UW/H professor advises the German government on global environmental issues

The German government has made some new appointments to the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU), thereby expanding its scientific expertise in the field of global environmental and development issues, particularly in relation to transformation financing. New members of the advisory team include Prof. Dr. Joscha Wullweber from the University of Witten/Herdecke (UW/H), who contributes his extensive knowledge of sustainable transformation, political-economic processes and financial systems to the advisory work.

"The climate crisis presents us with a task of the century: to actively shape the transformation of our economic and social structures towards greater sustainability and social justice," explains Prof Dr Wullweber. "I am delighted to be able to advise the German government in these times with academically sound recommendations for action."

In addition to Prof Dr Wullweber, the advisory board includes the following renowned scientists

• Aletta Bonn, Head of the Department of Biodiversity and Man at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Leipzig, and Professor of Ecosystem Services at the University of Jena as part of the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv).
• Jörg E. Drewes, Professor of Environmental Engineering, Head of the Chair and Research Centre for Urban Water Management at the Technical University of Munich.
• Anna-Katharina Hornidge, Director of the German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS) in Bonn and Professor of Global Sustainable Development at the University of Bonn.
• Kai Maaz, Managing Director of the Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education (DIPF) and Professor of Sociology specialising in educational systems and society at the University of Frankfurt am Main.
• Karen Pittel, Director of the Centre for Energy, Climate and Resources at the ifo Institute in Munich and Professor of Economics at the University of Munich.
• Hans-Otto Pörtner, Professor and Senior Advisor at the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research in Bremerhaven.
• Sabine Schlacke, Professor of Public Law, in particular Administrative and Environmental Law at the University of Greifswald and Managing Director of the Institute for Energy, Environmental and Maritime Law (IfEUS).
• Claudia Traidl-Hoffmann, Professor of Environmental Medicine at the University of Augsburg, Director of the Institute of Environmental Medicine at Helmholtz Munich and Vice-Director of the Centre for Climate Resilience at the University of Augsburg.

The WBGU was established by the German government in 1992 in the run-up to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development ("Rio Earth Summit") as an independent scientific advisory body. The Council's task is to analyse global environmental and development problems and to draw up recommendations for action and research to solve these problems.

More on this topic at: https://www.wbgu.de/en/the-wbgu/current-members-of-the-council.

About the person

Prof. Dr Joscha Wullweber holds the Heisenberg Professorship for Politics, Transformation and Sustainability and is Director of the International Center for Sustainable and Just Transformation [tra:ce] at UW/H.

As a researcher, he is particularly concerned with national, international and transnational control, regulation and financing systems. His particular focus is on the political economy of sustainable transformation and the role of central banks and financial systems. 

The [tra:ce], headed by Prof Dr Wullweber, aims to scientifically support and shape the transformation towards an ecologically sustainable and socially just society. It relies on a transdisciplinary approach to make the interactions between society, politics and the economy in the socio-ecological transformation visible and to create scope for action for a sustainable future.