Christiane Grefe (born 1957, in Lüdenscheid) studied at the German School of Journalism and Political Science in Munich. She freelanced for several journals such as “natur”, “Geo Wissen”, and the “Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin”. Ms Grefe has been focusing on ecological and social issues since the early 1980s. Since 1999, she has been working as a reporter in the Berlin office of “Die Zeit”, one of the leading German national newspapers, which is known for its long and detailed articles. Christiane Grefe regularly covers agriculture and climate policy, migration and development policy, and health. Beside this, she takes part in panel discussions and moderates debates.
Ms Grefe is also an author of numerous non-fiction books. Some of them have been honoured with prestigious prizes, e. g. “The Global Countdown” (awarded by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung as "Political Book") or "Global Gardening. Bioeconomy – new overexploitation or economic system of the future?” (awarded by the Northern German Broadcasting as "Non-fiction book of the month").
As a journalist, Christiane Grefe helps to ensure that sustainability issues are present in public. She promotes the discussion about the future of our economy and way of life in the face of climate change and dwindling resources. For her commitment, she has been awarded the “B.A.U.M. Environment and Sustainability Award 2019” and the “Sustainability Award Neumarkter Lammsbräu 2016”.
Christiane Grefe – Author and Journalist with a focus on environment/ecology, DIE ZEIT
"Our pluralist societies are divided into many subsystems or 'silos'. Perhaps the greatest challenge to achieve the SDGs is to bring together different perspectives – also in science. So which solutions connect climate change, biodiversity and a responsible resource management, and all that with production, consumption and culture? How can the diversity of local solutions be connected to a just globalisation? I look forward to answers – or smarter questions – that young minds may find.”
