Professors Francesco Cherubini (left) and Edgar Hertwich. Photo: Titt Melhuus/NTNU

Two Industrial Ecology professors named to international climate-related posts

Professor Edgar Hertwich has been named to the EU’s newly constituted European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change, while Professor Francesco Cherubini has been asked to serve as a Lead Author for an upcoming assessment by The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).

The two professors have a long history of working in climate-related research, and both have contributed to reports and assessments from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

In his position as lead author for IPBES assessment, called the Nexus Assessment Report, Professor Cherubini will be responsible for a chapter entitled Options for delivering sustainable biodiversity-related approaches to climate change, adaptation and mitigation, including relevant aspects of the energy system.”

The IPBES is an independent intergovernmental body established by 139 member states to strengthen the science-policy interface for biodiversity and ecosystem services for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, long-term human well-being and sustainable development.

There are several studies and win-win examples that show how we can protect biodiversity and the climate system while at the same time progressing towards a more sustainable development and cleaner energy systems.

“I am sincerely glad for the opportunity to serve as Lead Author for the IPBES,” Cherubini said. “Identifying the solutions that can co-deliver across the different challenges our planet is facing is a tremendous yet undelayable task. There are several studies and win-win examples that show how we can protect biodiversity and the climate system while at the same time progressing towards a more sustainable development and cleaner energy systems. I see this report as an opportunity to synthesize this new knowledge and make it available to decision makers and society in general.”

EU to be climate neutral by 2050

Professor Hertwich will work with 14 other independent senior scientific experts from across Europe to  “provide the European Union (EU) with scientific knowledge, expertise and advice relating to climate change. The Advisory Board’s work will underpin the EU’s climate action and efforts to reach climate neutrality by 2050,” according to the EU. The term is for four years.

It will afford me the opportunity to support the climate policy process in the EU by conducting timely analyses of how to bring Europe to net-zero by 2050.

“I am honoured to be part of this high-profile board. It is really a team of excellent scientists and policy experts. It will afford me the opportunity to support the climate policy process in the EU by conducting timely analyses of how to bring Europe to net-zero by 2050. I am excited about the prospect of working even closer to the policy makers than in my previous roles at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the International Resource Panel (IRP),” Hertwich said.

As described by the European Environment Agency, which announced the board appointments, “the European Climate Law, adopted in June 2021, sets out a binding objective of climate neutrality in the EU by 2050 in pursuit of the long-term temperature goal set out in the Paris Agreement. It also provides a framework for achieving progress in pursuit of the global adaptation goal established in the Paris Agreement.”