Sandra Overlack
Sandra Overlack (born 2000) is a German climate change activist and student of engineering management at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. In September 2020[1] she co-founded a regional branch of the Klimaliste political association in Freiburg, Baden-Württemberg along with 24 others,[2] with the aim of advocating for the implementation of more environmental and youth-centric policies. She had intended to represent Klimaliste in the Rastatt constituency for the 2021 Baden-Württemberg state election,[3] but in January 2021 she and three other fellow Klimaliste candidates announced they no longer wished to run for their respective seats.
In January 2021 the German edition of The Economist, published by Focus magazine, labelled her as one of 20 people who would help shape and influence Germany in 2021 alongside personalities such as Jens Spahn and Friedrich Merz.[4]
Personal life[edit]
Overlack was born in Rastatt in 2000 and completed her Abitur at LWG in 2018.[5] Since 2019 she has been studying a Bachelor of Science in engineering management at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, with an expected graduation date of 2025. She has previously worked as an intern for the Schnitzer Group from June–August 2019, and in November 2020 she began an internship at Pacifico Renewables Yield AG. In the past she has also taken on voluntary work for several years with the German local youth magazine Ravolution. Alongside her native language of German, she claims to have linguistic skills in Chinese, English, Italian, and Latin.[6]
Political activism[edit]
Overlack was previously a member of the youth division of the Green Party (Germany) for a few weeks, but left as she felt that she would be "unable to make much of a difference".[7] Following her departure, she says that a group of climate activists came up with the idea of founding a branch of the Klimaliste association in her region — largely born out of a dissatisfaction with their perceived environmental performance of the existing Green Party in Baden-Württemberg.[7] In September 2020 the regional branch was founded and Overlack was nominated as one of six board members.[8]
The founding of the regional branch has been subject to some controversy. The minister president of Baden-Württemberg, Winfried Kretschmann for the Green Party, has accused the association of threatening to weaken the green movement by "splitting" the environmentalist vote[9] and thus potentially costing the Green Party seats in the upcoming election. Overlack has, however, stated that she does not see Klimaliste as a threat, but instead as an additional, supportive political power;[7] born out of impatience with progress thus far.[10][11] News organisations, such as Die Tageszeitung and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, have stated that the association will be the biggest real challenge to the existing environmental parties in Baden-Württemberg in many years.[10][8]
Overlack's political ideas fall into the left-wing side of the spectrum, primarily owing to her belief that the environment is of a greater priority than the economy. She states that is vital we meet the carbon neutrality goals of the Paris Agreement by 2035, and emphasises that Germany needs to further research how best to exploit solar and wind power. Comparisons have been drawn with the Fridays For Future campaign, with this being a source of inspiration for the association.[7] Her overarching goal is to ensure a global temperature increase of no greater than 1.5 degrees Celsius.[12]
Withdrawal from politics[edit]
In mid-January 2021 divisions started to appear within the regional branch of the Klimaliste association, with board members Jessica Stolzenberger and Jessica Hubbard announcing their intention to leave their posts and to abandon their campaigns for local government. Shortly after, Overlack herself and Sebastian Olejek also announced they would be doing the same. This move was described as 'surprising' due to Klimaliste's unexpected success during the COVID-19 pandemic in obtaining the required 5,000 signatures for standing for election.
Overlack stated her reason for withdrawing from the race was due to The Left (Germany), the Greens, and the Social Democratic Party of Germany committing also to a maximum of 1.5 degrees Celsius increase in global temperatures, thus meaning Klimaliste no longer had a 'unique selling point' in the state election. She further stated she intends to remain part of Klimaliste as an ordinary member, and believes that the association is responsible for the Greens deciding to commit to the 1.5 degrees Celsius temperature goal.[13]
External links[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ "Klimaliste gegründet". SWR (in German). 21 September 2020. Retrieved 16 January 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help)CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link) - ↑ Ferber, Martin (5 October 2020). "19-Jährige aus Rastatt will mit der neu gegründeten Klimaliste in den Landtag". Badische Neueste Nachrichten (in German). Retrieved 16 January 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help)CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link) - ↑ "Kandidatur für Wahlkreis 32 - Rastatt". Klimaliste Baden-Württemberg (in Deutsch). Retrieved 16 January 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Die Welt 2021". The Economist (in Deutsch). Focus. January 2021. p. 25. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Overlack, Sandra (28 August 2019). "Viele veränderte Welten verändern die Welt". Ravolution (in Deutsch). Retrieved 16 January 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Sandra Overlack". LinkedIn. Retrieved 16 January 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Max, Marianne (15 November 2011). "Warum diese Umweltaktivistin von den Grünen enttäuscht ist". t-online (in Deutsch). Retrieved 16 January 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 8.0 8.1 Soldt, Rüdiger (8 November 2020). "Die Grünen bekommen Konkurrenz". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in Deutsch). Retrieved 16 January 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Kretschmann sieht "Klimaliste" als Gefahr für die Grünen". SWR (in Deutsch). 6 October 2020. Retrieved 16 January 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Grüner als die Grünen". Die Tageszeitung (in Deutsch). 28 October 2020. Retrieved 16 January 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Löffler, Katharina (16 November 2020). "Neue Partei für Klimaschutz: Klimaliste will dunkelgrüne Politik machen". Reutlinger General-Anzeige (in Deutsch). Retrieved 16 January 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Riexinger, Klaus (21 September 2020). ""Klimaliste" in Freiburg gegründet – aus Enttäuschung über Grüne und Klimapaket". Badische Zeitung (in Deutsch). Retrieved 16 January 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Ferber, Martin (22 January 2021). "Neue Partei "Klimaliste" zerfällt in Baden-Württemberg in zwei Lager". Badische Neueste Nachrichten (in Deutsch). Retrieved 22 January 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help)
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