Planetary boundaries to help policy assessment in climate crisis
03/17/2023 - The concept of planetary boundaries should be included in the cost-benefit analysis of policy pathways, shows a new study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research PIK and the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change MCC.
Read More
From forest resilience to power grids to loss and damage: PIK Research Days
02/22/2023 - Hot topics were presented in talks and discussed among scientists at the annual ‘Research Days’ of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). Virtually all members of the institute gathered for the 2-day exchange, the first one which happened face-to-face after the online-only times of COVID pandemic. Once a year, the entire institute comes together to update one another on its findings, new methods and challenges – and to discuss new frontiers to be investigated.
Read More
Tackling climate threats together: Munich Security Conference and Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research cooperate
02/17/2023 - The Munich Security Conference (MSC) and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) are joining forces to tackle threats arising from global heating. Greenhouse gas emissions from coal and oil reached record levels last year, increasing extreme weather events and yield failure risks that can fuel smoldering conflicts in poor countries and contribute to destabilizing societies. To help limit these risks, the leaders of MSC and PIK as champions in their respective fields of expertise now signed a cooperation agreement.
Read More
Federal Research Minister visits PIK
01/09/2023 - The Federal Minister of Education and Research Bettina Stark-Watzinger has visited the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). She spoke for almost two hours with climate economist and PIK Director Ottmar Edenhofer, as well as with Administrative Director Bettina Hörstrup and Gunnar Luderer from the Copernicus research project ARIADNE on energy transition policy. Topics included the federal government's hydrogen strategy and research into economic models for extracting CO2 from the air and storing it underground, as well as research into energy systems.
Read More
European Union to adopt emissions trading system for transport and heat
12/19/2022 - The European Union this weekend came to some decisions related to its climate policy, namely the EU Emissions Trading System. On this occasion, Ottmar Edenhofer, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC), issued a PIK Statement.
Read More
Award for outstanding commitment: Ottmar Edenhofer receives Bavarian Order of the Constitution 2022
12/02/2022 - For his research on the most pressing challenges of our time, Ottmar Edenhofer is being awarded today the Bavarian Order of the Constitution. The director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) is originally from Gangkofen (district of Rottal-Inn).
Read More
COP27 world climate summit: “Results are not good enough”
11/22/2022 – A COP failure was avoided, but it was only a very moderate success for the climate. While 1.5 as a global goal is still there on paper, COP27 does not offer a concrete plan on how to achieve that. These are, in a nutshell, the assessments by PIK Directors Ottmar Edenhofer and Johan Rockström just after the 27th edition of the world climate summit COP concluded on Sunday in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. Positive outcomes of the summit include a first-of-its-kind set up of a ‘loss and damage fund’ that shall aim at compensating climate impacts for developing countries.
Read More
Potsdam researchers amongst top 1% most cited worldwide
11/14/2022 - For the fifth year in a row, researchers from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) are among the top 1 percent of the globally most scientifically influential authors. The renowned "Highly Cited" ranking is published once a year by Clarivate Analytics' science platform Web of Science. The ranking is based on the number of times researchers are cited in other academics' works - one of the most important indicators of scientific relevance. Twelve PIK researchers are listed, just like last year, including the institute's directors, and from all research departments.
Read More
World climate summit COP27: Potsdam researchers highlight need for action
11/11/2022 - Climate policy-makers and experts are gathering in Sharm-el-Sheikh at the world climate summit COP27, amongst them researchers from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. The negotiations hosted by the United Nations also make media worldwide reach out to science.
Read More
"For a secure climate future": High-ranking guests at 30 years celebration of Potsdam Institute
06/30/2022 - High-ranking guests attended the 30th anniversary celebration of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) - from federal and Brandenburg politicians to a Nobel laureate. The institute, founded in 1992 and now employing a good 400 people, is needed more today than ever before in the worsening climate crisis, speeches said. The PIK Board of Directors thanked politicians as well as the scientists and all employees of PIK for their part in the success story.
Read More
How taxing the rich can help everyone
06/23/22 - Taxing rich peoples’ gains from capital can help reduce inequality while keeping up overall prosperity – yet only on two conditions. First, the revenues from taxation must be invested into public infrastructure such as schools, public transport, or sustainable energy grids. Second, it must be fairly possible to replace machines by labour. This is the outcome of a mathematical modelling study by a team of economists including US Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz and led by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.
Read More
"Climate, War and Science: Edenhofer holds Erich Schneider lecture in Kiel
06/14/2022 - For this year's renowned Erich Schneider Memorial Lecture, Christian-Albrechts University of Kiel has invited Ottmar Edenhofer to speak. He will be painting the big picture, as the title of Edenhofer's lecture this Thursday shows: "Climate, War and Science - Practical Dilemmas and Theoretical Challenges". Erich Schneider, who died in 1970, was one of Germany's most important economic thinkers. Edenhofer speaks as director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change, and as a professor at Technische Universität Berlin.
Read More
Ottmar Edenhofer at re:publica in Berlin
06/10/2022 - At the first re:publica in person since the beginning of the Corona pandemic, PIK Director Ottmar Edenhofer was invited to discuss the "society in permanent crisis" and possible solutions with publicist Carolin Emcke.
Read More
Fighting poverty and protecting the environment can only work together: Policy paper by the Potsdam Institute for the German Environment Ministry
06/02/2022 - A decent living for all people and better protection of nature and climate aren’t conflicting targets, a new scientific analysis highlights. Development goals such as reduced poverty and inequality, better health and education, and a secure supply of food and energy on the one hand interact closely with stabilizing the climate and preserving biodiversity on the other. Only together can these goals be achieved, shows a report by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) for the German Environment Ministry on the occasion of the Stockholm+50 summit which is starting today.
Read More
PIK Director Edenhofer speaks at G7 summit
06/02/2022 - The G7 finance ministers met last week in Bonn and Königswinter to agree on common positions in areas such as climate action, ensuring economic stability and other pressing issues, and also sought exchanges with the scientific community. PIK director and climate economist Ottmar Edenhofer spoke at the summit on carbon neutrality and climate clubs.
Read More
EU climate advisory board elects chair
05/19/2022 - The European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change, nominated in March this year, has elected Ottmar Edenhofer as the Board’s first chairperson at a meeting this week in Copenhagen. The European Climate Law adopted in 2021 provides for the establishment of the European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change, to support achieving climate neutrality in the European Union by 2050. Edenhofer is Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change as well as Professor at Technische Universität Berlin.
Read More
Why a new Emissions Trading System is needed in Europe to make road transport “Fit for 55”
04/28/2022 - The new Emissions Trading System proposed by the European Commission, the ETS2 – covering road transport and heating for buildings – is currently one of the most controversial topics in the European Parliament. To discuss it, stakeholders from science, business, civil society and policy gathered at a webinar organised by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC), and the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) this week. Around 150 participants joined the event.
Read More
"The benefits of climate protection clearly exceed its costs": breaking IPCC WG3 AR6 report
04/04/2022 - Today, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group 3 published its 6th Assessment Report on climate mitigation.
Read More
European Union appoints Edenhofer to Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change
03/24/2022 - The European Climate Law adopted in 2021 provides for the establishment of a European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change to support achieving climate neutrality in the European Union by 2050. The European Environment Agency now appointed economist Ottmar Edenhofer to this unique new board which will meet for the first time this Friday. Edenhofer is Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change as well as Professor at Technische Universität Berlin. The Advisory Board will give independent scientific advice and produce reports on EU policies and their coherence with the Climate Law and the EU's commitments under the Paris Agreement.
Read More
PIK Statement on the German Greenhouse Gas Emissions Report 2021
03/15/2022 - Today, the Germany's Federal Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt) has released its greenhouse gas emissions report 2021 for Germany. Unlike global emissions, German emissions have not reached another record high, but have risen nonetheless.
Read More
Science Platform for Climate Protection submits report to German government
02/18/2022 - Today, the Science Platform on Climate Protection' delivered its first annual report to the German government. Sabine Schlacke, Director of the Institute for Energy, Environmental and Maritime Law at the University of Greifswald, and economist Ottmar Edenhofer, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, presented the group's insights at the Federal Press Conference. Their recommendations were well received by Federal Research Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger and the State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate, Patrick Graichen.
Read More
Ottmar Edenhofer receives Arthur Burckhardt Prize as outstanding economist and expert on CO2 pricing
11/11/2021 - Ottmar Edenhofer, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and the Mercator Institute for Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC), receives the "Arthur Burckhardt Prize 2021" as an "outstanding economist as well as pioneer and expert in the field of CO2 pricing".
Read More
PIK Statement on Nobel Prize for climate researcher Hasselmann
10/05/2021 - Today, German climate researcher Klaus Hasselmann was one of three scientists to be awarded this year's Nobel Prize in Physics.
Read More
On the German Bundestag elections: "We can't afford any more years of stagnation."
09/26/2021 - The outcome of the Bundestag elections has great significance for climate and energy policy. Veronika Grimm and Ottmar Edenhofer commented on this on the sidelines of an online debate organized by the Verein für Socialpolitik, an important association of economic researchers.
Read More
Olaf Scholz visits Potsdam Institute
09/03/2021 – Olaf Scholz visited the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) this week, and he did so in two different capacities. In his capacity as Federal Minister of Finance, he met with climate economist and PIK Director Ottmar Edenhofer for an exchange on climate policy. In his capacity as Social Democratic Party candidate for the office of German chancellor, he did a video interview with WWF, for which he had chosen the Institute as venue.
Read More
10.3 million euros for climate supercomputer: Minister Schüle hands over funding notification
08/23/2021 - The Minister of Research of the State of Brandenburg, Manja Schüle, today handed over a grant of 10.3 million euros to the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) for the establishment of a new type of computer cluster for the analysis of scientific climate data. The new high-performance computer cluster on Potsdam's Telegrafenberg is necessary to enable the growing interest of the scientific community in linking climate data from a wide range of topics and research fields.
Read More
Estonian government delegation visits PIK
08 /16/2021 – A high-level government delegation from Estonia has visited the Potsdam Institute for an in-depth discussion about climate policy issues. Welcomed by the directors Ottmar Edenhofer and Johan Rockström, the guests from the Baltic Republic gained insight in the most recent findings of climate science and discussed its implications namely with regard to the Green Deal proposed by the European Commission. The visit illustrates the importance Estonia, a coastal state and one of 27 members of the European Union, concedes to the topic.
Read More
Birthday wishes to Ottmar Edenhofer
7/9/2021 - Ottmar Edenhofer, Director of the Potsam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), has received high-ranking congratulations from the federal and state governments on his 60th birthday. From Berlin, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel, Federal Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, the State Secretary of the Federal Environment Ministry Jochen Flasbarth and others wrote to him. From Brandenburg, Ottmar Edenhofer received congratulations from Minister President Dietmar Woidke, Science Minister Manja Schüle, as well as from numerous other companions in science and politics.
Read More
Smart transfer rules can strengthen EU climate policy
06/25/2021 - Brussels sets ambitious targets with the European Green Deal, so how can we ensure that all member states go along with them? An economic study on decision-making in groups of states gives us clues.
Read More
PIK STATEMENT on the ruling of the Federal Constitutional Court on the German climate protection law
04/29/2021 - In a ruling today, the Federal Constitutional Court obliged the German government to define more precisely the reduction targets for greenhouse gas emissions for the period after 2030. Ottmar Edenhofer, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change comments:
Read More
