Federal Minister Gabriel congratulates UBA President on retirement

After serving as President of the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) for 14 years, Prof. Dr. Andreas Troge was retired at his own request today (28 July 2009). During a symposium held at the UBA offices in Dessau-Roßlau Federal Minister for Environment Gabriel handed Prof. Dr. Troge his document of discharge. Until a successor is appointed, UBA Vice President, Dr.Thomas Holzmann, will perform the duties of president at the Agency.

Gabriel emphasised that during his tenure as President of the Federal Environment, Agency Troge both set the stage and established standards in environmental protection, saying, "I believe it was the mixture of strong personal conviction, exemplary expertise, and a pronounced interest in his fellow man that distinguishes his time at the Federal Environment Agency, and it has been an exceptionally successful era in environmental protection."

Andreas Troge, 59, came to UBA in 1990 to serve initially as Vice President. In 1995 he took charge of the Agency, which currently employs about 1,400 staff. The economist's first contact with UBA was in 1981 when he acted as a consultant to the Agency. He was Environmental Officer at the Federation of German Industries until the mid-1980s and later became Managing Director of the Cologne-based Institut für gewerbliche Wasserwirtschaft und Luftreinhaltung e.V. (IWL), an industry self-help organisation concerned with emission and immission measurements, management consulting and further training of corporate environmental officers.

In addition to his position at UBA, Troge has also held a post as lecturer in environmental economics at the University of Bayreuth since 1983, from where he had received his doctorate in 1981. He was appointed honorary professor of the university in 1996. His main fields of research include theoretical and practical environmental economics, the theory and practice of economic systems, new economic policy theory, and sectoral structural policy.