Courageous

Regine Barth has the courage of convictions

Regine Barth is a person who likes a challenge. This can be the Regional Dialogue Forum set up to mediate the expansion of Frankfurt airport. Or the ongoing controversies over the plan to create a German Environmental Code. The lawyer has headed the Öko-Institut’s Environmental Law & Governance Division since 2001. And since then the 39-year-old has been tackling enthusiastically the many questions at the interface of politics and science, particularly that of the right “instruments” to be deployed. What makes this such exciting work? “I want to use the tools of my craft to create something new, not just analyse what is there”, says Barth. She stresses that it is essential in such work to stand up for one’s convictions – and to muster the courage to reconsider one’s opinions in the light of new
findings.

“Indifference is the greatest barrier to innovation, as then everything just stagnates”, notes the lawyer. She makes no claim to having a blueprint for a sustainable future. She prefers instead to ask herself how the world can be made more sustainable here and now. “I believe that people can do great things. I take this confidence from history, from the development of the rule of law, social security systems, the United Nations and many other examples. I believe in the blend of creativity, intelligence and responsibility.” This can indeed set a great deal in motion. cr

info: Regine Barth

Responsible

Dr Brigitte Hamm upholds human rights

She was shaken by the scandalous chemical disaster in the Indian city of Bhopal, which killed 20,000 people and has devastated the health of a further 120,000 to this day. Dr Brigitte Hamm doesn’t just want to conduct studies; she wants to actually support the groups affected. “Respecting and protecting human rights is no longer just the job of governments, but also of companies operating on the ground,“ says Hamm, a member of staff at the Institute for Development and Peace (INEF) at the University of Duisburg-Essen. Binding rules are largely lacking, however. For this reason, voluntary initiatives are worthwhile. One example is the Business Leaders’ Initiative on Human Rights (BLIHR), in which businesses commit themselves to observe human rights.

Consumers too can wield considerable power if they give importance to certified products and fair trade. “If large chains become involved in labelling schemes, as is happening in the Netherlands and Britain to a greater extent than in Germany, they can reach a large number of consumers“, explains the 61-year-old. The urgent question now, according to this researcher, is to what extent transnational corporations in the new boom economies such as China and India exert a positive or negative impact on standards. kh

info: www.inef.uni-due.de

Committed

Claudia Langer is an ecorrect consumer

As a relentless optimist as well as a high-powered career woman, she is working on something she is convinced of: utopia is feasible – together we can change the world! “Never before in business and politics has there been the level of awareness that there is today regarding ethical consumption“, says communications expert Claudia Langer. This is why the 42-year-old has set up the web portal utopia.de, intended to provide a forum for orientation and exchange for all those who think “we really ought to do something.” The fact that we as consumers can send important signals via what we choose to consume, or not to consume, was not always at the forefront of Ms Langer’s mind. A child of the “no future” generation, at the age of 19 she founded the events management agency Avantgarde, and at 27 went on to establish one of Germany’s most successful advertising agencies, start AG. But soon she was no longer satisfied devising pithy slogans for MTV, Burger King or Deutsche Bank. “I used an advertising presentation to try to talk an energy supplier out of nuclear energy – and they just thought it was cute”, explains mother of three, Langer. Disillusioned, she and her husband left the agency they had established and launched into the adventure of a sabbatical year to decide on their way forward. The result has been available on the Internet for all to see since November, and has already attracted 7,000 members in only four weeks. kh

info: www.utopia.de