born: 1958
married, four children
land list: Lower Saxony

Office in Berlin
T: +49 30/227-71870
F: +49 30/227-76869
thilo.hoppe@bundestag.de

Spokesperson on global feeding

As a journalist I accompanied a group of development experts on a journey through Bolivia and Peru in 1982. The confrontation with the hardship there was a shock and a challenge to me. The question of why there is so much poverty and suffering in countries so rich in mineral resources and fertile agricultural land has concerned me ever since.

But I didn't – and still don't – simply want to throw light on the issue, but to change things. As a religious educator and deacon I later became involved, among other activities, in church one-world groups and Protestant youth work on fair trade.

As a politician I am continuing this involvement through other means. I have been a member of the Bundestag since 2002, and in the 15th parliamentary term I was spokesman on development policy for the parliamentary group of Alliance 90/The Greens. I have been chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Economic Cooperation and Development since 2005.

Contrary to the ceremoniously proclaimed millennial goal of reducing hunger by half by 2015, this year has even seen it rise, which calls for even greater efforts. We need to eliminate unjust global economic structures, staunchly tackle the necessary reforms and allocate much higher funding for development and humanitarian aid. My political activities are committed to these aims.

Committees

• Committee on Economic Cooperation and Development (deputy chair. + m.)

Political CV

• Via the grassroots movement Democracy Now to Alliance 90, and through the fusion with the Greens became a member of Alliance 90/The Greens (1993)

• Chairperson of the Green group Aurich Council (1996-02)

• Member of the Bundestag (since 2002)

• Spokesperson on development policy (2002-05)

• Chairperson of the Development Committee (2005-2009)