"The implementation of the climate plan adopted in March is crucial on the path to Brandenburg's climate neutrality by 2045," said Brandenburg's Climate Protection Minister Axel Vogel during the inaugural meeting. "The Scientific Climate Advisory Board will play a central role in monitoring the achievement of the climate targets. We have succeeded in attracting top-class scientists to the advisory board. They will monitor climate policy in Brandenburg and provide scientific support with proposals for further development. This has never happened before in this form in Brandenburg and is a great benefit for our state. With PIK, we were able to win over one of the most internationally renowned research institutes in the field of climate research, for the chairmanship, which Prof. Hermann Lotze-Campen, Head of the Climate Resilience Research Department, will assume."
Lotze-Campen, a trained farmer and agricultural economist, heads the Climate Resilience research department at PIK. "For the effective and timely implementation of the climate plan in Brandenburg, it is important to involve all stakeholders in the various fields of action," explains the PIK researcher. "The path to climate neutrality will be successful if climate protection is taken into account in all administrative and economic processes at state level. The Scientific Climate Advisory Board will constructively support the implementation and further development of the climate plan in Brandenburg with its expert opinions and recommendations. It will point out important cross-connections between the fields of action, e.g. on the topic of water, and will be keen to engage in a regular, active exchange with the state government."
Ottmar Edenhofer, Scientific Director at PIK, underlines the urgency to act and the importance of scientific expert panels for climate protection: "Man-made global warming is progressing faster than ever before, driven by persistently high greenhouse gas emissions of 53 billion tons of CO2 annually. Global surface temperatures in 2023 were 1.43 degrees above pre-industrial levels, of which 1.3 degrees resulted from human activities. It is a great honor for the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research to support the state of Brandenburg in implementing its climate plan. Science cannot solve the decision-making problem for politicians - i.e. weighing up the various aspects of conflicting goals. But it can draw up a map of various options for action, highlight the potential and risks of viable paths and thus support politicians in their steering function. We aim to do this for the state government to the very best of our abilities."
The establishment of the Scientific Climate Advisory Board is part of the climate plan adopted by the state government in March 2024. The Scientific Climate Advisory Board is an independent panel of experts made up of five female and seven male scientists from Brandenburg. Its role is to provide scientific advice on the monitoring of the climate plan, for example on the evaluation of the development of greenhouse gas emissions in Brandenburg, the degree to which targets have been achieved and the measures of the climate plan. The members of the high-level Climate Advisory Board cover all key sectors and fields of action of the Climate Plan with their expertise and were appointed by the Ministry of Climate Protection on the recommendation of the relevant ministries.
The members were initially appointed for three years until July 31, 2027. By the end of the year, an office will be set up at PIK with two research assistants to support the Chair and the Advisory Board.
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