Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Hans Joachim Schellnhuber - Director Emeritus of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)
Hans Joachim (“John”) Schellnhuber studied physics and mathematics and completed his doctorate at the University of Regensburg. After a postdoctoral position at the Institute for Theoretical Physics, Santa Barbara, he held professorships at the Universities of Oldenburg and Potsdam, as well as at the University of East Anglia, Norwich. In addition, he held numerous visiting professorships (e.g., University of California, Santa Cruz; Oxford University; Santa Fe Institute; and Tsinghua University).
As founding director of PIK, he led the institute from 1991 until 2018. From 2001 until 2005, he was also research director at the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research in Great Britain. Among other learned societies, he is a member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, the German National Academy Leopoldina, the US National Academy of Sciences, and the Academia Europaea. He received, inter alia, the German Environment Prize (2007), the Volvo Environment Prize (2011) and the Blue Planet Prize (2017).
He served as scientific advisor to a number of eminent political and religious leaders, including the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso and Pope Francis. He has been a member of the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU) ever since its establishment in 1992. He also contributed in various ways to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.
Please find further information on Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Schellnhuber here.
Prof. Dr. Jörg Faust - German Institute for Development Evaluation (DEval)
Prof. Dr. Jörg Faust studied Business Administration, Economics and Political Science at Mannheim University and holds a doctoral degree in Political Science (Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz). He is the Director of the German Institute for Development Evaluation (Deutsches Evaluierungsinstitut der Entwicklungszusammenarbeit - DEval). Prior to this position, he was Head of Department at the German Development Institute (Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik - DIE). He also holds a position as adjunct Professor of Political Science at the University of Duisburg-Essen. Prof. Faust is a member of the scientific advisory board for the Bertelsmann Transformation Index (BTI) and a coordinator of the “Aid Policy and Performance” Working Group of the European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI). He is the author of numerous scientific and practice-oriented publications in national and international publication formats and possesses an extensive experience in implementing and managing complex research, consultancy and evaluation projects.
Please find further information on Prof. Dr. Jörg Faust here.
Silvia Holten (Dipl.-Komm.-Wirtin) - World Vision Germany
Dipl.-Komm.-Wirtin Silvia Holten studied Social and Business Communications at the Hochschule der Künste (HdK). She worked as Editor and News-Anchor at “Radio in Berlin” and RIAS Radio and later as Editor and Manager at Deutsche Welle TV. She was Vice Head of Planning at n-tv, Der Nachrichtensender and Chief Editor at JobTV24. Since 2006 she works at the charity organization World Vision Germany and is in her position as Head of Media and Press Spokesperson responsible for media work and the implementation of the strategy, which aims to fight violence against children to assure them a better future. In this context she is regularly attending climate conferences. From 2011 to 2013 she was a board member of the “Aktion Deutschland Hilft”.
Please find further information on Silvia Holten here.
Prof. Dr. Daniela Jacob - Climate Service Center Germany (GERICS)
Prof. Dr. Daniela Jacob is meteorologist and Director of the Climate Service Center Germany (GERICS), a scientific organizational entity of Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht, and visiting professor at Leuphana University, Faculty of Sustainability. She was coordinating lead author of the IPCC Special Report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above preindustrial levels, and one of the leading authors of the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report (Working Group 2). Daniela Jacob is chair of German Committee for Sustainability (DKN), and member of several other committees, as well as Ex-officio member of the ‘Earth League’, an international alliance of prominent scientists from world‐class research institutions. Her main research fields and areas of interest are regional climate modelling and the hydrological cycle. Moreover, Daniela Jacob is Editor-in-Chief of Journal “Climate Services”, a new scientific Journal she co-founded with Elsevier. Is member of the European Commission’s Mission Board on “Adaptation to Climate Change including Societal Transformation”.
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Dr. Andrea Milan - Global Migration Data Analysis Center (GMDAC) at the International Organization for Migration (IOM)
Andrea Milan is the Data Manager for the Migration Governance Indicators project at IOM´s Global Migration Data Analysis Center. Prior to joining GMDAC, Andrea has worked in the field of international migration for a number of UN entities: the UN University (UNU-EHS), UN Women, the Office of the UN Special Representative (SRSG) for International Migration, and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Andrea's areas of expertise include migration governance, migration data, migration and development, gender and migration as well as migration, environment and climate change. He has published extensively on migration-related issues. Andrea Milan holds a PhD in Governance and Policy Analysis from UNU-Merit and the Maastricht Graduate School of Governance (the Netherlands) as well as an MS in Economics from the University of Ferrara (Italy). During his studies, he was a scholarship-awarded exchange student at the University of Birmingham (UK) and Middlebury College (US), and a visiting scientist at Sussex University (UK).
Sabine Minninger - Bread for the World - Germany, Evangelisches Werk für Diakonie und Entwicklung e.V.
Sabine Minninger is a Policy Advisor on Climate Change with the German Protestant Aid Agency Bread for the World, dealing with global warming and development issues. Since 2008 she has been following the UNFCCC process together with partner organizations in the Global South. From 2004 until 2012 she was employed in long-term positions in Southeast Asia and in the South Pacific in consultation with partners of the German Church Development Service on climate resilience. While her main focus is on climate justice, adaptation and climate finance, she is intensely involved in work on addressing climate induced loss and damages. Sabine Minninger studied Geography at the University of Trier and Glasgow.
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Günter Nooke - Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Günter Nooke is the Personal Representative of the German Chancellor for Africa and the Commissioner for Africa of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung - BMZ), a position he took after serving for four years as the Federal Government’s Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Aid at the Foreign Office. During his term as a member of the German Bundestag between 1998 and 2005 he was the spokesperson of the CDU/CSU Parliamentary Group on culture and the media; spokesperson and chair of the working group on the Culture in Germany Study Commission; spokesperson of the CDU Bundestag members from Eastern Germany and deputy chair of the CDU/CSU Parliamentary Group. Mr. Nooke holds degrees in physics and occupational medicine. He has published on a wide range of topics.
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Sven Plöger (Dipl.-Met.) - Weather Presenter & Lecturer
Dipl. Met. Sven Plöger obtained a diploma in meteorology and is a forecaster and TV-presenter for several German TV and radio channels (such as ARD, SWR, WDR, rbb and NDR). He is known for giving lectures on weather and climate in Germany and Switzerland and is regularly invited as a guest speaker and moderator for round table discussions with a focus on climate change and energy transition (shown in various Talk and TV Shows). Mr. Plöger also writes guest contributions with regards to the climate debate. Additionally, he has published several books on weather and climate change and moderated science broadcasts and TV-documentaries on these topics for channels such as ARD and SWR.
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Prof. Dr. Josef Sayer - Bischöfliches Hilfswerk MISEREOR e.V.
Prof. Dr. Josef Sayer studied Philosophy, Theology, Social Sciences and History. Between 1981 and 1988 he worked as a development specialist and pastor in the Andean region of Cuzco (Peru) and in slums of Lima. From 1988 until 1998, Prof. Sayer gave lectures as a Professor for pastoral theology in Fribourg. He was the chief executive of Misereor e.V., the aid organisation of the Catholic Church for development cooperation in Africa, Asia, Oceania and Latin America, from 1997 until 2012. Within this context, he also worked together with the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) on a study about climate change. Since 2012, he is a consultant for ecclesiastical leaders on an international level.
Vera Scholz - Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH
Vera Scholz works for the Sector and Global Programmes Department within the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), where she heads the Climate Change, Environment and Infrastructure Division. She is working in development cooperation since 20 years. Her areas of expertise are climate change, management of natural resources, infrastructure (energy, transport and water), voluntary social and environmental standards, corporate social responsibility and public private partnerships for sustainable development. She has been working in Asia (India) and Africa (Kenya). Vera Scholz has a master in political science with focus on international relations.
Dr. Kira Vinke - German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP)
Dr. Kira Vinke heads the newly founded Center for Climate and Foreign Policy at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP). She also co-chairs the Advisory Board to the German Federal Government on Civilian Crisis Prevention and Peacebuilding. Vinke is affiliated as a scientist with the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) where she previously led the East Africa Peru India Climate Capacities (EPICC) project. Until 2018, Vinke was a research analyst to the director of PIK. In this capacity, she worked from 2014 to 2016 as an analyst for the German Advisory Council on Global Change to the Federal Government (WBGU). She has provided her expertise as a consultant for the German Development Cooperation (GIZ) and the Asian Development Bank. Vinke completed her doctoral dissertation (summa cum laude) at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin on the subject of climate change and migration; her studies were funded by the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes. For her dissertation, she received the “Potsdamer Nachwuchswissenschaftler-Preis,” a prize for young scientists, from the city of Potsdam. Vinke is a member of the board of trustees of World Vision Deutschland e.V., the German association of “Aktion gegen den Hunger” (Action Against Hunger), and the Development Service and Humanitarian Aid Committee of “Brot für die Welt” (bread for the world).
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Dr. Thomas Voigt (Dipl.-Phys.) - Umweltbundesamt (UBA)
Dr. Thomas Voigt studied Physics at the Technical University of Dresden and earned his doctoral degree researching on the topic of remote sensing. He first dealt with global climate change in the framework of an UNEP/UNESCO‐training program in 1990. Since 1991 he works in the climate division of the German Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt - UBA) and primarily deals with the development of the scientific state of affairs in climate science and its communication to policies and the general public. Dr. Voigt was responsible, among other duties, for the communication of technical questions between the UBA and the Commission of Inquiry “Protecting the Earth's Atmosphere” in the German Bundestag in the early 1990s. From 2000 to 2010 he worked as head of working group on climate impact issues in the European Topic Centre for Air and Climate Change on behalf of the European Environment Agency Copenhagen. Currently his work includes tasks from the International Climate Initiative (IKI) which the UBA carries out commissioned by the Federal Environment Ministry.
Dr. Koko Warner - United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
Dr. Koko Warner manages the subdivision dealing with climate change impacts and vulnerabilities at the UNFCCC. She supports the EPICC project in her role as an Advisory Board Policy Observer. At the UNFCCC, she oversees the work of the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform and the adaptation knowledge hub of the Naoribi work programme, which closes knowledge gaps to help scale up adaptation action. Dr. Warner provides technical leadership on evolving mandates on assessing, developing & implementing adaptation plans, policies & actions aimed at reducing vulnerability & building resilience. She was a lead author for the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report, and the Special Report on Climate Change and Land. Prior to joining UNFCCC, Dr. Warner was the Executive Director and founding member of the Munich Climate Insurance Initiative and head of research on environmental migration and social resilience at the United Nations University in Bonn. The International Council of Science named Dr. Warner one of the top 20 women making waves in the climate change debate.
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