Hoesung Lee elected as Chairman of IPCC

Hoesung Lee of South Korea has been elected Chairman of Inter-governmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC).
He was elected in on-going 42nd session IPCC in Dubrovnik, Croatia by 78 votes to 56 in a run-off election with Jean-Pascale van Ypersele from Belgium.
Lee succeeds environmentalist R.K. Pachauri of India who had resigned following the sexual abuse scandal in which he was allegedly involved.

About Hoesung Lee

  • Presently, he professor in the economics of climate change, energy and sustainable development.
  • Previously he had served as one of the Vice-Chairs of the IPCC. He has been associated with IPCC in various capacities including as Co-Chair of Working Group III for Second Assessment Report of 1992.
  • He is also the founding president of the Korea Energy Economic Institute. He also has served as President of International Association for Energy Economics.
  • He had also had served on various boards including as a member of the ADB President’s advisory board, executive member of the Korean Academy of Environmental Sciences etc.

About Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

  • IPCC is the leading international body for the assessment of climate change.
  • Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.
  • Established: in 1988 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
  • Members: Open to all member countries of UN and WMO. Currently 195 countries are its members.
  • It comprises a group of several hundred scientists of different  nationality who assess climate change science.
  • Functions: IPCC neither monitors climate related parameters or data nor does it conduct any research work. It merely assesses the most recent scientific, socio-economic and technical information produced worldwide relevant to the understanding of climate change.
  • Every 5 or 6 years, IPCC comes out with comprehensive periodic reports on Climate Change called Assessment Reports (AR).
  • Awards: IPCC’s 4th AR had helped them to win Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. During this time R.K. Pachauri was its Chairman.

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