Ottmar Edenhofer

Prof. Dr. Ottmar Edenhofer

Ottmar Georg Edenhofer (* 8. July 1961 in Gangkofen, Lower Bavaria, Germany) is a German economist who deals with climate change policy and environmental and energy policy and energy economics. He is currently professor of the Economics of Climate Change at the Technical University of Berlin, co-chair of Working group III of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and deputy director and chief economist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research as well as Fellow of the Academy of Sciences in Hamburg, Germany.

Education

Ottmar Edenhofer studied in Munich and holds a diploma in Economics from the Ludwig-Maximilians-University(“Prädikatsexamen”) and a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from the Munich School of Philosophy (“summa cum laude”). During his studies he founded his own enterprise and between 1991 and 1993 he led a humanitarian aid organisation in Bosnia. From 1994 to 2000 he worked as a research assistant at the Technical University Darmstadt and wrote his Ph.D. in Economics in 1999 (“summa cum laude”).

Career

In 2004, Ottmar Edenhofer was a lead author for the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with former Vice President of the United States Al Gore.

In 2005, he became a fellow of the “Hanse Institute for Advanced Study” in Delmenhorst, Germany.

From August 2004 to December 2005, he led (together with Michael Grubb, Carlo Carraro and Kai Lessmann) the “Innovation Modelling Comparison Project” (IMCP) (Title: “Economic and Technological Dimensions of Stabilising the Atmospheric Greenhouse Gas Concentration”) which was funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. The results were published in a Special Issue of “The Energy Journal” in 2006.

Since 2007, Ottmar Edenhofer is deputy director and chief economist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and is currently leading Research Domain III (Sustainable Solutions) which focuses on the research of the economics of atmospheric stabilisation. Along with the members of staff of Research Domain III, he formulated the “Global Deal” for climate protection and developed the concept for the transatlantic carbon market. He is additionally supervising several PhD students and diploma students at PIK and coordinates several third-party-funded research projects.

Since August 2008 Ottmar Edenhofer is professor for the Economics of Climate Change at the Technical University Berlin. Since September 2008, he is co-chair of Working group III ("Mitigation of Climate Change") of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

In addition to his research and teaching activities, Ottmar Edenhofer is participating in the public and political climate protection debates in Germany and the European Union. His research has influenced the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change substantially in particular chapters 10 and 13.

Moreover, Ottmar Edenhofer was key climate change advisor to the federal foreign minister and deputy chancellor Frank-Walter Steinmeier regarding global climate policy until September 2009.

Research interests

Ottmar Edenhofer explores the impacts of induced technological change on mitigation costs and strategies. Another focus is the design of instruments for climate and energy policy, the economy of climate stabilization, social benefit-cost analysis and the theory of sustainability and economic growth.

Fellowships

• since 2007: Fellow of the Academy of Sciences in Hamburg, Germany
• since 2008: Fellow of the German Association of Environmental and Resource Economics
• since 2009: Fellow of the International Association of Energy Economics

Scientific Honors

• August 2005: Fellow of the Hanse Institute for Advanced Study in Delmenhorst, Germany

Publications

• List of publications by Ottmar Edenhofer

External links

• Chair of Economics of Climate Change at Technical University Berlin
• Ottmar Edenhofer at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)
• Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) - Research Domain III (Sustainable Solutions)
• IPCC Working Group III
• IPCC Working Group III - Technical Support Unit

References

• http://www.pik-potsdam.de/members/edenh/index_html?set_language=en
• http://www.pressestelle.tu-berlin.de/medieninformationen/2008/september_nr_223-251/medieninformation_nr_2282008/

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Name	Edenhofer, Ottmar
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