News
With the passing of Jens Martens, we have lost a pioneer of global sustainability policy, a mentor and a dear friend. We are deeply saddened by his untimely death. Our thoughts are with his family at this difficult time.
Jens was our Managing Director for 21 years and a defining figure in the economic justice movement in Germany and around the world. His involvement with non-governmental organisations was strongly influenced by the UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio in 1992. He was at the forefront of the boom in the establishment of NGOs inspired by the Rio process. From 1992 onwards, he helped build up WEED in Germany, and in 2004 he was the initiator of the Global Policy Forum Europe. He also played a key role in shaping the New York Global Policy Forum for many years.
Jens has championed the establishment of sustainability in its three dimensions – ecology, economy and social issues – as a comprehensive and universally applicable approach to development. When the Millennium Development Goals were in vogue, Jens was one of the first to advocate for an MDG+ agenda, which was ultimately successful in 2015 with the 2030 Agenda and its SDGs. Over the following decade, he campaigned vigorously for the implementation of the SDGs both in Germany and internationally. As a long-standing co-chair of Social Watch and coordinator of the Reflection Group on Sustainable Development, he ensured that innovative and critical thinking was incorporated into the process. These issues remained close to his heart right to the end. His final work, which he left to us as a manuscript, outlines how the sustainability agenda Beyond 2030 might proceed in difficult times.
For Jens, it was clear that there can be no sustainable development without adequate financing. In 2002, he was a participant at the first International Conference on Financing for Development in Monterrey. In the early stages of the United Nations’ Financing for Development process, he championed this new UN process, later he ensured that GPF Europe continues to support it closely to this day. When it became clear how important fair and effective taxation is, Jens was a pioneer of the global tax justice agenda, whose momentum continues to this day, and a co-founder of Netzwerk Steuergerechtigkeit, the Tax Justice Network in Germany.
As an expert and tireless defender of the multilateral system, he viewed the growing influence of private-sector lobby groups on national and international policy with deep concern. Over the years, he has carried out solid watchdog work to expose this influence and to urge governments to take action against it. Jens never trusted that profit-driven companies would regulate themselves through voluntary commitments. He called for legally binding measures. He enthusiastically welcomed the process towards a binding treaty on business and human rights at the United Nations in Geneva and supported it from the outset. He was also a co-founder of the Corporate Accountability (CorA) network in Germany.
The work that GPF Europe does today reflects Jens Martens’ life story. Our four programme areas reflect the various stages of his career and his work. Our approach continues to align with his method of linking the global level with the national and even local levels, and transferring knowledge from one to the other. In our work, we combine solid research and policy work with advocacy and networking activities, just as we learnt from Jens.
Jens always thought in the long term. His ability to make complex multilateral processes accessible to a broad public in language that everyone could understand was exceptional . His voice will be missed. He was a man who pursued his political goals with great tenacity. His unique blend of outstanding expertise, humour and personal modesty opened many doors and hearts for him.
When we bid farewell to Jens last summer as our Managing Director, as he entered his well-deserved retirement, we did not realise that it would be a farewell forever. His untimely and unexpected death has deeply saddened us. As the team of Global Policy Forum Europe, we will continue and further develop his work.
Bodo Ellmers, Sarah Ganter, Julia Hanne, Karolin Seitz, Celia Sudhoff
The Team of Global Policy Forum Europe, May 2026
