SC Profile

Yoichi Kaya

Current position

President, Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth

Country

Japan

Career history:

2011-
President, Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth
1998-2011
Director General, Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth
1995-
Professor, Keio University
1978-1995
Professor, the University of Tokyo
1964-1978
Associate Professor, the University of Tokyo
1963-1964
Instructor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States

Areas of expertise:

System engineering in the field of energy and environment.
He has developed several models related to global economic and environmental issues, of which one is the model called FUGI used for the analysis of future industries of the world at United Nations (ESCAP). His recent interests lie in the field of climate change, and the simple equation for the factor analysis of CO2 emission he developed is well known worldwide as Kaya identity.

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Sally M. Benson

Current position

Professor, Department of Energy Resources Engineering, School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences, Stanford University
Director, Global Climate and Energy Project, Stanford University
Director, Precourt Institute for Energy, Stanford University

Country

United States

Career history:

2007-Present:
Stanford University.
1978-2007:
Various positions at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, including Division Director for Earth Sciences, Associate Director for Energy Sciences and Deputy Director for Operations.

Areas of expertise:

Groundwater hydrology, reservoir engineering, geologic storage of carbon dioxide in deep underground formations, technologies for a low-energy future, and net energy analysis (quantifying overall energy efficiency of a production process by weighing the energetic cost of energy production against the energy produced).

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Zhou Dadi

Current position

The Director General (Emeritus) of the Energy Research Institute (ERI) of the National Development and Reform Commission

Country

China

Career history:

He has been served in ERI (1982-), and he has served as a consultant to the World Bank, Global Environmental Facility, and many other organizations around the world.
He has been a visiting fellow at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), a visiting scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) (United States).

Areas of expertise:

Energy economics and energy system analysis; sustainable energy strategy, energy conservation, and climate change policy.
He has contributed for long as one of the most influential advisors in the development of energy conservation plans, energy strategy, and climate change policy of China.

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Ogunlade R. Davidson

Current position

Dean of Post-Graduate Studies at University of Sierra Leone
Former Co-Chair of WGIII of IPCC and Former Minister of Energy and Water Resources, Sierra Leone

Country

Sierra Leone

Career history:

Co-Chair of WGIII of IPCC and a leading energy expert in Africa.
Co-Chair of Steering Committee of the Global Network on Energy for Sustainable Development (GNESD)

2000-2003
Professor and Director of the Energy and Development Research Centre (EDRC), of University of Cape Town, South Africa.

Areas of expertise:

African Energy Systems and Policies, Power sector reform, Renewable Energy policy, Mitigation of Climate Change and on National Climate Change strategy

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Georg Erdmann

Current position

Professor, Berlin University of Technology
Member of the independent Expert group "Energy for the Future" consulting the Federal Government on the German Energy Transformation

Country

Germany

Career history:

2009
President of the International Association for Energy Economics (IAEE)
1995-
Professor for Energy Systems at the Institute for Energy Technology, Berlin University of Technology
1982-1995
Post doc researcher and Assistant Professor at the Center for Economic Research, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zürich

Areas of expertise:

Energy economics including energy market modeling and forecasting, energy market reform, energy trade, investment strategies, financing and risk management, and market entry of new energy technologies such as fuel cell and battery electric vehicles; Evolutionary economics applied to energy innovations and technologies

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José María Figueres

Current position

Chairman of the Board, Rocky Mountain Institute and Carbon War Room
Co-Chair, Global Ocean Commission

Country

Costa Rica

Career history:

2013-present
Co-Chair, Global Ocean Commission
2014-Present
Chairman of the Board, Rocky Mountain Institute and Carbon War Room
2009-2014
President of Carbon War Room
2006
Named CEO of Concordia 21, Madrid, Spain
2003
1st CEO of the World Economic Forum, Geneva, Switzerland
1999
Chairperson of United Nations ICT Task Force
1994-1998
President of the Republic of Costa Rica
1988-1990
Minister of Agriculture, Costa Rica
1987-1988
Minister of Foreign Trade, Costa Rica

Areas of expertise:

Technology and Sustainable Development, business solutions to reduce carbon emissions
In 2013, he helped launch the Global Ocean Commission to formulate politically and technically feasible recommendations that address key issues facing the high seas. He currently serves as co-Chair.

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Adam Heller

Current position

Research Professor, McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Texas, Austin TX, United States

Country

United States

Career history:

1988-to date
The University of Texas Austin; Simultaneous appointments at TheraSense, Abbott Diabetes Care, SynAgile
1975-1988
Bell Laboratories; 1977-1988, Head, Electronic Materials Research Department
1964-1975
GTE Laboratories; Developed non-rechargeable lithium batteries

Recent Awards

Elected to the US National Academy of Engineering (1987)
United States National Medal of Technology and Innovation(2008)
Fellow of American Academy of Arts & Sciences(2009)

Areas of expertise:

Medical devices; batteries; photoelectrochemical cells

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Yoriko Kawaguchi

Current position

Professor of Meiji Institute for Global Affairs, Meiji University
Former Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister of the Environment

Country

Japan

Career history:

2005-2013
Member of the House of Councillors
2004
Advisor to Prime Minister, responsible for foreign affairs
2002-2004
Minister for Foreign Affairs
2000-2002
Minister of the Environment
1992-1993
Director-General of Global Environmental Affairs at the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (now Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry)

Areas of expertise:

Climate change policy, Sustainable Ocean policy, Foreign Policy, Nuclear Disarmament and Non-Proliferation

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Hoesung Lee

Current position

Professor at Korea University Graduate School of Energy and Environment
Member of the Board of Directors of the Korean Academy of Environmental Sciences
Senior adviser to Korean Society for Climate Change Research and the Korea Resources Economics Association
Member of the Asian Development Bank President’s Advisory Board on Climate Change and Sustainable Development
Vice Chair of the IPCC(Inter governmental Panel on Climate Change)

Country

Korea

Career history:

2008-present
IPCC Vice Chair

He was the founding president of the Korea Energy Economics Institute -- a government agency for national energy policy development. He was Distinguished Research Fellow at the Korea Environment Institute, faculty member and the dean of the College of Environment at Keimyung University, Korea, senior adviser to the Minister of Energy and Resources and the Minister of Environment, senior fellow at the Korea Development Institute and economist at Exxon Corporation, US.

He was Co-chair of the IPCC Working Group III (The Economic and Social Dimensions of Climate Change) in the Second Assessment , and Lead Author and Review Editor in the Third and Fourth Assessment. He was the member of the International Advisory Board of the Battelle-Pacific Northwest National Lab, USA, the Board of Directors of Hyundai Corporation, Korea Petroleum Development Corporation and the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, Japan.

Areas of expertise:

The economics of energy, natural resource and climate change

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Nebojsa Nakicenovic

Current position

Deputy Director General and Deputy CEO, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) and Full Professor of Energy Economics, Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien)

Country

Austria

Career history:

2009-2016
Member of the Advisory Council of the German Government on Global Change (WBGU)
2005-2012
Member of the UN Secretary General’s High-Level Technical Group on Sustainable Development for All Director of the Global Energy Assessment
2009-2011
Member of the Scientific Steering Committee, Global Carbon Project (GCP)
Member of the UN Secretary General Advisory Group on Energy and Climate Change
2001-2005
Coordinating Lead Author, IPCC Fourth and Second Assessment Report; Lead Author of Fifth and Third Assessment Report; Coordinating Lead Author of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
1997-2000
Convening Lead Author of the IPCC Special Report on Emissions Scenarios

Serves on numerous advisory boards and editorial board of eight scientific journals.

Areas of expertise:

Long-term patterns of technological change, economic development and response to climate change and, in particular, the evolution of energy, mobility, and information and communication technologies

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Gwythian Prins

Current position

Emeritus Research Professor, London School of Economics
Convenor of the Hartwell Group

Country

United Kingdom

Career history:

2000-2013
Research Professor, London School of Economics
2002-2007
also jointly Alliance Research Professor, Columbia University, New York
1999-2003
Consultant on Security at the Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research of the British Meteorological Office
During the later 1990s
Senior Fellow in the Office of the Special Adviser on Central and Eastern European Affairs, Office of the Secretary-General of NATO.
Senior Fellow at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House.
Visiting Senior Fellow in the (former) Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) of the UK Ministry of Defence
1979-2003
Fellow, Tutor and Director of Studies in History, Emmanuel College Cambridge and University Lecturer in Politics.

Areas of expertise:

Global security studies; geo-political research; international relations; military history and defence; climate policy; climate history and security
He is currently a member of the British Chief of the Defence Staff’s Strategy Advisory Panel. He first convened the Hartwell group in 2007 in response to a request to provide advice on climate policy for G-7 heads of state. In 2013 the group published The Vital Spark: Innovating Clean and Affordable Energy for All

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David Sandalow

Current position

Inaugural Fellow, Center on Global Energy Policy, Columbia University

Country

United States

Career history:

2009-2013
Under Secretary of Energy and Assistant Secretary for Policy & International Affairs, United States Dept of Energy
2005-2008
Energy & Climate Working Group Chair, Clinton Global Initiative
2003-2008
Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution
1999-2001
Assistant Secretary for Oceans, Environment & Science, US State Dept
1994-1998
White House staff, United States

Areas of expertise:

Energy and climate policy

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Ismail Serageldin

Current position

Director, Library of Alexandria, also chairs the Boards of Directors for each of the BA’s affiliated research institutes and museums. He serves as Chair and Member of a number of advisory committees for academic, research, scientific and international institutions.

Country

Egypt

Career History

2010-2011
Professor, International Chair Savoirs contre pauvreté, Collège de France
  • Distinguished University Professor, Wageningen University, the Netherlands
  • Co-Chair of the African Biotechnology Panel (with Calestous Juma)
2005-2006
Member of the High Level Group (HLG) of the Secretary-General’s UN initiative for the alliance of Civilizations
2002-2004
Co-Chair, The Inter-Academy Council Panel on Capacity building in Science and Technology
1998-2002
Chairman, Youth Employment Summit (YES) Campaign
  • Special Advisor, The World Bank
2000/2001
Distinguished Visiting Professor, American University in Cairo (AUC)
1998-2000
Chairman, World Commission for Water in the 21st Century
  • Vice President of The Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS)
1996-2000
Chairman of the Global Water Partnership (GWP)
1995-2000
Chairman, Consultative Group to Assist the Poorest (CGAP), a microfinance program
1994-2000
Chairman, Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR)
1992-2000
Vice President of the World Bank till July 2000, (for Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development, from October 1992 to March 1998, and for Special Programs from March 1998 to July 2000)

Areas of Expertise

Biotechnology, rural development, sustainability, and the value of science to society. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from Cairo University and Master’s degree and a PhD from Harvard University and has received over 30 honorary doctorates.

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Susan Solomon

Current position

Professor, MIT
Former IPCC WGI Co-Chair

Country

United States

Career history:

2011- present
Professor of the faculty of the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1981-2011
Research Scientist and Senior Scientist, Aeronomy Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), United States; 1983-present Adjunct Professor, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, United States

Areas of expertise:

Atmospheric chemistry and transport in the stratosphere and troposphere; climate change and its coupling to chemistry; comparative studies of environment and society.

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Laurence Tubiana

Current position

  • Professor, Sciences Po Paris and Professor, Columbia University
  • Founder and Director, Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI)
  • Co-Chair, Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) Leadership Council
  • President, French Development Agency (AFD) Board of Governors

Country

France

Career history:

2012
Laurence Tubiana was appointed by the French government to the National Steering Committee on Energy Transition
1997-2002
Laurence Tubiana served as senior advisor to the Prime Minister, Lionel Jospin, on environmental issues
Member of the French Council of Economic Analysis and research director for the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA)

Areas of expertise:

Published a number of articles and books on environment, development and international issues

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Itaru Yasui

Current position

Honorary Adviser, National Institute of Technology and Evaluation(NITE)
Emeritus Professor, The University of Tokyo, Japan

Country

Japan

Career history:

2005-
Emeritus Professor, The University of Tokyo
2003-2007
Vice-Rector, United Nations University
1990-2003
Professor, Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo
1979
Associate Professor, Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo
1973
Research Associate, The University of Tokyo

Areas of expertise:

Interested in new technologies and methodologies to reduce per capita CO2 emission within 20 - 30 years including ways of thinking and social systems in advanced countries. Ways of Cooperation between developed and under developing countries are other interests.

Fields: 
CO2 Reduction Technologies, Life Cycle Assessment, Risk Assessment, Risk Communication, Management of Chemical Substances

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