Jim Skea will head the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change picks new chair: The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has elected British professor of sustainable energy Jim Skea as its new chair at a meeting of the 195-country organization in Nairobi last week, according to a statement. Skea co-chaired the latest report by the IPCC on curbing planet-heating emissions in its most recent round of assessments. Skea, who currently teaches at Imperial College London, was a founding member of the Climate Change Committee and former IPCC co-chair. He succeeds South Korean economist Hoesung Lee, who served as the IPCC head for eight years.

About IPCC: The IPCC is the UN body for assessing the science associated with climate change. It was established in 1988 by the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Meteorological Organization to equip governments with vital scientific assessments and reports on climate change. IPCC reports are published every six to seven years, the organization notes.