KNAW membership for PBL researcher

Professor Detlef van Vuuren, climate scientist at PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, has been awarded membership of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). Van Vuuren receives this membership because of his outstanding scientific research on global sustainability issues, and on climate in particular. 

In addition to his position as PBL project leader in global sustainability, climate change and energy, Van Vuuren is also Professor of Integrated Assessment of Global Environmental Change at Utrecht University. His work includes the development and analysis of computer models for exploring future changes in climate and the environment, using scenarios and taking into account the interactions between climate, physical environment and economy.

On behalf of PBL, he leads a team of scientists working on IMAGE, the internationally leading integrated assessment model that was the first model in the world to include a detailed scenario for a maximum global temperature increase of 2 °C. Worldwide, this scenario continues to be considered the standard scenario on the 2 °C target. With this scenario, Detlef van Vuuren and his team also contributed to the Paris Climate Agreement.   

Van Vuuren’s work includes the climate scenarios of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) of the United Nations. His achievements are outstanding in the international arena, and he regularly publishes new research in leading national and international media, such as his article in Nature Climate Change on the 1.5 °C scenario, on 13 April of this year.

PBL Director-General, Professor Hans Mommaas: ‘PBL is extraordinarily proud of Detlef van Vuuren being awarded the KNAW membership, which is much deserved, and in the Netherlands represents a great tribute to someone’s scientific career.’

Related

About the topic:

Energy and Climate Change

We report on the progress made with regard to the climate and energy transition, analysing the current and future impact of policy on greenhouse gas emission reduction and exploring various options for achieving the reduction targets.

More about energy and climate change