Sjearp Groeneveld

Sjearp Groeneveld
Groeneveld in 2021
Secretary of the Environment
Incumbent
Assumed office 28 September 2017
Premier	Liekele Ykema Hepke Veltman Ottila Möller
Preceded by	Björn Auer
Leader of Green - Alternative Choice
Incumbent
Assumed office 11 December 2021
Preceded by	Aadu Kotka
Member of the Folkssenaat
Incumbent
Assumed office 28 September 2014
Constituency	Wottested
Personal details
Born	(1987-11-02) 2 November 1987 s'Holle, Hennehouwe
Nationality	Alslandic
Political party	Green - Alternative Choice
Spouse	Anna Groeneveld (m. 2021)
Children	1
Residence(s)	Wottested, Alsland
Alma mater	University of Wottested
Occupation	Politician · Solicitor
Website	Secretary of the Environment

Sjearp Rik Groeneveld (born 2 November 1987) is an Alslandic politician serving as Secretary of the Environment since 2017. He is also the leader of Green - Alternative Choice since 2021 and has been a member of the Folkssenaat since 2014.

Born in s'Holle to a Hennish mother and an Aldman father from Estmere. Groeneveld graduated from the University of Wottested in in 2007 and was a Solicitor in Wottested for several years before being elected to the Folkssenaat in 2014. After Björn Auer's resignation, Groeneveld was appointed as the Secretary of the Environment on the request of Aadu Kotka. Groeneveld was the Green - Alternative Choice's candidate for President in 2020 and was only narrowly defeated by Hepke Veltman. He became leader of the party in 2021.

Early life

Groeneveld was born in s'Holle, Hennehouwe in 1987. He was the only child of Marije Deterink-Groeneveld (1950) and Hinric Groeneveld (1942-1999), Marije Deterink-Groeneveld was of Hennish-Dellish descent and was a school teacher at an elementary school in s'Holle whilst Hinric Groeneveld was of Weranian-Aldmanic descent and had migrated to s'Holle two years prior to Groeneveld's birth. In 1999 Marije Deterink-Groeneveld and Hinric Groeneveld divorced and Marije and Groeneveld migrated to Wottested to be with Marije's Dellish family. After the divorce Hinric died in a car crash in Etruria.

Groeneveld spent his teenage years in relative poverty and was dependent on regular welfare payments. He graduated from high school in 2003 before spending a year as a humanitarian aid worker in Bahia. The following year he enrolled in the University of Wottested and graduated with a degree on politics and sociology in 2007. After graduating he was briefly unemployed before gaining employment as a Solicitor. He became a prominent leader within the Jonge Groenen which he had been a member of since 2004. In 2012 he was labelled as Hjoed's #6 future stars to watch for his work in the party's youth group.

Political career

Folkssenaat

In 2014, Groeneveld was elected to the Folkssenaat and was thus expected to renounce his Hennish citizenship which he did not do. In 2020 shortly before the 2020 Presidential election The Yndyk Times reported on his dual-citizenship controversy, Groeneveld subsequently renounced his Hennish citizenship before an investigation by the Folkssenaat's standards committee could be launched. According to Joshua Wolfensohn of ANS the scandal likely cost Groeneveld the election as he had a slim but stable lead in opinion polls prior to the news breaking.

Political views

Groeneveld wishes to see the expedited closure of Alsland's nuclear power plants including Penzmölsen (pictured) which underwent major state-funded renovations in 2019 to extend it's lifespan beyond 2040

Groeneveld is regarded as a moderate within the party and a unifier between the party's centre-left factions and the now dominant centre-right and centrist factions. He is a supporter of returning certain policy decisions to local authorities and placing more importance of local decisions and issues. Groeneveld is opposed to nuclear power and wishes to see a swift end to Alsland's nuclear power plants, in particular under his leadership the Green party has placed the spotlight on Alsland's oldest nuclear power plant at Penzmölsen which was due to be closed in 2009 but has remained open. Groeneveld joined local residents in campaigning for the plant's immediate closure. He controversially claimed in 2022 that Penzmölsen was "one or two years away from experiencing a catastrophic meltdown the likes of which the world has never seen." His comments were derided within the media and the head of Alsland's nuclear power regulatory board dismissed his claims as fearmongering about nuclear power. Groeneveld is opposed to the usage of public funds to renovate Alsland's nuclear power plants and attended demonstrations in Penzmölsen opposing the renovations to the plant in 2014 and again in 2019.

In 2022 Groeneveld attended a debate with Felkert Smits where Groeneveld agreed with Smits' claim that a referendum on Dellish independence must be held before 2025. His statement was defended by Green Party senators and caused a fracture within the government with Social Democratic members opposing the statement and criticising Groeneveld and Liberal members defending Groeneveld. After the controversy Groeneveld declared himself against Dellish independence but said that a referendum was in line with the Green Party's policy on democracy and the use of public referendums to decide major policies.

Personal life

Groeneveld married Anna Wahl in 2021 and the couple have one child together. Groeneveld and Wahl live in Wottested. Groeneveld is a fluent speaker of 4 languages; Hennish which is his first language, Dellish, Kirenian and Gaullican. He claims to have a basic understanding of Weranian and Estmerish.