Latest News — Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research

Advisory Council established for State of Brandenburg

05/20/2007 - The German State of Brandenburg has established an Advisory Council for Sustainable Development and Resource Protection yesterday. The constituent meeting took place in the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). PIK's expert Manfred Stock will be the chairman of the council.

Report: Climate change threatens international stability and security

06/06/2007 - The German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU) has today submitted its report "Climate Change as a Security Risk" to the German Federal Government. The Council, to which PIK scientists belong, reasons that climate policy and strategies for adaptation to climate change are emerging as key elements of preventive security policy.

Joint science academies` statement on climate protection handed over to Chancellor Merkel

05/16/2007 - On the initiative of Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, director of PIK, the scientific academies of the G8+5 countries have prepared a joint science statement on climate protection and energy efficiency. This statement was handed over to Angela Merkel, Federal Chancellor of Germany, on 16 May of this year

Hans Joachim Schellnhuber awarded the German Environmental Award 2007

09/27/2007 - Federal President Horst Koehler will present the topmost-endowed European environmental award to the Director of PIK on 28th October.

Excellent results for PIK in evaluation

11/23/2007 - A thorough and independently conducted evaluation of the Potsdam Institute confirmed its excellent status. Federal and state funding of the research for another seven years have been approved of.

International top researchers address appeal to UN Climate Conference in Bali

12/06/2007 - On the fourth day of the United Nations Climate Conference in Bali more than 200 leading climate scientists have called on the more than 180 parties of the Framework Convention on Climate Change to act immediately to cut greenhouse gas emissions. The “Bali Climate Declaration by Scientists” emphasizes the urgent need for a fair and effective global climate deal. PIK researchers are among the signees.

Summer School "Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services"

02/08/2008 - The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research organises the third summer school of the Network of Excellence "ALTER-Net" (A Long-Term Biodiversity, Ecosystem and Awareness Research Network) from 2-14 September in Peyresq, Southern France. Up to 32 graduate students and young scientists can participate in the summer school, the deadline for application is 15 April 2008.

Recognizing the Elephant in the Room: Future Climate Impacts across Sectors

12/16/2013 - A pioneering collaboration within the international scientific community has provided comprehensive projections of climate change effects, ranging from water scarcity to risks to crop yields. This interdisciplinary effort, employing extensive model inter-comparisons, allows research gaps to be identified, whilst producing the most robust possible findings. The results provide crucial insights for decision-making regarding mitigation efforts in the face of potential impact cascades. The analyses are to be published in a special feature of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that assembles the first results of the Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISI-MIP), which aims at bringing research on climate impacts onto a new level.

Schellnhuber joins Santa Fe Institute

03/08/2010 - Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), has been appointed to the position of External Professor of the Santa Fe Institute (SFI). The election to the external faculty recognizes Schellnhubers “many contributions to science and the SFI research effort”. At the US institution a transdisciplinary research community, working in the field of complexity science, investigates physical, computational, biological, and social systems. The term of the appointment is January 2010 through June 2013.

"Hot" topic: What emissions reductions are necessary to respect 2°C climate target?

07/05/2010 – The article “Greenhouse-gas emission targets for limiting global warming to 2C”, lead authored by PIK-scientist Malte Meinshausen, is one of the most-cited papers in the discipline of Geosciences published during the past two years. The study appeared in the renowned journal Nature. The paper quantified for the first time the emissions reduction requirements for staying below two degrees celsius.