"Consulted by the Pope": Catholic Academy of Bavaria honours climate economist Edenhofer

05/16/2018 - The Catholic Academy of Bavaria honours the climate economist Ottmar Edenhofer with its Romano Guardini Prize. "As a renowned economist, committed political advisor, and public admonisher, Ottmar Edenhofer has restlessly pointed to climate change as one of the most pressing problems on Earth, and has proposed concrete solutions," the Academy explained. "Not least Pope Francis was seeking Ottmar Edenhofer’s advice repeatedly and intensively for his encyclical Laudato Si. Both are convinced that environmental degradation and poverty are closely intertwined problems that can only be resolved together in the 'concern about our common house'.” Edenhofer is Chief Economist and designated new Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), a member of Leibniz Association; as well he is Director of the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC) and Professor at Technische Universität Berlin (TUB).
"Consulted by the Pope": Catholic Academy of Bavaria honours climate economist Edenhofer

 "Professor Edenhofer, like Romano Guardini, is driven by the 'concern for humankind’, which for both is deeply rooted in Christian philosophy and Catholic piety," emphasized Academy Director Florian Schuller. The prize is awarded for "outstanding merits to the interpretation of time and world in all areas of spiritual life", thus commemorating one of the most important religious philosophers and theologians of the 20th century. Edenhofer has been advising the World Bank, the European Commission and the German government, states the Academy: "Environmentalists and industrialists alike esteem him. In the top level group of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), he played a key role in negotiating the documents that became fundamental for the Paris Climate Summit of 2015.

The award ceremony will take place in Munich at the beginning of July. Past award winners include the social ethicist and economic philosopher Prof. Dr. Oswald von Nell-Breuning, Nobel Prize laureate in physics Prof. Dr. Werner Heisenberg, former judge of the German Constitutional Court Prof. Dr. Dr. Ernst-Wolfgang Böckenförde, the composer Carl Orff, the theologian Prof. Dr. Karl Rahner, and former German Federal President Dr. Richard von Weizsäcker.

Weblink to the Romano Guardini Prize: http://www.kath-akademie-bayern.de/romano-guardini-preis.html

Weblink to Ottmar Edenhofer's speech: Video and PDF

Weblink to PIK: https://www.pik-potsdam.de/members/edenh

Weblink to MCC: https://www.mcc-berlin.net/ueber-uns/team/edenhofer-ottmar.html

Weblink to TUB: http://www.tu-berlin.de/menue/home/

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