Martin Bursík (born 12 August 1959) is a Czech politician. Bursík has twice served as

Minister of the Environment An environment minister (sometimes minister of the environment or secretary of the environment) is a cabinet position charged with protecting the natural environment and promoting wildlife conservation. The areas associated with the duties of a ...

and is also former chairman of the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

Early life and education

In the 1980s, Bursík studied

environmental engineering Environmental engineering is a professional engineering Academic discipline, discipline related to environmental science. It encompasses broad Science, scientific topics like chemistry, biology, ecology, geology, hydraulics, hydrology, microbiolo ...

at the

Charles University Charles University (CUNI; , UK; ; ), or historically as the University of Prague (), is the largest university in the Czech Republic. It is one of the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest universities in the world in conti ...

. In June 1989, he joined the dissident movement and signed the declaration of the anti-communist movement. During the

Velvet Revolution The Velvet Revolution () or Gentle Revolution () was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations against the one-party government of the Communist Pa ...

in November 1989, he was one of the founders of the

Civic Forum The Civic Forum (, OF) was a political movement in the Czech part of Czechoslovakia, established during the Velvet Revolution in 1989. The corresponding movement in Slovakia was called Public Against Violence ( – VPN). The Civic Forum's purpo ...

. The

Civic Movement The Civic Movement (, OH) was a liberal political party based in the Czech Republic, which existed from 1991 to 1995. The party was established after the break-up of Civic Forum by the liberal wing of Civic Forum, while the conservative wing establ ...

, which emerged from the Civic Forum and would later become the Party for the Open Society, nominated him as vice-chairman and he was elected into parliament. After the breakup of the Civic Movement, Bursík switched to the Free Democrats. He served as the Minister of the Environment under

Josef Tošovský Josef Tošovský () (born 28 September 1950) is a Czech economist and former governor of Czech National Bank (from 1993 to 2000). From 17 December 1997 to 22 July 1998 he was the prime minister of the Czech Republic in a caretaker government. C ...

for a few months in 1998. Bursík unsuccessfully ran for mayor of

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

and joined the

Christian Democrats Christian democracy is an ideology inspired by Christian social teaching to respond to the challenges of contemporary society and politics. Christian democracy has drawn mainly from Catholic social teaching and neo-scholasticism, as well a ...

but left this party in 2003. He joined the Green Party in June 2004 and was elected party chairman. After 2006 parliament election he became a

member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

of the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

and was also appointed Minister of the Environment in the second cabinet of

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Mirek Topolánek Mirek Topolánek (, born 15 May 1956) is a Czech Republic, Czech politician and business manager who served as the prime minister of the Czech Republic from 2006 to 2009 and the leader of the Civic Democratic Party (Czech Republic), Civic Democr ...

. His priority as Minister of the Environment was

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

. As of 2014 he is a professor at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

in Prague.

References

* Schwarz, Karl-Peter: "Außen neureich, innen grün" in FAZ May 9, 2006 pg. D8. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bursik, Martin 1959 births Politicians from Prague Living people Members of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic (2006–2010) Environment ministers of the Czech Republic Leaders of the Green Party (Czech Republic) Charles University alumni Green Party (Czech Republic) Government ministers KDU-ČSL politicians Green Party (Czech Republic) MPs