Svenja Schulze (born 29 September 1968) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has been serving as member of the German Bundestag since 2021, representing North Rhine-Westphalia.
On the national level, Schulze served as Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development in the cabinet of Olaf Scholz from 2021 to 2025 and as Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety in the fourth coalition government of Chancellor Angela Merkel from 2018 to 2021. From 15 July 2010 to 30 June 2017, she was Minister for Innovation, Science and Research in the state government of North Rhine-Westphalia.Abgeordnete Svenja Schulze , landtag.nrw.de
Early life and career Schulze was born in Düsseldorf and grew up in the Weckhoven district of Neuss.Eine Ministerin aus Weckhoven Rheinische Post, 28 July 2011. She completed her school-leaving exam in 1988 at the Gymnasium Norf in Neuss. She then studied German Studies and Political Science at Ruhr-Universität Bochum, which she completed in 1996 with the academic degree of Magistra Artium. As part of her studies, she also completed an internship at Alice-Salomon-Berufskolleg, a vocational school in Bochum.
After graduating, Schulze worked as a freelancer in the advertising and PR industry. From 2000, she worked as a management consultant specializing in the public sector, including at Mummert & Partner, BBDO and Booz & Company.
Political career Career in state politics Schulze joined the SPD in 1988Kristian Frigelj (March 9, 2018), Neue Umweltministerin Schulze: Ein alter Skandal haftet Nahles' Juso-Freundin noch an Die Welt. and served as highschool students' county spokesperson for North Rhine-Westphalia from 1988 to 1989, then as a member of the Socialist College Association and chair of the AStA at the University of Bochum. From 1993 to 1997, Schulze was North Rhine-Westphalia's regional leader of Jusos.
From 1996 to 2002 and again from 2006 to 2018, Schulze served on the leadership of the SPD in North Rhine-Westphalia.
From 3 June 1997 to 1 June 2000 and again from 22 October 2004, Schulze was a member of the State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia. She last moved in for Frank Baranowski, who had been elected Lead Mayor of Gelsenkirchen. In the 2005 and 2010 elections she was again elected to the state parliament. From 2005 until 2010, she served as her parliamentary group's spokesperson on environmental policy and consumer protection.Saskia Hassink (March 10, 2018), Svenja Schulze – die Unbekannte aus Münster Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung.Nora Marie Zaremba (October 18, 2018), Bundesministerin für Umwelt: Svenja Schulze sucht ihr Profil Der Tagesspiegel.
In 2007, Schulze took over the chairmanship of the SPD sub-district Münster from Christoph Strässer and held it until 21 May 2011.
After 2010 state elections, Minister-President Hannelore Kraft appointed Schulze as State Minister of Innovation, Science and Research of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (Cabinet Kraft I). With the abolition of tuition fees in North Rhine-Westphalia, Schulze launched one of the government's major political projects. During her term, the so-called "nuclear sphere affair" regarding the AVR reactor in Jülich occurred. At the election on 13 May 2012, she won the direct mandate in the Münster II constituency and was directly elected to the state legislature with 40.1 percent. On 21 June 2012, she was appointed again as State Minister of Innovation, Science and Research in the Cabinet Kraft II.
From 2017 until 2018, Schulze served as Secretary General of the SPD North Rhine-Westphalia, in this capacity supporting interim chairman Michael Groschek.NRW: SPD wählt Michael Groschek zum Landesparteichef, Die Zeit On 8 December 2017, she was elected to the SPD national board, under the leadership of chairwoman Andrea Nahles.Wahlergebnisse Parteivorstand 2017, SPD.de On the following day she was also elected to the SPD Presidium.BeisitzerInnen des SPD-Präsidiums gewählt, SPD.de
Federal Minister of the Environment, 2018–2021 In the negotiations to form a fourth coalition government under Chancellor Angela Merkel following the 2017 federal elections, Schulze was part of the working group on education policy, led by Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, Stefan Müller and Hubertus Heil. On 9 March 2018, she was nominated by the party executive committee of the SPD as Minister of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety in the new government.Unser Team, SPD.de When Germany held the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2020, she chaired the meetings of its Environment Council.Kate Abnett (20 September 2020), Eastern states sceptical of deeper greenhouse gas cuts at EU talks Reuters.
After SPD chairwoman Andrea Nahles resigned in 2019, Schulze declined to join the race to succeed her;Parteivorsitz Svenja Schulze will nicht für SPD-Vorsitz kandidieren Handelsblatt. instead Saskia Esken and Norbert Walter-Borjans became the party's co-chairs.
During her time in office, Schulze helped implement the Merkel government's 2019 agreement on the introduction of a carbon price for key sectors such as transport and a €54 billion spending package to encourage companies and households to reduce their carbon emissions.Tobias Buck (20 September 2019), Germany unveils sweeping measures to fight climate change Financial Times. She later oversaw the introduction of 2021 legislation under which farmers in Germany would have to gradually reduce their use of glyphosate and stop using it completely from 2024 in order to preserve clean habitats for insects.Maria Sheahan (February 10, 2021), German cabinet approves legislation to ban glyphosate from 2024 Reuters. Later that year, she led the government's efforts to raise Germany's target for reducing carbon emissions by 2030 from 55 per cent to 65 per cent and to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045, five years earlier than initially planned.Guy Chazan (May 5, 2021), Germany sets ambitious new carbon emissions target Financial Times.Philip Oltermann and Fiona Harvey (May 6, 2021), Germany to bring forward climate goals after constitutional court ruling The Guardian.
In October 2020, Schulze announced that she would run for a parliamentary seat in the 2021 federal elections.Dirk Anger (1 October 2020), SPD-Bewerberin: Svenja Schulze will bei der Bundestagswahl 2021 kandidieren Westfälische Nachrichten. In the elections, she stood in Münster but came in third place. She was elected on the state list.
In the negotiations to form a so-called traffic light coalition of the SPD, the Green Party and the Free Democratic Party (FDP) following the elections, Schulze was part of her party's delegation in the working group on climate protection and energy policy, co-chaired by Matthias Miersch, Oliver Krischer and Lukas Köhler.Ampel-Koalition: Das sind die Verhandlungsteams von SPD, Grünen und FDP Deutschlandfunk, October 27, 2021.
At the COP26 climate summit in 2021, Schulze said that "nuclear power cannot be a solution in the climate crisis." At the time, Germany was engaging in a nuclear phaseout while experiencing an energy crisis and heavily relying on coal and natural gas for power generation.
Federal Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development, 2021–2025 After the SPD won the 2021 election, Olaf Scholz succeeded Merkel as Chancellor and named Schulze as Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, while, under the terms of the traffic light coalition agreement, Steffi Lemke of the Greens took Schulze's old job as Environment Minister. Schulze took office in her new role on 8 December 2021. Along with Hubertus Heil, she is currently the longest-serving cabinet member.List of federal ministers by seniority Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community.
In her capacity as minister, Schulze chaired the meetings of the Group of Seven (G7) development ministers when Germany held the group's rotating presidency in 2022.Andrew Green (18 May 2022), 'Critical' meetings of G-7 development and health ministers kick off Devex. In April 2022, she also co-hosted a donor conference which helped raise $4.8 billion in funding pledges for the vaccine-sharing scheme COVAX.Mrinalika Roy and Emma Farge (8 April 2022) Vaccine group Gavi secures $4.8 billion in funding pledges for COVAX Reuters. In response to the 2022 food crises, she led G7 efforts to establish the Global Alliance for Food Security, jointly convened with the World Bank.JOINT STATEMENT: G7 Presidency, World Bank Group Establish Global Alliance for Food Security to Catalyze Response to Food Crisis World Bank, press release of 19 May 2022.
In September 2022, Schulze made available an additional 200 million euros ($199.02 million) to fund Ukraine's aid programs for those internally displaced as a result of Russia's invasion.Riham Alkousaa (4 September 2022), Germany pledges $199 mln in aid for displaced people in Ukraine - minister Reuters.
In October 2023, Schulze joined the first joint cabinet retreat of the German and French governments in Hamburg, chaired by Scholz and President Emmanuel Macron.Sarah Marsh and Andreas Rinke (9 October 2023), Germany, France hold unprecedented cabinet retreat to oil creaky EU motor Reuters.Erste deutsch-französische Kabinettsklausur: Zukunftsfragen und Weltpolitik diskutiert Cabinet of Germany, press release of 10 October 2023.
Member of the German Parliament, 2021–present Since leaving government in 2025, Schulze has been a member of the German Parliament's Budget Committee and its Subcommittee on European Affairs.Svenja Schulze Bundestag. In this capacity, she has been her parliamentary group's rapporteur on the annual budget of the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and SpaceDaniel Delhaes (15 October 2025), Bundeshaushalt: Die stille Reserve der Forschungsministerin Bär Handelsblatt. and a member of the so-called Confidential Committee (Vertrauensgremium) of the Budget Committee, which provides budgetary supervision for Germany's three intelligence services, BND, BfV and MAD.Kaufmann nicht zum Vizepräsidenten gewählt – Gremien besetzt Bundestag, press release of 26 June 2025.
In addition to her committee assignments, Schulze is part of the German-Italian Parliamentary Friendship Group.
Other activities International organizations Joint World Bank-IMF Development Committee, member (2022–2025)Members Joint World Bank-IMF Development Committee. Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), World Bank Group, Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2021–2025) World Bank, ex-officio member of the Board of Governors (2021–2025)
Corporate boards KfW, ex-officio member of the Board of Supervisory Directors (2018–2025)Board of Supervisory Directors and its Committees KfW. NRW.BANK, member of the Parliamentary Advisory Board (2017–2018)
Non-profit organizations German Foundation for World Population (DSW), member of the Parliamentary Advisory Board (since 2026)Advisory Board German Foundation for World Population (DSW). Friends of the Global Fund (Europe), member of the Board of Directors (since 2025)Board of Directors Friends of the Global Fund (Europe). Rotary International, chair of the German Parliamentary Advisory Board of "End Polio Now" (since 2025) Business Forum of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, member of the Political Advisory Board (since 2020)Bernd Westphal und Anke Rehlinger koordinieren neu konstituierten Politischen Beirat des SPD-Wirtschaftsforums Business Forum of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, press release of 1 July 2020. ZDF, member of the Program Committee (since 2019)Members of the Program Committee ZDF. German Research Foundation (DFG), member of the Joint Committee (2010–2017) Max Planck Society, member of the Senate (2010–2017) Heinrich Hertz Foundation, chairwoman of the Board of Trustees (2010–2017)