Jochen Flasbarth Leaves the Federal Ministry for the Environment

2026-10-12 19:15

According to information from the Handelsblatt, the State Secretary is set to leave the ministry as early as the beginning of November 2026 and will head the European Climate Foundation in the future.

Flasbarth, who played a key role in numerous international climate and biodiversity negotiations as well as in major developments in German environmental policy, is moving to the international European Climate Foundation (ECF), headquartered in The Hague, according to a letter from Federal Environment Minister Carsten Schneider (SPD) to the staff at the Federal Ministry for the Environment (BMUKN), as reported by the Handelsblatt. Flasbarth will officially assume his new position as head of the ECF in February 2027. With Flasbarth’s departure, the federal government is losing one of its most influential climate advocates. He has shaped German environmental policy for decades in various top positions, such as president of the Umweltbundesamt (Federal Environment Agency, UBA) and as State Secretary at the BMUKN from 2013 to 2021, as well as again starting in May 2025.

According to the report, Heike Henn will become the new State Secretary at the BMUKN starting in early November 2026. She currently heads the Department of International Climate Policy at the ministry. Henn, who is to have an excellent international network, will assume the post of State Secretary at the BMUKN shortly before the 31st United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP31), which begins on November 9 in Turkey. According to the BMUKN, the COP31 agenda includes, among other things, the phase-out of fossil fuels, international climate finance, a global electrification target, clean tech, and the circular economy.

Sources:

Handelsblatt (5.10.2026)
BMUKN

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