Ex-Environment Minister
Hendricks: Economy was a higher priority than climate
According to former Federal Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks, economic issues often outweighed climate protection during her tenure. photo
©Oliver Berg/dpa
Their opponents were the agriculture minister, the transport minister and the economy minister: ex-environment minister Hendricks complained that the economy was prioritized during her term of office.
According to former Federal Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks, economic issues often outweighed climate protection during her tenure. “The economy was given a higher priority than the climate,” said the SPD politician to the editorial network Germany (RND). It was not always easy to assert oneself as environment minister in the federal government. “During my time as federal minister, I noticed again and again that the environment minister’s natural opponents are the agriculture minister, the transport minister and the economics minister.”
Hendricks was Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety in the cabinet of then Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) from late 2013 to mid-March 2018.
She was optimistic that there will be a speed limit on autobahns in Germany at some point. “In general, you can drive much faster in Germany, for example on federal and country roads, than in many other European countries. That is not sustainable in the long run,” she told RND.