Reinhard Bütikofer is a Member of the European Parliament

About:

Reinhard Bütikofer is a Member of the European Parliament for the German Green Party and the European Parliament's Rapporteur on Raw Materials. He is a member of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, the Subcommittee on Security and Defense and a substitute member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. He sits on the Delegation for Relations with the United States as well as the Delegation for Relations with the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. He is also a substitute member of the Delegation for Relations with China. Mr. Bütikofer is a vice-chair and the treasurer of his political group, The Greens/European Free Alliance in the European Parliament. He is also the Group's spokesperson on industrial policy. Furthermore, he is delegation speaker for the parliamentarians from the German Green Party (Bündnis 90/Die Grunen).

From 2002 until 2008 Mr. Bütikofer was the national party chairman of the German Green Party. He was secretary general from 1998 until 2002. Prior to that he was the state chairman of the Green Party in Baden-Württemberg. He served as a member of the Baden-Württemberg state parliament from 1988 until 1996. His career with the Green Party began when he was elected to the city council of Heidelberg in 1984.

Mr. Bütikofer is a member of the board of the Aspen Institute Berlin, the advisory board of the American Jewish Committee's Ramer Center in Berlin, the Europe/Transatlantic advisory board of the Heinrich Böll Foundation, the German-Chinese Dialogue Forum, the Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU), and the European Green Foundation.

Mr. Bütikofer was born in Mannheim, Germany, in 1953 and grew up in Speyer. In 1969-70 he spent a year in Kenosha, Wisconsin. After high school he studied philosophy, history, classical history, and sometimes Sinology, in Heidelberg.

Major Sustainability Achievements

He was the author of the Report on an Effective Raw Materials Strategy for Europe in European Parliament on 25.7.2011 that was overwelmly approved by European parliament

In this report under his leadership the following important issues have been developed and established

• A Raw Materials Strategy
• Turning a challenge into an opportunity for European industry: resource efficiency, re-use, recycling and substitution
• Sustainable supply in the EU
• International fair and sustainable supply of raw materials
• Agricultural products and commodity markets
• Raw Materials Diplomacy

The full report can be found here (click)

Press Releases:

Click here to see a Press Release about the Award

R. Butikofer, Receiving the Fray International Sustainability Award from Dr. Florian Kongoli at FLOGEN SIPS 2011

Acceptance Speech of Hon. Reinhard Butikofer to Dr. Florian Kongoli, on the occasion of winning the FLOGEN 2011 Fray International Sustainability Award