4 June 2014: Former UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Chief Scientist and award-winning environmental modeling researcher Joseph Alcamo was appointed Special Science Adviser to UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres. He will be providing pro bono advice to the Secretariat.

Figueres said his invaluable advice will “strengthen our ability to understand developments in the fast moving world of climate research.” Upon his appointment, Alcamo stressed the “need to maximize efforts to convey the important science messages coming from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to policymakers.”

Alcamo is Executive Director of the Center for Environmental Systems Research at the University of Kassel, Germany, and Professor of Environmental Systems Science and Engineering. Since 1993, he has been active with the IPCC.

While at UNEP, he helped found the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, an alliance of governments and non-state partners dedicated to rapid action on pollutants that lead to air pollution, cause crop damage and contribute to climate change. He also: chaired the Scientific Steering Committee of the UNEP-convened series of emissions ‘Gap’ reports; started an international ‘Foresight’ process for identifying emerging issues; co-founded an organization for climate impact science (PROVIA); co-organized the UN Global Assessment of Water Quality; and played a key role in the founding of Future Earth, an international framework for global change research.

He received the Max Planck Research Prize for helping to develop the field of integrated environmental modeling and the Grand Prix des Lumieres de l’Eau de Cannes for his contribution to global water research. [UNFCCC Press Release]