Ottmar Edenhofer

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Ottmar Edenhofer
Ottmar Edenhofer neu.jpg
Edenhofer in 2008
Born
Ottmar Georg Edenhofer

(1961-07-08) 8 July 1961 (age 63)
Gangkofen, Germany
Alma mater
Known for
Awards
Scientific career
Fields Economics
Institutions

Ottmar Georg Edenhofer (born 8 July 1961) is a German economist who is regarded as one of the world's leading experts on climate change policy, environmental and energy policy, and energy economics. His work has been heavily cited. [1] Edenhofer currently holds the professorship of the Economics of Climate Change [2] at Technische Universität Berlin. Together with Earth scientist Johan Rockström, economist Ottmar Edenhofer is scientific director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), representing the interdisciplinary and solutions-oriented approach of the institute. Furthermore, he is director of the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC). From 2008 to 2015 he served as one of the co-chairs of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group III "Mitigation of Climate Change".

Contents

Edenhofer is a member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina and of the German Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech). In 2020 Professor Edenhofer was honoured with the most prestigious environmental prize in Germany the Environment Prize (German Environment Foundation) for his groundbreaking work in the field of carbon pricing. [3] Before, he was awarded the Romano-Guardini-Prize by the Katholische Akademie in Bayern. [4]

Education

Edenhofer was born in Gangkofen, Lower Bavaria, Germany. He completed his diploma in economics with honors at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. He belonged the Jesuit Order from 1987 to 1994 and following his novitiate earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy at the Munich School of Philosophy. During this time he also founded an enterprise in the public health sector and led a humanitarian aid organization in Croatia and Bosnia from 1991 to 1993. After leaving the Order, Edenhofer worked as a research assistant from 1994 to 2000 and completed his PhD in economics summa cum laude at Technische Universität Darmstadt in 1999 under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Carlo C. Jäger. [5]

Career

In 2018, Edenhofer was appointed director [6] of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research with Earth scientist Johan Rockström. Previously, Edenhofer was deputy director and chief economist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), where he headed Research Area III ("Sustainable Solutions Strategies").

Since June 2020 Edenhofer is project lead [7] of the major Copernicus research activity Ariadne [8] on the German energy transition. The project is investigating options how climate targets can be met with socially accepted policy instruments [9]

From 2008 to 2015 he served as a co-chair of Working Group III "Mitigation of Climate Change" of the (IPCC). Under his leadership as co-chair, the IPCC published the Special Report on Renewable Energy Sources and Climate Change Mitigation [10] (SRREN), and the Fifth Assessment Report on Climate Change in 2014. [11] In 2012 he became director of the newly founded Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC).

From 2004 to 2008 Edenhofer was a lead author of the Fourth Assessment Report on Climate Change published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2007. The IPCC was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in the same year. [12]

Since 2008, Edenhofer holds the professorship for the Economics of Climate Change at Technische Universität Berlin.

Other activities and advisory roles

Edenhofer has advised German Chancellor Angela Merkel, [13] and Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier [14] [15] on carbon pricing. Edenhofer was asked to submit an expertise on carbon pricing [16] options to the German Council of Economic Experts. [17] In 2021, Edenhofer was appointed to the Vatican's Dicastry for Promoting Integral Human Development by Pope Francis. [18]

Edenhofer is a member of the OECD Advisory Council “Growth, Investment and the Low-Carbon Transition”. [19] At the invitation of Ségolène Royal and Feike Sijbesma, co-chairs of the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition (CPLC) High Level Assembly, he became a member of the High-Level Commission on Carbon Prices – co-chaired by Joseph Stiglitz and Nicholas Stern – in 2019/20. In June 2021, he was appointed to the World Bank–International Monetary Fund High-Level Advisory Group (HLAG) on Sustainable and Inclusive Recovery and Growth, co-chaired by Mari Pangestu, Ceyla Pazarbasioglu, and Nicholas Stern. [20]

In addition, Edenhofer holds the following unpaid or paid honorary positions:

Besides his teaching and research activities, Edenhofer actively contributes to public debates about political climate protection measures in Germany and the European Union.

Research interests

Edenhofer's research explores the impact of induced technological change on mitigation costs and mitigation strategies, the value capture and distribution of land rents, [40] and the design of instruments for climate and energy policy. He specializes in the economics of atmospheric stabilization, social cost-benefit analysis, land value tax, [41] sustainability theory, economic growth theory, environmental economics, welfare theory, and general intertemporal equilibrium theory.

Philosophy and position on climate change

Edenhofer says that his interest in philosophy and economics was influenced by his readings of the works of Henry George, [42] Karl Marx, Max Weber, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and John Dewey. Regarding climate change he says: "Denying out and out that climate change is a problem for humanity, as some cynics do, is an unethical, unacceptable position." [43] : 304 

Edenhofer is a proponent of carbon pricing. He points out that both cap-and-trade and a direct carbon tax can be implemented to reduce greenhouse emissions and encourage innovation to preserve the climate. [44] He feels strongly that moving the global economy to a low-carbon threshold requires huge increases in the use of renewable energy across all economic sectors. [43]

Edenhofer is a strongly anti-nuclear and has advised Angela Merkel on the German nuclear phase-out.[ citation needed ]

Edenhofer offered this in a speech he made November 2010"....one has to free oneself(from the illusion that international climate policy is environmental policy. Instead, climate change policy is about how we redistribute de facto the world's wealth..."

Publications

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Climate change mitigation</span> Actions to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions to limit climate change

Climate change mitigation (or decarbonisation) is action to limit the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that cause climate change. Climate change mitigation actions include conserving energy and replacing fossil fuels with clean energy sources. Secondary mitigation strategies include changes to land use and removing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. Current climate change mitigation policies are insufficient as they would still result in global warming of about 2.7 °C by 2100, significantly above the 2015 Paris Agreement's goal of limiting global warming to below 2 °C.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Economic analysis of climate change</span> Using economic tools to investigate climate change

An economic analysis of climate change uses economic tools and models to calculate the magnitude and distribution of damages caused by climate change. It can also give guidance for the best policies for mitigation and adaptation to climate change from an economic perspective. There are many economic models and frameworks. For example, in a cost–benefit analysis, the trade offs between climate change impacts, adaptation, and mitigation are made explicit. For this kind of analysis, integrated assessment models (IAMs) are useful. Those models link main features of society and economy with the biosphere and atmosphere into one modelling framework. The total economic impacts from climate change are difficult to estimate. In general, they increase the more the global surface temperature increases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carbon price</span> CO2 Emission Market

Carbon pricing is a method for governments to mitigate climate change, in which a monetary cost is applied to greenhouse gas emissions. This is done to encourage polluters to reduce fossil fuel combustion, the main driver of climate change. A carbon price usually takes the form of a carbon tax, or an emissions trading scheme (ETS) that requires firms to purchase allowances to emit. The method is widely agreed to be an efficient policy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon pricing seeks to address the economic problem that emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases are a negative externality – a detrimental product that is not charged for by any market.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Low-carbon electricity</span> Power produced with lower carbon dioxide emissions

Low-carbon electricity or low-carbon power is electricity produced with substantially lower greenhouse gas emissions over the entire lifecycle than power generation using fossil fuels. The energy transition to low-carbon power is one of the most important actions required to limit climate change.

<i>Renewable Energy Sources and Climate Change Mitigation</i> 2011 book by Ottmar Edenhofer

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published a special report on Renewable Energy Sources and Climate Change Mitigation (SRREN) on May 9, 2011. The report developed under the leadership of Ottmar Edenhofer evaluates the global potential for using renewable energy to mitigate climate change. This IPCC special report provides broader coverage of renewable energy than was included in the IPCC's 2007 climate change assessment report, as well as stronger renewable energy policy coverage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research</span> German research institute

The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research is a German government-funded research institute addressing crucial scientific questions in the fields of global change, climate impacts, and sustainable development. Ranked among the top environmental think tanks worldwide, it is one of the leading research institutions and part of a global network of scientific and academic institutions working on questions of global environmental change. It is a member of the Leibniz Association, whose institutions perform research on subjects of high relevance to society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hans Joachim Schellnhuber</span> German atmospheric physicist and climatologist

Hans Joachim "John" Schellnhuber is a German atmospheric physicist, climatologist and founding director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and former chair of the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU). Since 1 December 2023, Schellnhuber is the Director General of IIASA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anders Levermann</span>

Anders Levermann is a climate scientist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Columbia University. He is a Professor of the Dynamics of the Climate System at Institute for Physics and Astrophysics of the Potsdam University, Germany. He has been involved in the assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change since 2004. Levermann advises political and economic stakeholders on the issue of climate change.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Economics of climate change mitigation</span> Part of the economics of climate change related to climate change mitigation

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johan Rockström</span> Swedish professor (born 1965)

Johan Rockström is a Swedish scientist, internationally recognized for his work on global sustainability issues. He is joint director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) in Germany, together with economist Ottmar Edenhofer. Rockström is also chief scientist at Conservation International. He is Professor in Earth System Science at the University of Potsdam and Professor in Water Systems and Global Sustainability, Stockholm University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change</span> German scientific institute

The Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC) conducts research and fosters dialogue about how the global commons, such as the atmosphere and the oceans, might be used and shared by many yet nevertheless be protected. In 2021, the International Center for Climate Governance ranked MCC among the top ten think tanks worldwide for the fourth consecutive year.

Andreas Löschel is a German economist currently holding the chair of Energy and Resource Economics at the University of Münster. He is the director of the Centre of Applied Economic Research Münster (CEAW). His research interests include applied microeconomics, energy economics and the economics of climate change. He is ranked among the most influential economists in his field. In an annual Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung Ranking, he is among the 25 most influential economists in Germany.

Sérgio Campos Trindade was a Brazilian chemical engineer and researcher, specialist in renewable energies and consultant in sustainable business. Trindade was the coordinating lead author for a chapter of an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, Methodological and Technical Issues in Technology Transfer (2000); the IPCC as an organization won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize as a result of its contributors' work.

Sabine Fuss is a German climate scientist. She heads the "Sustainable Resource Management and Global Change" working group at the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC). She is a professor at Humboldt University of Berlin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brigitte Knopf</span> German climatologist

Brigitte Knopf is a German climatologist. Since February 2015 she has been Secretary General of the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change and since 1 September 2020 has been a member of the Expert Council on Climate Issues.

Joeri Rogelj is a Belgian climate scientist working on solutions to climate change. He explores how societies can transform towards sustainable futures. He is a Professor in Climate Science and Policy at the Centre for Environmental Policy (CEP) and Director of Research at the Grantham Institute – Climate Change and Environment, both at Imperial College London. He is also affiliated with the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis. He is an author of several climate reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and a member of the European Scientific Advisory Board for Climate Change.

Bettina Hörstrup is a German lawyer and administrative director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) since 2020. Together with the scientific directors Ottmar Edenhofer and Johan Rockström, she forms the board of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.

Felix Creutzig is a German physicist, and professor of Sustainability Economics at Technische Universität Berlin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Youba Sokona</span> Malian climatologist (born 1950)

Youba SokonaFAAS FTWAS (born 23 May 1950) is a Malian expert in the fields of energy and sustainable development, particularly in Africa. He has been the vice-chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) since October 2015 and a lead author at the IPCC since 1990.

References

  1. ↑ "Highly Cited Researchers". Clarivate Web of Science. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  2. ↑ "ILAUP: Prof. Dr. Ottmar Edenhofer". www.climatecon.tu-berlin.de. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  3. ↑ "German President recognises German Environmental Award as "a particularly important message"". German Federal Environmental Foundation (Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt DBU). Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  4. ↑ "Edenhofer honored with Romano Guardini Prize". Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change. 5 July 2018. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  5. ↑ "Prof. Dr. Carlo C. Jaeger – Global Climate Forum" . Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  6. ↑ "Neue Direktoren für Klima-Institut". Der Tagesspiegel Online (in German). Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  7. ↑ "Kopernikus-Symposium diskutiert Wege zur Klimaneutralität in Deutschland | 9.-10. Juni 2021 | Ariadne". ariadneprojekt.de (in German). 9 June 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  8. ↑ "Ariadne | Kopernikus-Projekt". ariadneprojekt.de (in German). Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  9. ↑ "Kopernikus-Projekte: Ariadne". www.kopernikus-projekte.de. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  10. ↑ "IPCC - SRREN". archive.ipcc.ch. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  11. ↑ Lynn, Jonathan (28 November 2014). "IPCC launches full report on mitigation of climate change" (PDF). Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
  12. ↑ Schiermeier, Quirin; Tollefson, Jeff (12 October 2007). "Climate change: a Nobel cause: peace prize awarded to climate scientists and politician filmstar". Nature. doi:10.1038/news.2007.164 . Retrieved 30 June 2016.
  13. ↑ "CO2-pricing: German chancellor Angela Merkel visited PIK for a scientific briefing — Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research". www.pik-potsdam.de. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  14. ↑ "Climate Protection & Sustainability: German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier visits PIK — Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research". www.pik-potsdam.de. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  15. ↑ Zeitung, Süddeutsche (29 June 2021). "Klimaschutz: Steinmeier hält "gewaltige Schritte" für nötig". Süddeutsche.de (in German). Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  16. ↑ Edenhofer, Ottmar; Flachland, Christian; Kalkuhl, Matthias; Knopf, Brigitte; Pahle, Michael (2019). Optionen für eine CO2-Preisreform: MCC-PIK-Expertise für den Sachverständigenrat zur Begutachtung der gesamtwirtschaftlichen Entwicklung (PDF). Berlin: Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC) gGmbH.
  17. ↑ Aufbruch zu einer neuen Klimapolitik [Sondergutachten] (PDF). Wiesbaden: Sachverständigenrat zur Begutachtung der gesamtwirtschaftlichen Entwicklung. 2019.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  18. ↑ Kixmüller, Jan (13 January 2021). "Ottmar Edenhofer berät den Vatikan". Der Tagesspiegel Online (in German). Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  19. ↑ http://www.oecd.org/environment/cc/advisory-council-members-project-growth-investment-lowcarbon-transition.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  20. ↑ World Bank, IMF Launch High-Level Advisory Group on Sustainable and Inclusive Recovery and Growth International Monetary Fund, press release of 15 June 2021.
  21. ↑ "Prof. Dr. Ottmar Edenhofer". Akademie der Wissenschaften in Hamburg. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
  22. ↑ Münchener Rück Stiftung: Vom Wissen zum Handeln — Report 2012 [Munich Re Foundation: from knowledge to action — Report 2012](PDF) (in German). Retrieved 30 June 2016.
  23. ↑ "Green Growth: World Bank appoints Edenhofer as an advisor — Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research". www.pik-potsdam.de. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  24. ↑ "Advisory Committee". Green Growth Knowledge Platform. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
  25. ↑ "Policy advice for EU decision makers: Edenhofer chairs new Energy Platform — Press release". Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
  26. ↑ "Ottmar Edenhofer Potsdam-Institut für Klimafolgenforschung e.V. (PIK)". acatech (in German). Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  27. ↑ "Advisory Council – Carbon Mitigation Initiative". cmi.princeton.edu. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  28. ↑ Volkswagen Group appoints international Sustainability Council Volkswagen, press release of 28 September 2016.
  29. ↑ "Review of Environmental Economics and Policy: Editorial Board". www.journals.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  30. ↑ High-Level Commission on Carbon Prices (2017). Report of the High-level Commission on Carbon Prices. New York: International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and International Development Association/The World Bank.
  31. ↑ "List of Members". Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften Leopoldina. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  32. ↑ "Advisory Board". EIEE. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  33. ↑ Projektträger, Redaktion: WPKS Geschäftsstelle / DLR. "Mitglieder des Lenkungskreises - WPKS". Wissenschaftsplattform Klimaschutz - WPKS (in German). Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  34. ↑ "Scientific Advisory Council - ZEW Mannheim". www.zew.de. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  35. ↑ "People | laudato-si". lsri.campion.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  36. ↑ "The Commission". FSEC. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  37. ↑ "ZdK-Wahl abgeschlossen: Das sind die neuen Mitglieder des Komitees". katholisch.de (in German). Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  38. ↑ "Aus Verantwortung gegenüber kommenden Generationen: Landesregierung beruft Nachhaltigkeitsbeirat". Landesregierung Brandenburg (in German). Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  39. ↑ "World Bank, IMF Launch High-Level Advisory Group on Sustainable and Inclusive Recovery and Growth". IMF. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  40. ↑ Edenhofer, Ottmar (18 February 2013). "Hypergeorgism: When is Rent Taxation as a Remedy for Insufficient Capital Accumulation Socially Optimal?" (PDF). doi:10.2139/ssrn.2232659. S2CID   12300440. SSRN   2232659.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help) Edenhofer writes, "Extending and modifying the tenet of georgism, we propose that this insight be called hypergeorgism." "From a historical perspective, our result may be closer to Henry George’s original thinking than georgism or the neoclassical Henry George Theorems."
  41. ↑ Edenhofer, Ottmar (25 June 2013). "Financing Public Capital Through Land Rent Taxation: A Macroeconomic Henry George Theorem" (PDF). doi:10.2139/ssrn.2284745. S2CID   14024952. SSRN   2284745.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  42. ↑ Edenhofer, Ottmar. "The Triple Dividend Climate Change Mitigation, Justice and Investing in Capabilities" (PDF). Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  43. 1 2 Schiermeier, Quirin (19 September 2013). "The Climate Chairman" (PDF). Nature. 501 (7467): 304–306. doi: 10.1038/501303a . PMID   24048052. S2CID   4451211 . Retrieved 30 June 2016.
  44. ↑ Edenhofer, Ottmar; Flachsland, Christian; Kalkuhl, Matthias; Knopf, Brigitte; Pahle, Michael (2019). "Options for a Carbon Pricing Reform Expertise by MCC and PIK for the German Council of Economic Experts" (PDF). Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC) (in German). Retrieved 13 July 2021.
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