A Cuban scientist at the pinnacle of climate change

The election of Cuban scientist Ramón Pichs Madruga to one of the vice presidencies of the new Bureau of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) marks the first time that a Latin American and Caribbean expert holds the highest position in the main international body in charge of evaluating knowledge on this field.

Pichs Madruga was nominated at the 59th Session of the IPCC held in July in Nairobi, Kenya and intended to appoint its new leadership with a view to its seventh assessment cycle, whose reports stand as a major reference for multilateral negotiations on climate change and for related decision-making in all countries.

The Cuban expert said that being one of the three VPs of the IPCC is the result of his activity as a member of the Bureau since 1997, but remarked that his appointment responds to the work undertaken by his country and government rather than to personal merits.

“My professional training and academic career are closely linked to the development of Cuban education and science, based on joint research projects and other actions,” he stressed. “Therefore, this is an achievement of Cuban science and the country's efforts to foster both its scientific potential and cooperation with key international scientific organizations such as the IPCC.”

A Senior Researcher at the World Economy Research Center, University professor, and Full Member of the Cuban Academy of Sciences of Cuba, Pichs Madruga holds a degree in Foreign Trade Economics from the University of Havana, a Master's Degree in Social Sciences from the University of Lund, Sweden, and a PhD in Economics from the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

He has been a collaborator of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research, and the UN Environment Program.

The IPCC is an intergovernmental scientific body established in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme and whose mandate includes the submission of reports to be used as input for climate-related policy-making and implementation around the world.