German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU)
Wissenschaftlicher Beirat der Bundesregierung
Globale Umweltveränderungen
 | Wissenschaftlicher Beirat des Bundesregierung Globale Umweltveränderungen (WBGU) Luisenstrasse 46 D-10117 Berlin Tel. +49 30 263 94 80 Fax +49 30 263 94 850 wbgu@wbgu.de www.wbgu.de |
Establishment and Mission
Current and Future Activities
Past Priority Fields (2010)
On 7 April 2011 the Report: "Global Transformation towards a Low-Carbon Society" was officially released.
In this report, the WBGU explains the reasons for the desperate need for a post-fossil economic strategy, yet it also concludes that the transition to sustainability is achievable, and presents ten concrete packages of measures to accelerate the imperative restructuring. If the transformation really is to succeed, we have to enter into a social contract for innovation, in the form of a new kind of discourse between governments and citizens, both within and beyond the boundaries of the nation state.
Read more.
In this report, the WBGU explains the reasons for the desperate need for a post-fossil economic strategy, yet it also concludes that the transition to sustainability is achievable, and presents ten concrete packages of measures to accelerate the imperative restructuring. If the transformation really is to succeed, we have to enter into a social contract for innovation, in the form of a new kind of discourse between governments and citizens, both within and beyond the boundaries of the nation state.
Read more.
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Background and Mission
Establishment
The German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU) was set up by the Federal Government of Germany in 1992 by means of a Decree that was modified on 25 October 2000 . The WBGU was established as an independent body with a Secretariat in Berlin. The Council reports directly to the Federal Government and is supported administratively alternately, on a two-yearly basis, by the Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) and the Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Reactor Safety (BMU). An Inter-Ministerial Working Group (IMA) comprising members from all other ministries and the Federal Chancellery provides further support to the Council in its work.
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Mission
The WBGU research focuses on critical changes in the Earth System. Its aim is to identify the causes of, and interactions between global problems in the field of environment and development, to identify ways to mitigate or avoid these problems, and to predict future trends. Acting on this knowledge is the responsibility of policymakers.
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Council Members
The WBGU has nine Council Members, which are researchers or other experts from different backgrounds. The council members are elected for a term of 4 years. The Council is now in its fifth term, from 1 November 2008 to 31 October 2012.
| Chair: Prof. Dr. Hans Joachim Schellnhuber | CBE, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and visiting professor at Oxford University |
| Vicechair: Prof. Dr. Dirk Messner | Director of the German Development Institute, Bonn, and Professor for Political Science, University Duisburg-Essen |
| Prof. Dr. Claus Leggewie |
Director of the Institute for Advanced
Study in the Humanities, Essen, Institute for Advanced Study of the University Alliance Metropolis Ruhr |
| Prof. Dr. Reinhold Leinfelder |
Director General of the Museum of
Natural History at the Humboldt-University, Berlin |
| Prof. Dr. Nebojsa Nakicenovic | Professor of Energy Economics, Vienna University and International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg |
| Prof. Dr. Stefan Rahmstorf | Professor of Physics of the Oceans, Potsdam University and head of the Climate System department at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research |
| Prof. Dr. Sabine Schlacke | Professor of Public Law, specializing German, European and International Environmental and administrative Law, Bremen University. |
| Prof. Dr. Jürgen Schmid, | President of the Institute for Solar Energy Technology, Kassel and Professor at Kassel University |
| Prof. Dr. Renate Schubert, | Professor for economics at the Swiss Federal Institute for Technology and director of the Institute for Environmental Decisions, ETH Zurich (Switzerland) |
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Staff Members
The work of the Council is supported by a Secretariat in Berlin, headed by the Secretary-General Dr. Inge Paulini. The Secretariat has ten members of staff including six scientists. It provides scientific and logistic support to the Council's members and serves as the direct contact address for the public and press.
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Work Style
Tasks of the Council
The following tasks have been assigned to the Council:
- analyse global environment and development problems and report on these,
- review and evaluate national and international research in the field of global change,
- provide early warning of new issue areas,
- identify gaps in research and to initiate new research,
- monitor and assess national and international policies for the achievement of sustainable development,
- elaborate recommendations for action and research and
- raise public awareness and heighten the media profile of global change issues.
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Substructure and Working Groups
The working groups of the Council are set up on an ad hoc basis. At the moment, there are no special working groups.
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Council Meetings
The Council meets once a month for two days and every two years it holds a full week meeting. The following meetings are planned for
2011: 20-21 January, 24-25 February, 24-25 March, 28-29 April, 19-20 May, 23-24 June, 21-22 July, 22-23 September, 20-21 October, 24-25 November, 15-16 December.
2012: 19-20 January, 23-24 February, 22-23 March, 19-20 April, 24-25 May, 21-22 June, 19-20 July, 20-21 September, 18-19 October, 22-23 November, 20-21 December.
2011: 20-21 January, 24-25 February, 24-25 March, 28-29 April, 19-20 May, 23-24 June, 21-22 July, 22-23 September, 20-21 October, 24-25 November, 15-16 December.
2012: 19-20 January, 23-24 February, 22-23 March, 19-20 April, 24-25 May, 21-22 June, 19-20 July, 20-21 September, 18-19 October, 22-23 November, 20-21 December.
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Type of Advice
The Council submits regularly reports to the Federal Government containing recommendations for research and further action to combat global problems in the field of environment and development (until 1999 once a year, since 2000 on a two years basis). The Council further issues special reports in the context of particular events, such as the climate conferences in Kyoto (1997) or Copenhagen (2009).The Council also issues policy papers that are short, policy-oriented statements on burning issues of global change.
The Council also keeps close contact to Parliamentarian groups (e.g. on environment) and Enquete-Commissions of the German Bundestag. At the international level the Council is represented in several official German delegations of the UNCED follow-up, e.g. the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Convention to Combat Desertification and the Convention on Biological Diversity. Council members are also involved in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
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Activities in the EEAC Network
The WBGU joined EEAC in 1999.
WBGU is an active member in the Working Groups Agriculture and Energy and observer to the groups Marine, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development/Governance.
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List of Selected Publications
You can search for the full list of policy advice in our Search Engine which also includes the titles in English of publications available in original language only.
Main Reports
- World in Transition: A Social Contract for Sustainability (April 2011 - pdf. 6,5 Mb)
- World in Transition: Future Bioenergy and Sustainable Land Use, (December 2008)
- World in Transition: Climate Change as a Security Risk, (June 2007);
- World in Transition: Fighting Poverty through Environmental Policy, ( 2004);
- World in Transition: Towards Sustainable Energy Systems, (2003);
- World in Transition: New Structures for Global Environmental Policy, (2000);
- World in Transition: Conservation and Sustainable Use of the Biosphere, (2001);
- World in Transition: Strategies for Managing Global Environmental Risks, (2000);
- World in Transition: Ways Towards Sustainable Management of Freshwater Resources, (1998);
- World in Transition: The Research Challenge, (1997);
- World in Transition: Ways Towards Global Environmental Solutions, (1995);
- World in Transition: The Threat to Soils, (1994);
- World in Transition: Basic Structure of Global People-Environment Interactions, (1993).
Special Reports
- Solving the climate dilemma: The budget approach (2009)
- Water demand for global bioenergy (2008)
- Bioenergy and global food security (2008)
- Land-use, Bioenergy and Agro-biotechnology (2008)
- Bioenergy and Agro-biotechnology (January 2008)
- Bioenergy and Global Food Situation until 2020, 2050 (January 2008)
- Climate Change as a Security Risk (June 2007)
- The Future Oceans – Warming Up, Rising High, Turning Sour, (2006)
- Climate Protection Strategies for the 21st Century: Kyoto and beyond, (2003);
- Charging the Use of Global Commons, (2002);
- World in Transition: Environment and Ethics, (1999);
- The Accounting of Biological Sinks and Sources Under the Kyoto Protocol - A Step Forwards Or Backwards For Global Environmental Protection?, (1998);
- Targets for Climate Protection. A Study for the Third Conference of the Parties to the Framework Convention on Climate Change in Kyoto, (1997);
- Scenario for the derivation of global CO2 reduction targets and implementation strategies. Statement on the occasion of the First Conference of the Parties to the Framework Convention on Climate Change in Berlin, (1995)
Policy Papers
- Climate Policy Post-Copenhagen: A Three-Level Strategy for Success (2010)
- New impetus for climate policy: making the most of Germany's dual presidency, (2007);
- Development needs Environmental Protection: Recommendations for the Millennium + 5 summit, (2005);
- Renewable Energies for Sustainable Development: Impulses for renewables, (2004);
- Charging the use of Global Commons, (2002);
- The Johannesburg Opportunity: Key Elements of a Negotiation Strategy, (2001).
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