Tanja Goenner – the first woman to head the Federation of German Industries

Tanja Goenner will be the first woman to head the Federation of German Industries. The CDU politician and former State Minister for Baden-Wuerttemberg is to take over the vacant position at Germany’s most influential industry association starting this summer. Her predecessor Joachim Lang left the post on May 31.

Goenner plans to put greater emphasis on sustainability for the association. “The transformation to carbon neutrality, the challenges in the international context and acceptance in society” are what the 52-year-old sees as the main tasks in her new role. In her current job as spokeswoman for the board of the German Corporation for International Cooperation GmbH (GIZ), Goenner has already advocated for a green reconstruction of the global economy after the Covid pandemic. She frequently stresses that economic policy must always be climate policy as well.