The Catholic Academy of Bavaria honors climate economist Ottmar Edenhofer with its Romano Guardini Prize. “As an eminent economist, committed political advisor and public admonisher, Ottmar Edenhofer repeatedly points to climate change as one of the most pressing problems on earth and proposes concrete solutions,” the Academy explained. “Not least Pope Francis consulted Ottmar Edenhofer several times and intensively for his encyclical Laudato si’. Both are convinced that environmental degradation and poverty are closely intertwined problems that can only be solved togehter in the ‘concern for our common house’.”
Edenhofer is the Director of the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC) as well as the Chief Economist and – from autumn – the Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). He is also a Professor at the Technical University of Berlin (TUB).
“Professor Edenhofer, like Romano Guardini, drives the ‘concern for human kind’, which for both is deeply rooted in Christian philosophy and Catholic piety,” emphasized Academy Director Florian Schuller. The prize is awarded for “outstanding services to the interpretation of time and the world in all areas of spiritual life”, thus commemorating one of the most important religious philosophers and theologians of the 20th century.
Edenhofer has advised the World Bank, the European Commission and the German government, according to the Academy: “Environmentalists and industrialists alike value him. In the leadership circle of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), he played a key role in negotiating the foundation for the Paris Climate Agreement of 2015.”
The award ceremony will take place in Munich at the beginning of July. Past prizewinners include the social ethicist and economic philosopher Prof. Dr. Oswald von Nell-Breuing, the Nobel Prize winner in physics Prof. Dr. Werner Heisenberg, the former Federal Constitutional Court judge Prof. Dr. Dr. Ernst-Wolfgang Böckenförde, the composer Carl Orff, the theologian Prof. Dr. Karl Rahner, and the former German Federal President Dr. Richard von Weizsäcker.
About the MCC
The MCC explores sustainable management and the use of common goods such as global environmental systems and social infrastructures in the context of climate change. Seven working groups conduct research on the topics of economic growth and development, resources and international trade, cities and infrastructure, governance and scientific policy advice. The MCC was jointly founded by the Mercator Foundation and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK).
Further information:
Media Contact:
Fabian Löhe
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Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC)
Telephone: +49 (0)30 338 5537 201
Email: www.mcc-berlin.net