Policy Leaders Forum: IPCC Vice Chair Thelma Krug
Thelma Krug, Vice Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), visited the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University on April 22, 2019 for a discussion on the current state of climate science and the work of the IPCC in advancing global climate science and policy.
The event was part of the Policy Leaders Forum series at the Pardee School that brings senior international policymakers to Boston University for important policy conversations with guests including faculty, students and experts from across Boston University.
For many years Krug has participated in the negotiating process under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on issues related mainly to forestry and reporting guidelines. She has several publications related to climate and forests, and has participated in the development of innovative methodologies for reforestation under the Clean Development Mechanism. From 2002 to 2015 she co-chaired the Task Force on National Greenhouse Gas Inventories of the IPCC and since October 2015 she is one of its Vice-Chairs.
Krug also serves as the Director of the Department on Policies to Combat Deforestation of the Ministry of the Environment of Brazil and is a senior researcher at the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) of the Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communication. She holds a PhD on spatial statistics from the University of Sheffield, UK, and was the coordinator of Earth Observation at INPE, responsible for the official estimates of deforestation in Amazonia using remotely sensed data.
Created in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the objective of the IPCC is to provide governments at all levels with scientific information that they can use to develop climate policies. IPCC reports are also a key input into international climate change negotiations. The IPCC currently has 195 members. Thousands of people from all over the world contribute to the work of the IPCC. For the assessment reports, IPCC scientists volunteer their time to assess the thousands of scientific papers published each year to provide a comprehensive summary of what is known about the drivers of climate change, its impacts and future risks, and how adaptation and mitigation can reduce those risks.v
The Policy Leaders @BUPardeeSchool series brings senior international policymakers to Boston University for conversations with faculty, students and guests. Previous speakers in the series have included Senator Daniel Coats, the United States Director for National Intelligence; Dr. Rukakana Rugunda, Prime Minister of Uganda; Steve Beshear, the former Governor of Kentucky; Dr. Woo Yoon-keun, Secretary General on the National Assembly of South Korea; and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI).