Ottmar Georg Edenhofer is one of the world's leading experts on climate change policy, environmental and energy policy, and energy economics. Edenhofer currently holds the professorship of the Economics of Climate Change at the Technical University of Berlin. He is designated director and chief economist of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research as well as director of the . From 2008 to 2015 he served as one of the co-chairs of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Working Group III "Mitigation of Climate Change". Among other functions, he is a member of the OECD Advisory Council “Growth, Investment and the Low-Carbon Transition”, a member of the High-Level Commission on Carbon Prices, a member of the Advisory Committee of the Green Growth Knowledge Platform, and a member of the German Academy of Science and Engineering. In July 2018, Professor Edenhofer was awarded the Romano-Guardini-Prize by the Katholische Akademie in Bayern.
Education
Edenhofer completed his Diploma in Economics with honors at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. He belonged the Jesuit Order from 1987 to 1994 and following his novitiate earned a bachelor's degree in Philosophy at the Munich School of Philosophy. During this time he also founded an enterprise in the public health sector and lead a humanitarian aid organization in Croatia and Bosnia from 1991 to 1993. After leaving the Order, Edenhofer worked as a research assistant from 1994 to 2000 and completed his PhD in Economics summa cum laude at the Technical University of Darmstadt in 1999 under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Carlo C. Jäger,.
Career
From 2004 to 2008 Edenhofer was a lead author of the Fourth Assessment Report on Climate Change published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2007. The IPCC was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in the same year. Since 2007, Edenhofer is deputy director and chief economist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, co-chairing Research Domain III "Sustainable Solutions", which focuses on the scientific research of the economics of atmospheric stabilization. In close cooperation with the research domain's staff, he formulated the concept of the "Global Deal" for climate protection as well as developing a concept for a transatlantic carbon market. In addition, he supervises several PhD and Diploma students at PIK. He is also in charge of the coordinating various third-party-funded research projects. Since 2008, Edenhofer holds the professorship for the at the Technical University of Berlin. From 2008 to 2015 he served as a co-chair of Working Group III "Mitigation of Climate Change" of the. He was a lead author of the Fifth Assessment Report on Climate Change published by the IPCC in 2014. In 2012 he became director of the newly founded .
Other activities
Among other engagements, Edenhofer holds the following unpaid or paid honorary positions:
Besides his teaching and research activities, Edenhofer actively contributes to public debates about political climate protection measures in Germany and the European Union.
Research interests
Edenhofer's research explores the impact of induced technological change on mitigation costs and mitigation strategies, the value capture and distribution of landrents, and the design of instruments for climate and energy policy. He specializes in the economics of atmospheric stabilization, social cost-benefit analysis, land value tax, sustainability theory, economic growth theory, environmental economics, welfare theory, and general intertemporal equilibrium theory.
Edenhofer says that his interest in philosophy and economics was influenced by his readings of the works of Henry George, Karl Marx, Max Weber, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and John Dewey. Regarding climate change he says: "Denying out and out that climate change is a problem for humanity, as some cynics do, is an unethical, unacceptable position." Edenhofer favours cap-and-trade over a direct carbon tax as the most efficient method to reduce greenhouse emissions and encourage innovation to preserve the climate. He feels strongly that moving the global economy to a low-carbon threshold requires huge increases in the use of renewable energy across all economic sectors.
