EU Climate Board Re-elects Ottmar Edenhofer as Chair
By: Abudu Olalekan
Fresh votes have kept Ottmar Edenhofer at the helm of the EU’s climate advice group. This week marked the start of a new chapter, with members gathering for the first time since their renewal.
Trust runs deep here. Steering the 15-member expert group once more, Edenhofer continues after reappointment for a further four years. Head of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research too, he guides work shaped by the European Climate Law. Independent science flows from this body into EU decisions on climate matters.
These days feel nothing like when he started. “The world around us isn’t what it was back then,” Edenhofer remarked. With economies shifting and global tensions rising, the landscape keeps moving. His point? Steering advice through solid evidence matters – yet fitting that into Europe’s bigger plans still counts. What the board does now must balance both.
Laura Díaz Anadón steps into the role from Cambridge, while Suraje Dessai takes position out of Leeds. New vice-chairs named through quiet shifts behind familiar names.
Now turning attention to future goals, the board delivered strong efforts early on. Big moves like shaping bold 2040 climate aims stood out. Work unfolded around pathways to climate balance. Research also dug into methods for removing carbon from air. Focus shifts ahead, guided by what came before.
Picture scientists from across Europe gathered in one place. Experts arrived from Cambridge, then others joined from Athens, followed by researchers out of Denmark’s Technical University. Alongside them work analysts from the PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency. The group includes thinkers from the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis too.
Now the task is shaping what comes first in 2026 while still steering Europe’s path on climate choices. Each step lines up carefully alongside the EU Climate Law and the promises made in Paris.
The full list of members for the second term is below:
- Zinta Zommers – University of Toronto
- Annela Anger-Kraavi – University of Cambridge
- Constantinos Cartalis – National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
- Suraje Dessai – University of Leeds School of Earth, Environment, and Sustainability
- Laura Díaz Anadón – University of Cambridge
- Vera Eory – Scotland’s Rural College
- Lena Kitzing – Technical University of Denmark
- Kati Kulovesi – University of Eastern Finland
- Lars J. Nilsson – Lund University
- Åsa Persson – KTH Royal Institute of Technology Climate Action Centre
- Keywan Riahi – International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis
- Jean-François Soussana – French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment
- Giorgio Vacchiano – University of Milan
- Detlef van Vuuren – PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency