Jacqueline McGlade became Executive Director of the
European Environment Agency in Copenhagen in 2003. The EEA is a
vital source of information for the European Commission, the European
Parliament EU Member States and other EEA member countries in
developing and implementing environment and climate policies, and in
providing the knowledge base to help Europe make informed decisions
about improving the environment and integrating environmental
considerations into economic policies so as to develop along a
sustainable low-carbon and resource efficient path. Professor McGlade
is currently on leave from her post as Professor in Environmental
Informatics in the Department of Mathematics at University College
London.
Prior to this, she was Director of the Centre for Coastal and Marine
Sciences of the UK Natural Environment Research Council, Professor of
Biological Sciences at the University of Warwick, Director of Theoretical
Ecology at the Forschungszentrum Jülich and Senior Scientist at the
Bedford Institute of Oceanography in the Federal Government of
Canada.
Her research is focused on the governance of resources and
environmental informatics with particular reference to ecosystems,
marine resources and climate change. She has more than 100 peerreviewed papers and more than 200 articles, books and legal
submissions and has produced and presented a number of TV and radio
series and programmes plus three feature films. She has been awarded
international prizes and honours from Czech Republic, Germany, Italy,
Monaco, Romania, Sweden, UK and the USA.
Professor McGlade has held a number of key advisory roles and chairs
at national level, including Trustee of the Natural History Museum and
Board Member of the Environment Agency, at European level, including
the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and at
international levels including for the United Nations and the
Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research. She has also
run her own company specialising in the area of software development
and intelligence systems.
Ch
rister ÅGREN, Director, Air Pollution
and Climate Secretariat
Gerben-Jan GERBRANDY MEP (ALDE,
NL)
Christer Ågren is since 1982 Director of the Air Pollution and Climate
Secretariat (AirClim), a Swedish environmental organisation focussing
on reducing emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gases.
Christer has more than 30 years of experience of working with
transboundary air pollution, including being an NGO-observer to the
Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution, to the
International Maritime Organisation’s Marine Environment Protection
Committee, and active participation at EU stakeholder consultation
meetings on air pollution and air quality. He is currently participating in
the Stakeholder Expert Group on the EU Air Policy Review.
Additional work experience include being Head of Section at the
Swedish Ministry of Environment 1995-96 and designated expert to the
Environment Directorate of the European Commission 1996-97, with
the main tasks to develop the EU Strategy to Combat Acidification and a
proposal for revision of the directive on the sulphur content of liquid
fuels.
He was editor of AirClim’s quarterly magazine Acid News from 1982 to
2012, and is author, co-author and editor of numerous articles, reports,
and books on air pollution policies and related environmental
problems, such as health impacts, acidification, eutrophication.
Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy was elected in 2009 as MEP for D66. He is vicechair of the Parliamentary Committee on Environment, Health and
Food Safety, a member of the Budgetary Control Committee and
substitute member of the Budget Committee. In addition, Gerben-Jan
Gerbrandy is vice chairman of Euronest, in which the European
Parliament meets the EU neighbours on the eastern border, such as
Ukraine and Azerbaijan. Gerbrandy is also contact person for the
European Environment Agency in the European Parliament and he is
Rapporteur Resource Efficiency and Biodiversity. Gerbrandy studied
public administration at Leiden University, and at the University of
Scranton in Pennsylvania. He began his career as a political assistant to
Joris Voorhoeve, former director of the Clingendael Institute. From
1994 to 1998 he was the personal assistant of Doeke Eisma, MEP for
D66. After his work as secretary of the Dutch parliamentary group of
D66 he was senior political adviser at the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture,
Nature and Food Quality.
Sa
tu HASSI MEP (Greens, FI)
Satu Hassi (born 1951) is a Finnish Member of the European Parliament
for the Greens since 2004. She served as the Minister of Environment
and Development Co-Operation in the Finnish Government between
April 1999 and May 2002. Hassi served as the leader of the Finnish
Green party between 1999 and 2001. She was a member of the Finnish
Parliament from 1991 to 2004.
In the European Parliament she is currently the coordinator of the
Greens/EFA group in the ENVI Committee and a substitute member in
the ITRE committee.
She has a licentiate (intermediate between Master and PhD) degree in
electrical power engineering, has worked as a design and research
engineer in an industrial company between 1979 and 1981 and as a
teacher at Tampere University of Technology. Between 1985 and 1991
she worked as a free lance writer, publishing a collection of poems, a
novel and several non fiction books. She is also a co-author of a series
of physics books for high school students.
Hassi is a member of the Board of Directors of the Worldwatch Institute
and a vice chairperson of the parliamentary network Globe EU.
André van de Nadort is the Mayor of the Municipality of Ten Boer in
The Netherlands and a member of the ENVE commission at the
Committee of the Regions (CoR). He is also a member of the
Environmental board of the Association of Netherlands Municipalities
(VNG). He has a background in spatial planning and extensive
experience in local governance. Air quality is a key priority for Dutch
municipalities and consequently one of the main policy dossiers for Mr.
van de Nadort within the CoR, focusing on a strong EU source based
policy and a multi-level government approach. In the CoR he was a
coordinator for the PES Group on the air quality dossier.
André VAN DE NADORT, Mayor of Ten
Boer, Committee of the Regions
Dutchman Jos joined T&E as director in 2004, having worked previously
as head of the transport division at CE Delft, a respected environmental
policy consultancy. At CE, he focused on EU policy issues, advising
national governments and the European Commission. Jos holds a
degree on Mechanical Engineering from Delft University of Technology,
The Netherlands.
Jos DINGS, Director, Transport and
Environment
Established in 1990, Transport & Environment (T&E) is the leading NGO
voice on smarter and greener transport policies at the EU level in
Brussels. T&E’s advocacy work has contributed to a number of high
profile policy changes including Europe’s first legally binding CO2
targets for new cars, the inclusion of aviation in the EU ETS and smarter
EU rules on road charging for lorries. T&E has also led calls for EU action
to deal with the negative impacts of current biofuels targets and for a
move away from high carbon oil.
PANEL II: IMPROVING PEOPLE’S HEALTH
What can be done better in 2013
Jo Leinen obtained a law degree in Germany in 1972 and graduated
from the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium, in 1974. After
graduation he worked as a lawyer. He was also Vice-President of the
European Environmental Bureau, Brussels (1979-1984).
Leinen has been a member of the European Parliament since 1999. He
is currently a member of the Committee on the Environment, Public
Health and Food Safety which he chaired for several years. He is also a
substitute member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, a member of
the delegation for relations with India and a substitute member of the
delegation to the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly.
Jo LEINEN MEP (S&D, DE)
Phil HOGAN, Irish Environment Minister
Francesca RACIOPPI, Senior Policy and
Phil Hogan was first elected to the Dáil in 1989 and has been
successfully elected in all subsequent elections. He is one of Fine
Gael’s most well-known politicians and was the Party’s Spokesman for
Environment, Heritage & Local Government in the 30th Dáil. He was
also Fine Gael’s National Director of Elections in the 2011 Election.
Phil served as Minister for State in Department of Finance in the last
Fine Gael Government at a time where job growth was at an all time
high.
In Fine Gael, he has held a vast array of positions including
Parliamentary Party Chairman, Director of Organisation, Enterprise
Spokesman as well as Consumer Affairs, Regional Affairs and Food
Industry positions. Phil served as a Senator from 1987 – 1989. He is a
graduate of University College Cork (BA, HDipEd).
Francesca Racioppi is responsible for supporting the WHO
engagement in international environment and health governance,
through the coordination of the work of WHO environment and
health technical programmes in relevant governance mechanisms.
She provides advice and guidance on healthy and equitable policies,
measures and strategies in public health and health systems and in
other sectors, with a focus on the integration of health consideration
in decisions, planning and investments of Member States affecting
natural and built environments, particularly including transport and
mobility in relation to health.
Between 2007 and 2011, she was the acting Head of the Rome Office
of the WHO European Centre for Environment and Health. Between
2004 and 2001, she established and led the WHO/Europe programme
for violence and injury prevention.
She has extensive experience in addressing environmental health
issues through multi-sectoral approaches, as well as the development
of tools and methods that facilitate the uptake of health
Programme Advisor, WHO Europe
Bill HARNETT, Associate Director for the
U.S. EPA's Office of Air Quality Planning
and Standards
considerations by non-health sectoral policies.
She has fifteen years of experience in the development of
international policies for environment and health and violence and
injury prevention, including by contributing to the organization and
coordination of international intergovernmental events, such as the
Fifth Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health (Parma, Italy
2010).
In collaboration with the United Nations Economic Commission for
Europe (UNECE) she leads the WHO contribution to the “Transport,
Health and Environment Pan European Programme” (THE PEP), a
platform that brings together European ministries of transport, health
and environment with the objective of better integrating health and
environmental considerations into transport policies.
Bill Harnett has been with EPA for over 25 years. In his current role,
he is responsible for cross-cutting issues that affect the Office as well
as international air quality issues. He deals with a wide range of issues
related to national ambient air quality standards, industrial emission
standards, and Clean Air Act permitting programs. In December 2012,
he was elected as the Chairman of the Working Group on Strategies
and Review, the main negotiating body, under the United Nations
Convention on Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution of which the
U.S. is a signatory.
Previously, he managed the Air Quality Policy Division in EPA which is
responsible for the new source review and operating programs under
the Clean Air Act, the implementation program for the National
Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) and the Regional Haze
Program which protects National Parks and wilderness areas. These
programs are some of the key programs where EPA works with the
State and local air pollution agencies to ensure continued progress in
cleaning the air as well as ensuring major industrial facilities have met
all of their Clean Air Act requirements on an ongoing basis. He also
was the one of the key leads for the Office of Air and Radiation on
work on amendments to the Clean Air Act’s hazardous air pollutants
provisions during 1988 to 1990. He started his career working on
technical analyses to support the reviews of the NAAQS and the
setting of industrial new source performance standards.
Corinne LEPAGE MEP (ALDE, FR)
Keith TAYLOR MEP (Greens, UK)
Corrine Lepage is an MEP, Chair of the Parliamentary Intergroup Seas
and Coastal Areas, Member of Committee on Environment, Public
Health and Food Safety.
French politician Corinne Lepage trained as a lawyer specialized in
public and environmental law, defending victims of the Amoco Cadiz
oil spill in 1978 and of the Erika disaster in 1999. She was also a
founding member of the Committee for Independent Research and
Information on Genetic Engineering. In 1995, she was made
Environment minister in the French government. She spent two years
as the head of the ministry, where her achievements included a major
overhaul of the air legislation.
She was elected to the European parliament in June 2009, where she
is part of the ALDE group. She is member of the Committee on the
Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, and is a substitute on the
Committee on Industry, Research and Energy. In December 2012, she
was part of the official delegation of MEPs in Doha for COP18.
In the ALDE group she is closely involved with the directives
concerning GMO, IPPC, RoHS, WEEE, novel foods, information for
consumers, and on themes such as climate change, the energy mix,
independent appraisals, the link between health and the
environment, the freedom of the web, civil liberties and fundamental
freedoms.
Her knowledge of maritime matters enabled her to found the
intergroup on "Seas and coastal zones" in the European Parliament, a
group she has chaired since January 2010.
She is the author of a number of books including La vérité sur les
OGM, c'est notre affaire (2012).
Keith Taylor MEP is a member of the Greens/EFA Group in the
European Parliament, representing the South East of England region.
Keith sits on the Parliament's Transport and Tourism Committee, the
Development Committee and the Petitions Committee. Keith is Vice
President of the UK’s Local Government Association Group in the
European Parliament.
Tackling air pollution is a priority for Keith and he is active on this
issue both at EU level and within his constituency. For a recent
publication by Keith entitled 'Air pollution: The invisible Killer, please
see here: http://www.keithtaylormep.org.uk/wpcontent/uploads/Air-Pollution-The-Invisible-Killer1.pdf
For the related campaign website, please see here:
http://www.keithtaylormep.org.uk/air-pollution/
Before becoming an MEP, Keith was a Green Party Councillor for St
Peter’s & North Laine ward in Brighton and Hove, England, for 11
years, having been elected in 1999. He served as leader of the
Council’s Green group from 2001 until 2009, and on the council
planning committee for two years. Keith was also a Principal Speaker
for the Green Party of England & Wales between 2004 and 2006,
before the party adopted a single leader structure.
Elliot Treharne is the Air Quality Manager at the Greater London
Authority, where he has responsibility for air quality policy,
programmes and liaison with Government and European partners.
Before this he worked at Transport for London (TfL), first helping
develop congestion charge policy and then latterly being responsible
for the development of transport emission reduction measures. A
specialist in urban policy, he has previously worked for the United
Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) in New York
and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Elliot TREHARNE, Air Quality Manager,
Greater London Authority
Génon JENSEN, Executive Director,
Health and Environment Alliance
Génon K. Jensen is Executive Director of the Health and Environment
Alliance (HEAL), which she set up in Brussels, Belgium in 2003. HEAL is
a leading European not-for-profit organisation addressing how the
environment affects health in the European Union.
Genon Jensen has been an official member of the World Health
Organization’s European Environment and Health Committee (now
Environment and Health Task Force) since 2000. She is also on the
Steering Committee of the International POPs Elimination Network.
Before setting up HEAL, she was the Director of the European Public
Health Alliance (EPHA).
She holds a degree in journalism and international politics from
George Washington University in Washington, DC and an MA in
European Administrative Studies from the College of Europe, Belgium.
PANEL III: BRINGING CLIMATE AND AIR CLOSER TOGETHER
Common solutions for 2013
Matthias Groote has been a Member of the European Parliament since
2005. He is currently the chairman of the Committee on the
Environment, Public Health and Food Safety. He is also a member of the
conference of Committee Chairs and a substitute on the Committee on
Industry, Research and Energy. His key activities in the EP include
European Climate Policy, European Environmental Policy and Energy
issues.
Prior to serving as MEP, Matthias Groote was working as a sales and
mechanical engineer in the field of plant construction, after graduating
as an industrial engineer from the University of Applied Sciences in
Wilhelmshaven (Germany). Before studying, he completed a vocational
training as a mechanical engineer at Deutsche Bahn AG.
Matthias Groote MEP, Chair of the
Environment Committee of the
European Parliament (S&D, DE)
Connie HEDEGAARD, EU Commissioner
for Climate Action
Born in 1960, Connie Hedegaard had already been working with climate
issues for several years by the time she began her appointment as the
EU's first ever Commissioner for Climate Action in February 2010.
In August 2004 she was appointed as Danish Minister for the
Environment. In 2007 she was in charge of setting up the Danish
Ministry of Climate and Energy, where one of the main tasks was to
prepare the UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen in December 2009.
Connie Hedegaard began her political career while a student at the
University of Copenhagen. There she studied literature and history
while at the same time pursuing a political career that encompassed
both Danish and international politics. In 1984, at the age of 23, she
was elected to the Danish Parliament as a member for the Conservative
People's Party, thereby becoming the youngest Danish MP ever at that
time, and in 1985 she became Chair of the Atlantic Association of Young
Political Leaders. In 1989, Connie Hedegaard became first spokesperson
for the Conservative People's Party, but chose to leave politics for
journalism in 1990.
Besides her political career, Connie Hedegaard has had a long career in
journalism. In 1990, she began working as a journalist on the Danish
national newspaper Berlingske Tidende. In 1998 she became head of
the news bulletin service Radioavisen at the Danish Broadcasting
Corporation, after which she hosted the current affairs
programme Deadline on the television channel DR2. Between 1998 and
2004 she also wrote for the Danish national daily newspaper Politiken.
Apart from working as a politician and journalist, Connie Hedegaard has
sat on a number of committees and boards, including chairing the
Centre for Cultural Cooperation with Developing Countries (CKU) and as
a member of the board of the Danish Parliament's Democracy
Foundation. Lastly, she has received various prizes for her involvement
in and contributions to social debate, due in great part to her wideranging activities as a lecturer and author. Her publications include Da
klimaet blev hot, [When the climate got hot]published in Denmark in
2008, as well as contributions to several anthologies and topical books
Connie Hedegaard lives in Brussels and in Hellerup, Denmark with her
husband, Jacob, and their two sons.
Lena Ek was appointed Minister for the Environment in September
2011. A former municipal commissioner, Ms Ek has held a range of
different positions and responsibilities in national administration and
business. She was elected to the Swedish Parliament in 1998 and was a
Member of the European Parliament from 2004-2011. Ms Ek has an
honorary doctorate from Lund University, where she was a researcher
and lecturer in international law.
Lena EK, Swedish Minister for
Environment
Mark LAWRENCE, IASS Potsdam
Dr. Mark Lawrence is a scientific director at the Institute for Advanced
Sustainability Studies (IASS), leading the research cluster SIWA,
Sustainable Interactions with the Atmosphere. SIWA focuses on the
impacts and mitigation of short-lived, climate-forcing pollutants
(SLCPs), particularly in the face of global urbanization, and on the
potential impacts, uncertainties and risks of “climate engineering”.
Dr. Lawrence received his Ph.D. in 1996 in Earth and Atmospheric
Science from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, (USA). His
Ph.D. research was mainly conducted at the Max-Planck-Institute for
Chemistry (MPIC) in Mainz.
From 2000 until 2005, Dr. Lawrence led an independent junior research
group at MPIC, and in 2006 he took over the atmospheric modelling
group at MPIC. He received his Habilitation in 2006 at the University of
Mainz, where he also served as interim professor for meteorology
during 2009-2010, winning the 2010 annual Teaching Award from the
State of Rheinland-Pfalz, as well as a University Teaching Award.
Dr. Lawrence is author or co-author of over 100 peer-reviewed
publications. He co-coordinated the EU project “MEGAPOLI” (20082011), and now coordinates the EU project “EuTRACE” (European
Transdisciplinary Assessment of Climate Engineering). Dr. Lawrence has
served as editor for the journals Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics,
and Atmospheric Environment, and has served or serves on various
international committees, most notably the Science Team of the UNEP
Atmospheric Brown Clouds project (ABC), the Scientific Steering
Committee of the International Global Atmospheric Chemistry project
(IGAC), and the Commission on Atmospheric Chemistry and Global
Pollution (CACGP).
Chris Davies has been the Liberal Democrat MEP for the North West
since 1999, and was re-elected in the 2004 and 2009 European
Parliament elections.
He was born in Lancashire, grew up in Cheshire, has served as a
councillor on Merseyside and as an MP in Greater Manchester. As a fell
runner he claims Cumbria as his spiritual home!
Chris DAVIES MEP (ALDE, UK)
Linda MCAVAN MEP (S&D, UK)
A Cambridge University graduate, prior to his 1999 election to the
European Parliament he was a marketing consultant, and he ran his
own business for much of the previous 15 years. He served for two
years (1995-97) as Member of Parliament for the Littleborough and
Saddleworth (Oldham/Rochdale) constituency, having spent a decade
building up the party locally, and contesting two general elections,
before it became the location for a controversial parliamentary byelection.
He is a former Chairman of the Housing Committee on Liverpool City
Council, and represented the city centre/Toxteth ward of Abercromby
from 1980-84. A decade later he represented Lees ward on Oldham
MBC (1994-98).
From June 2004 until May 2006, Chris was Leader of the UK Liberal
Democrat delegation in the European Parliament. He is currently the
Environment and Public Health spokesman for Liberals and Democrats
across Europe in the Parliament.
Linda McAvan was born and brought up in Eccleshill, Bradford and now
lives in Sheffield with her husband Paul. She is one of six MEPs
representing the region, and since the 2009 European election the sole
Labour representative.
Linda was first elected as an MEP in a 1998 by-election to represent the
Yorkshire South seat for Labour. Under the new proportional
representation system she headed Labour’s regional list for Yorkshire
and the Humber and was elected in 1999, 2004 and again in 2009. Linda
represents her home region as the only Labour Member of Parliament
for Yorkshire and the Humber.
As a Labour MEP, Linda sits in the Socialist and Democrat (S&D) Group
in the European Parliament, the second largest political group. Linda is
spokesperson for the S&D Group on the European Parliament’s
Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety. She has
a special interest in climate change and also works on EU laws on
pharmaceuticals. Linda is co-chair of the MEP Heart Group and is very
active on issues relating to neurological disorders. Back in the region,
Linda has worked to ensure that Yorkshire and the Humber is leading
the UK in tackling climate change with its ambitious plans for cleaning
up coal fired power stations and heavy industry.
Bas EICKHOUT MEP (Greens,
Netherlands)
Pieter DE POUS, Policy Director, EEB
Bas Eickhout (1976, Groesbeek), is a Member of the European
Parliament voor GroenLinks, the Dutch Greens. He is a member of the
Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, a
substitute member of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural
Development and the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs.
He is also a member of the Delegation for relations with the United
States.
Eickhout studied Chemistry and Environmental Science at the Radboud
University in Nijmegen and lives in Utrecht. Since 2000 he worked as a
researcher at the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency
(Planbureau voor de Leefomgeving). He worked on several projects
which had to do with international environmental problems, such as
climate change, agriculture, land-use and biofuels. He co-authored the
IPCC report on climate change which received the 2007 Nobel Peace
Prize.
He co-authored the GroenLinks election program for the European
elections in 2004 and 2009, and the Dutch elections in 2010 and 2012.
Pieter de Pous holds a master degree in forestry sciences from the
University of Wageningen in the Netherlands. Since 2005 he has
worked in the policy unit of the European Environmental Bureau,
coordinating the organizations advocacy work in the areas of
biodiversity, water, soil, bio-energy and agriculture policies. Since
September 2010 he is the EEB’s policy director. Managing a team of 8
policy officers, he leads the EEB’s policy work with a focus on natural
resources. Between March 1 and May 1 2011 he was acting Secretary
General of the EEB.
Jürgen RESCH, Deutsche Umwelthilfe
(DUH)
Juergen Resch (born 1960) has been Executive Director of Deutsche
Umwelthilfe e.V. (DUH) since 1986. DUH is the only German
environmental NGO that is also entitled to take action as consumer
protection NGO. Apart from realizing numerous practical nature and
environmental projects, the implementation of reformulated (sulphur
free) fuels in Europe, clean transportation technologies like diesel
particulate filters and NOx Kats and the establishment of about 40
environmental zones in German cities are among the most important
achievements of Deutsche Umwelthilfe e.V.
Climate protection and clean air policy are the main challenges for DUH.
“No Diesel without Filter” or “Sootfree for the Climate” are the most
important pan European campaigns dealing with the climate and health
impact of air quality within the last ten years. In addition, DUH runs
several national and Europe-wide competitions for individuals,
companies and cities, like the “Capital for climate protection” or the
“German Climate Award”. International collaboration is the key for
successful NGO projects. DUH runs a network with leading
environmental experts.
In addition to his fulltime position as Executive Director of Deutsche
Umwelthilfe, Jürgen Resch holds numerous honorary posts and is
founder of the internationally operating environmental foundations
Euronatur and Global Nature Fund. Since 1999, Jürgen Resch is also a
board member of Oro Verde, a foundation for the protection and
preservation of rain forests.