Barbara Anne Hendricks (born 29 April 1952) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who served as Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety in the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel from 2013 until 2018.

After obtaining her Abitur in 1970 at the Johanna Sebus Gymnasium in Kleve, Hendricks studied History and Social Sciences in Bonn, passing the Staatsexamen examination for high school teachers in 1976.

In 1980 she was awarded a doctorate based on a thesis entitled Die Entwicklung der Margarineindustrie am unteren Niederrhein [The development of the margarine industry on the lower Rhine].

From 22 November 2005, Hendricks continued in this office in the first cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel – meaning that she was a state secretary under three finance ministers: Oskar Lafontaine, Hans Eichel, and Peer Steinbrück.

[2] In the campaign for the 2009 German federal election Hendricks was a member of the "shadow cabinet" of the SPD candidate for the chancellorship, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, where she was responsible for consumer affairs.

In the negotiations to form a coalition government following the 2013 federal elections, Hendricks was part of the 15-member leadership circle chaired by Angela Merkel, Horst Seehofer and Sigmar Gabriel.

[6] In early 2015, Hendricks proposed a new draft law that imposes an outright ban on fracking for shale gas in the following years and only allow scientific test drilling under strict conditions to assess the risks and environmental impact.

In addition to her committee assignments, she served as deputy chairwoman of the Parliamentary Friendship Group for Relations with the Cono Sur States (Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay).