Prof. Bernd Hirschl and Prof. Roh Pin Lee appointed to Brandenburg Climate Advisory Board
"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 on July 15, 2024 in Potsdam. "The Scientific Climate Council 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 Brandenburg in this form and is a great benefit for our state."
Working closely together on climate protection in the Berlin-Brandenburg metropolitan region
Bernd Hirschl heads the research field "Sustainable Energy Economics and Climate Protection" at the IÖW and is Professor for "Management of Regional Energy Supply Structures" at the Brandenburg University of Technology (BTU) Cottbus-Senftenberg. "On the scientific climate advisory board, I would like to support the state of Brandenburg in implementing its climate plan, which requires a wide range of measures in various sectors," says Hirschl about his motivation for joining the advisory board. "In order to become climate-neutral, it is also important that the Berlin-Brandenburg metropolitan region works closely together. It is therefore particularly important to me to build substantive bridges between the climate protection measures of the states of Berlin and Brandenburg and to identify cooperation needs and opportunities."
Hirschl has also been a member and spokesperson for the Berlin Climate Protection Council since it was founded in 2017.
Prof. Dr. Roh Pin Lee has held the BMWK endowed professorship "Decarbonization and Transformation of Industry" at BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg since October 2023 and heads the chair of the same name at Faculty 5 of Business, Law and Society. Lee is also a member of the steering committee of the Decarbonization of Industry Cluster in Germany (since 10/2023). "As part of the Climate Advisory Board, I would like to support the state government of Brandenburg in identifying and evaluating the opportunities and challenges of industrial and social transformation through a multidimensional approach along the socio-technological-economic-ecological-political dimensions," says Prof. Lee, describing her motivation for joining the advisory board. "One of my goals is to use science communication to involve various stakeholders at the interface of science, business, politics and society in the further development and implementation of the climate plan in Brandenburg."
The main task of Brandenburg's independent Climate Advisory Board is to provide scientific support for the monitoring process for the climate plan. This involves regularly reviewing the progress made in achieving Brandenburg's climate targets and the further development of measures.
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 the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) with two research assistants to support the board chairperson and the advisory board.