14 June 2019, by CEN Universität Hamburg

Federal Minister for the Environment Svenja Schulze and Federal Minister of Education and Research Anja Karliczek recently initiated a scientific platform for climate protection in Berlin. A social scientist and management expert from Universität Hamburg were among those appointed to the steering committee: Prof. Anita Engels and her colleague Prof. Timo Busch have been tasked with providing decision-making support for the assessment and continuation of the Climate Action Plan 2050.

“It is both appropriate and important that the scientific community be closely involved not only in foundational research on climate change, but also in the implementation of climate protection and climate adaptation,” reports Prof. Anita Engels, Co-Speaker of Universität Hamburg’s Cluster of Excellence “Climate, Climatic Change, and Society (CLICCS)” and Director of the Centre for Globalisation and Governance. The sociologist is currently pursuing the question of how climate change is shaping society – and, conversely, how societies’ actions and decisions are impacting the climate: “To achieve a largely CO₂-free society, it’s going to take more than just acceptance. Rather, we have to create conditions that will allow a broad section of the populace to actively support climate protection.”

“In order to reach the climate targets set in Paris, we need a comprehensive societal transformation,” underscores Engels’ colleague Prof. Timo Busch. “In this regard, the financial markets offer an important lever.” Busch, like Engels, is part of the Cluster of Excellence CLICCS and co-founded the Research Group on Sustainable Finance. In his eyes, climate, environmental and social aspects are natural ingredients of a successful corporate strategy. “Research has clearly demonstrated that there is a business case for sustainability. The goal now is to make the public aware of that fact and – especially in the climate context – act on it.”

The federal government’s new scientific platform will focus on the efficacy, costs and side-effects of climate protection measures, as well as the opportunities and risks that they entail. According to a statement from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research: “In this regard, selected research institutes for the natural and social sciences will collaborate on an interdisciplinary basis, and take part in regular exchanges with the scientific community, political community and society at large.”

The following researchers have been appointed to the platform’s steering committee:

• Prof. Timo Busch, Professor of Management at Universität Hamburg
• Prof. Ottmar Edenhofer, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)
• Prof. Anita Engels, Professor of Sociology at Universität Hamburg
• Prof. Holger Hanselka, President, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
• Dr. Felix Christian Matthes, Research Coordinator for Energy and Climate Protection, Öko-Institut e. V. in Freiburg
• Prof. Karen Pittel, Director of the Center for Energy, Climate and Resources at the ifo Institute in Munich
• Prof. Ortwin Renn, Managing Scientific Director of the Institute for Transformative Sustainability Research at the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) in Potsdam
• Prof. Sabine Schlacke, Professor of Public Law, especially Construction, Planning and Environmental Law at the University of Münster