Ottmar Edenhofer

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German economist

title: "Ottmar Edenhofer" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1961-births", "german-economists", "georgist-economists", "living-people", "ludwig-maximilian-university-of-munich-alumni", "academic-staff-of-technische-universität-berlin", "technische-universität-darmstadt-alumni", "institute-for-new-economic-thinking", "members-of-the-german-national-academy-of-sciences-leopoldina", "members-of-german-academy-of-science-and-engineering-acatech"] description: "German economist" topic_path: "engineering" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottmar_Edenhofer" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary German economist ::

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FieldValue
nameOttmar Edenhofer
imageOttmar Edenhofer neu.jpg
captionEdenhofer in 2008
birth_nameOttmar Georg Edenhofer
birth_date
birth_placeGangkofen, Germany
alma_mater{{Plainlist
known_for{{Plainlist
fieldsEconomics
awards{{Plainlist
workplaces{{Plainlist
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| name = Ottmar Edenhofer | image = Ottmar Edenhofer neu.jpg | caption = Edenhofer in 2008 | birth_name = Ottmar Georg Edenhofer | birth_date = | birth_place = Gangkofen, Germany | alma_mater = {{Plainlist|

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/Ottmar_Edenhofer_(16304923404).jpg" caption="Edenhofer photographed in 2015"] ::

Ottmar Georg Edenhofer (born 8 July 1961) is a German economist who is regarded as one of the world's leading experts on climate change policy, environmental and energy policy, and energy economics. His work has been heavily cited. Edenhofer currently holds the professorship of the Economics of Climate Change at Technische Universität Berlin. Together with Earth scientist Johan Rockström, economist Ottmar Edenhofer is scientific director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), representing the interdisciplinary and solutions-oriented approach of the institute. Furthermore, he was director of the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC) which is since 2025 part of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research as fifth research department "Climate Economics and Policy". From 2008 to 2015 he served as one of the co-chairs of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group III "Mitigation of Climate Change".

Edenhofer is chair of the European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change. This expert advisory board, convened in 2021 by the European Climate Law, advises the European Union independently and on the basis of scientific knowledge. The work of the ESABCC contributed to the European Commission's recommendation of a climate target for 2040 (90% reduction in net greenhouse gas emissions). He is a member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina and of the German Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech). In 2020 Professor Edenhofer was honoured with the most prestigious environmental prize in Germany the Environment Prize (German Environment Foundation) for his groundbreaking work in the field of carbon pricing. Before, he was awarded the Romano-Guardini-Prize by the Katholische Akademie in Bayern.

Education

Edenhofer was born in Gangkofen, Lower Bavaria, Germany. He 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 led 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 Technische Universität Darmstadt in 1999 under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Carlo C. Jäger.

Career

In 2018, Edenhofer was appointed director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research with Earth scientist Johan Rockström. Previously, Edenhofer was deputy director and chief economist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), where he headed Research Area III ("Sustainable Solutions Strategies").

Since June 2020 Edenhofer is project lead of the major Copernicus research activity Ariadne on the German energy transition. The project is investigating options how climate targets can be met with socially accepted policy instruments

From 2008 to 2015 he served as a co-chair of Working Group III "Mitigation of Climate Change" of the (IPCC). Under his leadership as co-chair, the IPCC published the Special Report on Renewable Energy Sources and Climate Change Mitigation (SRREN), and the Fifth Assessment Report on Climate Change in 2014. In 2012 he became director of the newly founded Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC).

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 (IPCC) in 2007. The IPCC was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in the same year.

Since 2008, Edenhofer holds the professorship for the Economics of Climate Change at Technische Universität Berlin.

Other activities and advisory roles

Edenhofer has advised German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on carbon pricing. Edenhofer was asked to submit an expertise on carbon pricing options to the German Council of Economic Experts. In 2021, Edenhofer was appointed to the Vatican's Dicastry for Promoting Integral Human Development by Pope Francis.

Edenhofer is a member of the OECD Advisory Council “Growth, Investment and the Low-Carbon Transition”. At the invitation of Ségolène Royal and Feike Sijbesma, co-chairs of the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition (CPLC) High Level Assembly, he became a member of the High-Level Commission on Carbon Prices – co-chaired by Joseph Stiglitz and Nicholas Stern – in 2019/20. In June 2021, he was appointed to the World Bank–International Monetary Fund High-Level Advisory Group (HLAG) on Sustainable and Inclusive Recovery and Growth, co-chaired by Mari Pangestu, Ceyla Pazarbasioglu, and Nicholas Stern.

In addition, 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 land rents, 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.

Philosophy and position on climate change

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 is a proponent of carbon pricing. He points out that both cap-and-trade and a direct carbon tax can be implemented 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.

Edenhofer is a strongly anti-nuclear and has advised Angela Merkel on the German nuclear phase-out.

Edenhofer offered this in a speech he made November 2010"....one has to free oneself(from the illusion that international climate policy is environmental policy. Instead, climate change policy is about how we redistribute de facto the world's wealth..."

Publications

References

References

  1. "Highly Cited Researchers". Clarivate Web of Science.
  2. "ILAUP: Prof. Dr. Ottmar Edenhofer".
  3. "It's time: MCC will be part of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research from early 2025".
  4. (2022-05-18). "EU Climate Advisory Board chair elected".
  5. "European Climate Law - European Commission".
  6. "Questions and Answers – Communication on Europe's 2040 climate target and path to climate neutrality by 2050".
  7. "German President recognises German Environmental Award as "a particularly important message"". German Federal Environmental Foundation (Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt DBU).
  8. (5 July 2018). "Edenhofer honored with Romano Guardini Prize". Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change.
  9. (21 November 2017). "Prof. Dr. Carlo C. Jaeger – Global Climate Forum".
  10. "Neue Direktoren für Klima-Institut". Der Tagesspiegel Online.
  11. (9 June 2021). "Kopernikus-Symposium diskutiert Wege zur Klimaneutralität in Deutschland {{!}} 9.-10. Juni 2021 {{!}} Ariadne".
  12. "Ariadne {{!}} Kopernikus-Projekt".
  13. "Kopernikus-Projekte: Ariadne".
  14. "IPCC - SRREN".
  15. Lynn, Jonathan. (28 November 2014). "IPCC launches full report on mitigation of climate change". Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
  16. "CO2-pricing: German chancellor Angela Merkel visited PIK for a scientific briefing — Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research".
  17. "Climate Protection & Sustainability: German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier visits PIK — Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research".
  18. Zeitung, Süddeutsche. (29 June 2021). "Klimaschutz: Steinmeier hält "gewaltige Schritte" für nötig".
  19. (2019). "Optionen für eine CO2-Preisreform: MCC-PIK-Expertise für den Sachverständigenrat zur Begutachtung der gesamtwirtschaftlichen Entwicklung". Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC) gGmbH.
  20. (2019). "Aufbruch zu einer neuen Klimapolitik [Sondergutachten]". Sachverständigenrat zur Begutachtung der gesamtwirtschaftlichen Entwicklung.
  21. (13 January 2021). "Ottmar Edenhofer berät den Vatikan". Der Tagesspiegel Online.
  22. http://www.oecd.org/environment/cc/advisory-council-members-project-growth-investment-lowcarbon-transition.pdf {{Bare URL PDF. (March 2022)
  23. [https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2021/06/14/pr21175-world-bank-imf-launch-hlag-sustainable-inclusive-recovery-growth World Bank, IMF Launch High-Level Advisory Group on Sustainable and Inclusive Recovery and Growth] [[International Monetary Fund]], press release of 15 June 2021.
  24. "Prof. Dr. Ottmar Edenhofer".
  25. "Münchener Rück Stiftung: Vom Wissen zum Handeln — Report 2012".
  26. "Green Growth: World Bank appoints Edenhofer as an advisor — Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research".
  27. "Ottmar Edenhofer Potsdam-Institut für Klimafolgenforschung e.V. (PIK)".
  28. "Advisory Council – Carbon Mitigation Initiative".
  29. [http://www.volkswagenag.com/content/vwcorp/info_center/en/news/2016/09/sustainability_council.html Volkswagen Group appoints international Sustainability Council] {{Webarchive. link. (2 October 2016 [[Volkswagen]], press release of 28 September 2016.)
  30. "Review of Environmental Economics and Policy: Editorial Board".
  31. High-Level Commission on Carbon Prices. (2017). "Report of the High-level Commission on Carbon Prices". International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and International Development Association/The World Bank..
  32. "List of Members".
  33. "Advisory Board".
  34. Projektträger, Redaktion: WPKS Geschäftsstelle / DLR. "Mitglieder des Lenkungskreises - WPKS".
  35. "Scientific Advisory Council - ZEW Mannheim".
  36. "People {{!}} laudato-si".
  37. "The Commission".
  38. "ZdK-Wahl abgeschlossen: Das sind die neuen Mitglieder des Komitees".
  39. "Aus Verantwortung gegenüber kommenden Generationen: Landesregierung beruft Nachhaltigkeitsbeirat".
  40. "World Bank, IMF Launch High-Level Advisory Group on Sustainable and Inclusive Recovery and Growth".
  41. Edenhofer, Ottmar. (18 February 2013). "Hypergeorgism: When is Rent Taxation as a Remedy for Insufficient Capital Accumulation Socially Optimal?".
  42. Edenhofer, Ottmar. (25 June 2013). "Financing Public Capital Through Land Rent Taxation: A Macroeconomic Henry George Theorem".
  43. Edenhofer, Ottmar. "The Triple Dividend Climate Change Mitigation, Justice and Investing in Capabilities".
  44. (2019). "Options for a Carbon Pricing Reform Expertise by MCC and PIK for the German Council of Economic Experts".

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