The German Federal Government set up the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU) as an independent, scientific advisory body in 1992 in the run-up to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Rio Earth Summit). The WBGU's task is to analyse global environmental and development problems and to develop recommendations for action and research in the search for solutions to these problems.   

"With our activities on Open Data and Smarter Cities and Communities, we can comprehend and analyze environmental changes and evince sustainable methods of resolution. Key to this is the digital transformation, that connects people, things, processes and organizations worldwide with the help of information and communications technologies. I am looking forward to this new task."  

Reappointed are Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research; Dirk Messner, Director of the German Development Institute, Bonn; Ellen Matthies, Professor for Enviromental Psychology, University of Magdeburg; Sabine Schlacke, Professor of Public Law, specializing Building-, Environmental- and Planning Law at the University of Münster and Uwe Schneidewind, President and Chief Research Executive of the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy. 

Apart from Ina Schieferdecker, first time appointed WBGU members are Ulrike Grote, Director of the Institute for Environmental Economics and World Trade, Hannover University; Martina Fromhold-Eisebith, Professor at the Institute for Geography, RWTH Aachen; Karen Pittel, Director of the Ifo Center for Energy, Climate and Exhaustible Resources and Professor of Economics, University of Munich. The appointment lasts until 31.10.2020.