Jean-Pascal van Ypersele de Strihou (born 1957) is a Belgian academic

climatologist Climatology (from Greek , ''klima'', "slope"; and , ''-logia'') or climate science is the scientific study of Earth's climate, typically defined as weather conditions averaged over a period of at least 30 years. Climate concerns the atmospheric ...

. He is a professor of Environmental Sciences at the

UCLouvain UCLouvain (or Université catholique de Louvain , French for Catholic University of Louvain, officially in English the University of Louvain) is Belgium's largest French-speaking university and one of the oldest in Europe (originally establishe ...

(Belgium). As a previous vice-chair of the

IPCC The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is an intergovernmental body of the United Nations. Its job is to "provide governments at all levels with scientific information that they can use to develop climate policies". The World M ...

, ''Van Yp'' (as he is called by his peers) is one of the forerunners of

climate change mitigation Climate change mitigation (or decarbonisation) is action to limit the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that cause climate change. Climate change mitigation actions include energy conservation, conserving energy and Fossil fuel phase-out, repl ...

through strong decrease of

fossil fuel A fossil fuel is a flammable carbon compound- or hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the buried remains of prehistoric organisms (animals, plants or microplanktons), a process that occurs within geolog ...

consumption.

Quote

: "The debate has shifted from a scientific one 40 years ago to a very political one today, involving economic interests, geopolitics, different priorities given to environment or development, and a clash between short-term and long-term visions." (2015).

Biography

Early life

Van Ypersele was born in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

in 1957.

Astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

was his youth passion. Aged ten, he built his first telescopes with gutter scrap and lenses that he got from opticians in Brussels. Twelve years old, he was an assiduous reader of ''

Sky & Telescope ''Sky & Telescope'' (''S&T'') is a monthly magazine covering all aspects of amateur and professional astronomy, including what to see in the sky tonight and new findings in astronomy. Other topics covered include: *observing guides for planets, ...

''. In 1971 he became secretary of the amateur ''Cercle Astronomique de Bruxelles'' club, which put him into contact with professional astronomists. On 30 June 1973 he was part of an international team of astronomists that travelled to Kenya to observe the longest

solar eclipse A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs approximately every six months, during the eclipse season i ...

of the 20th century.

Studies

* Master in physics at the

* Internship on climate and

desertification Desertification is a type of gradual land degradation of Soil fertility, fertile land into arid desert due to a combination of natural processes and human activities. The immediate cause of desertification is the loss of most vegetation. This i ...

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

at the

United Nations Environment Programme The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the Declaration of the United Nati ...

(UNEP) * Master thesis on the effect of CO₂ on the climate

Ancillary activities as a student

As a university student, van Ypersele had an important social involvement * member of ''Inter-Environnement'', he was influenced by the concepts of the 1972

United Nations Conference on the Human Environment The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment was held in Stockholm, Sweden, during June 5–16, 1972. When the United Nations General Assembly decided to convene the 1972 Stockholm Conference, taking up the offer of the Government of S ...

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

* co-founder of an

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

branch in

Louvain-la-Neuve Louvain-la-Neuve (; French for "New Leuven"; ) is a planned town in the municipality of Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve, Wallonia, Belgium, situated 30 km southeast of Brussels, in the province of Walloon Brabant. The town was built to house th ...

* member of ''Mouvement des Jeunes pour la Paix'' * activist against

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

in South Africa and right extremism * organised a meeting between

students and

Claude Cheysson Claude Cheysson (; 13 April 1920 – 15 October 2012) was a French Socialist politician who served as Foreign Minister in the government of Pierre Mauroy from 1981 to 1984. Career Cheysson was born in Paris and attended the Cours Hattemer, ...

, European Commissioner for Development cooperation

Academic career

Van Ypersele carried out a PhD research in

climatology Climatology (from Greek , ''klima'', "slope"; and , '' -logia'') or climate science is the scientific study of Earth's climate, typically defined as weather conditions averaged over a period of at least 30 years. Climate concerns the atmospher ...

. At the initiative of professor André Berger the ''Institut d’Astronomie et de Géophysique

Georges Lemaître Georges Henri Joseph Édouard Lemaître ( ; ; 17 July 1894 – 20 June 1966) was a Belgian Catholic priest, theoretical physicist, and mathematician who made major contributions to cosmology and astrophysics. He was the first to argue that the ...

'' of the

had started to study the impacts of changes in concentration of

greenhouse A greenhouse is a structure that is designed to regulate the temperature and humidity of the environment inside. There are different types of greenhouses, but they all have large areas covered with transparent materials that let sunlight pass an ...

gasses on the evolution of the Earth's climate. In and outside Europe, research on the effects of human activities on the climate produced its first results. van Ypersele received a PhD in

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

from UCLouvain in 1986 (with highest honours), with his dissertation on his work done at the United States

National Center for Atmospheric Research The US National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR ) is a US federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) managed by the nonprofit University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) and funded by the National Science Foundat ...

(NCAR) on the effect of

global warming Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes ...

Antarctic The Antarctic (, ; commonly ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the South Pole, lying within the Antarctic Circle. It is antipodes, diametrically opposite of the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antar ...

sea ice Sea ice arises as seawater freezes. Because ice is less density, dense than water, it floats on the ocean's surface (as does fresh water ice). Sea ice covers about 7% of the Earth's surface and about 12% of the world's oceans. Much of the world' ...

. The choice for the

was related to its large available technological means for atmospheric science research. At the NCAR he worked with climatologist Stephen Schneider. Promoters of his PhD were professors André Berger (UCLouvain) and Albert Semtner (

and

Naval Postgraduate School Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) is a Naval command with a graduate university mission, operated by the United States Navy and located in Monterey, California. The NPS mission is to provide "defense-focused graduate education, including clas ...

in the United States), one of the developers of the

Modular Ocean Model The Modular Ocean Model (MOM) is a three-dimensional ocean circulation model designed primarily for studying the ocean climate system. The model is developed and supported primarily by researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administ ...

. At the UCLouvain, van Ypersele became professor of

and environmental sciences. He further specialised in the numerical simulation of climate change in an interdisciplinary perspective, and has worked at global and regional scales. He is particularly interested in the effect of human activities on climate, the impact of climate variability and change on

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by Organism, organisms in interaction with their Biophysical environment, environment. The Biotic material, biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and en ...

s and human activities, and what can be done about it (

adaptation In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the p ...

and

mitigation Mitigation is the reduction of something harmful that has occurred or the reduction of its harmful effects. It may refer to measures taken to reduce the harmful effects of hazards that remain ''in potentia'', or to manage harmful incidents that ...

). van Ypersele authored papers on subjects on a plethora of issues, including the modeling of sea ice, palaeoclimates, the climate of the 20th and 21st century, regional climate change in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

, and

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, and the ethical issues associated with responsibility for climate change.

Teaching

Jean-Pascal van Ypersele teaches courses at the

Climatology Climatology (from Greek , ''klima'', "slope"; and , '' -logia'') or climate science is the scientific study of Earth's climate, typically defined as weather conditions averaged over a period of at least 30 years. Climate concerns the atmospher ...

Climate modelling Numerical climate models (or climate system models) are mathematical models that can simulate the interactions of important drivers of climate. These drivers are the atmosphere, oceans, land surface and ice. Scientists use climate models to stu ...

* Mathematical geography * Environmental science

IPCC

Pionieering work

In 1979, ten years before the establishment of the IPCC, he took part, as a 22-year-old student, in the First

World Climate Conference The World Climate Conferences are a series of international meetings, organized by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), about global climate issues principally global warming in addition to climate research and forecasting. Conferences ...

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

, organized by the

World Meteorological Organisation The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for promoting international cooperation on atmospheric science, climatology, hydrology and geophysics. The WMO originated from the Interna ...

(WMO) and the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

. In November 1995, he participated in his first IPCC meeting (the

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is an intergovernmental body of the United Nations. Its job is to "provide governments at all levels with scientific information that they can use to develop climate policies". The World Met ...

, that investigates climate change on Earth) in Madrid, as sole Belgian representative. He contributed to a short sentence that entered in the annals of the organisation: ''The balance of evidence suggests that there is a discernible human influence on global climate. '' This statement is crucial, as it mentions clearly for the first time that a worrying climate evolution is ongoing; it is demonstrated and no longer a theoretical projection of the future.

Climate summits

He developed his qualities as negotiator at about all Conferences of the Parties (COP) of the

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is the UN process for negotiating an agreement to limit dangerous climate change. It is an international treaty among countries to combat "dangerous human interference with th ...

, for over 20 years. At such climate summits the Belgian delegation strongly benefited from the scientific advice and dedication of prof van Ypersele. Jean-Pascal van Ypersele was one of the lead authors of the Third Assessment Report of the IPPC in 2001. He was elected as a member of the IPCC Bureau in 2002. He has several times filled in as a Review Editor of the Assessment Reports en Special Reports of the IPCC. He was member of the core writing team for the Synthesis Report of the 5th Assessment Report in 2014. He was one of IPCC Vice-Chairs during the 5th cycle of evaluation, from September 2008 to October 2015. He was nominated by the Belgian government as candidate to the IPCC Chair position in 2015, but not elected. He remains an active member of IPCC and contributes strongly to the development and dissemination of its scientific message. He established the Walloon platform for the IPCC, with the assistance of the

Walloon government The Government of Wallonia (, ) or Walloon Government (, ) is the executive branch of Wallonia and one of the six governments in Belgium. It is located in Namur, where the Parliament of Wallonia is also seated Compositions Current compositi ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

to facilitate contacts between the

, the scientific world and politicians. He was appointed by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

to be part of a group of experts tasked with drafting a Declaration on Ethical Principles in relation to Climate Change (approved by the UNESCO assembly in November 2017). The

UN Secretary General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or UNSECGEN) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the United Nations System#Six principal organs, six principal organs of ...

appointed him in 2016 as a member of a 15-member group of scientists tasked with the preparation of the first quadrennial Global Sustainable Development Report. In 2017, he was appointed as a member of the high-level Advisory Group for the COP23 Presidency by the

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

Prime Minister. JPVY and Greta Thunberg at COP24

He endeavours to demonstrate the operation of '' climate confusers'' and of the

fossil fuels lobby The fossil fuels lobby includes paid representatives of corporations involved in the fossil fuel industry (oil, gas, coal), as well as related industries like chemicals, plastics, aviation and other transportation. Because of their wealth and th ...

Diplomacy and persuasion

He participates in numerous events related to climate change – personally or virtually – thanks to his lectures and networks. ''All over the world. One day he is in Lima, Geneva or Marrakesh. The next day he may talk in Brussels for an auditorium filled with students or trade unionists. Two days later he addresses senior staff of a multinational bank, European bishops or a group of freemasons''.

Candidacy as IPCC chair in 2015

In 2014 van Ypersele was nominated by the Belgian government as candidate to take over IPCC-chair from Rajendra Pachauri in 2015. For 20 months, he travelled around the world to present an elaborate programme to decision makers, scientists, industrialists and journalists. His aim was to increase the influence of the IPCC. The elections of IPCC Bureau members (chair, Vice-Chairs, and Working Group and TFI Co-Chairs and Vice-Chairs) were held during the 42nd IPCC Session from 5 to 8 October 2015, in

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik, historically known as Ragusa, is a city in southern Dalmatia, Croatia, by the Adriatic Sea. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, a Port, seaport and the centre of the Dubrovni ...

. Despite the assistance and official support of the Belgian government, his campaign pledge to maintain the scientific independence of the IPCC, and his stressing of the importance of inclusiveness and communication, Jean-Pascal van Ypersele was not elected. He lost in the final round against

Hoesung Lee Hoesung Lee (; born December 31, 1945) is a South Korean economist who served as the chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) from 2015 to 2023. He is professor in the economics of climate change, energy and sustainable dev ...

with 56 votes to 78. As his mandate as a vice-president had run out, he was no longer a member of the IPCC bureau. He continued participating in the IPCC plenary sessions as a representative of the Belgian delegation. On 2 April 2019 he announced that he would again apply for the IPCC presidency.

Main publications

PhD thesis

* ''A Numerical Study of the Response of the Southern Ocean and Its Sea Ice to a CO₂-Induced Atmospheric Warming'', National Center for Atmospheric Research and Université catholique de Louvain, Boulder (USA) and Louvain-la-Neuve, 1986.

Books

* ''In het oog van de klimaatstorm''

n Dutch N, or n, is the fourteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages, and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

Epo, Berchem, 2018 * ''Meeting report of the IPCC Expert Meeting on Communication''. Geneva: World Meteorological Organization, IPCC, 2016. * ''Une vie au cœur des turbulences climatiques''

n French N, or n, is the fourteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages, and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

Bruxelles, De Boeck supérieur, 2015, 128 p. * IPCC, 2014: ''Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change'' id redactieraad IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, 151 pp. * van Ypersele, J-P. & Hudon, M. (eds.), ''Actes du 1er Congrès interdisciplinaire du développement durable : quelle transition pour nos sociétés ?''

6 volumes, Service Public de Wallonie, 2013. * ''Climate change and the Belgian development cooperation policy: challenges and opportunities'', FPS Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation and Université catholique de Louvain, Brussel, 2008. * Le Treut, H., J.P. van Ypersele, S. Hallegatte et J.C. Hourcade (ed.), ''Science du changement climatique – Acquis et controverses''

IDDRI, Paris, 2004.

Articles in scientific journals

* 2014. Comparison of one-moment and two-moment bulk microphysics for high-resolution climate simulations of intense precipitation: ''Atmos. Research'' * 2010. The impact of the unilateral EU commitment on the stability of international climate agreements: ''Climate Policy'' * 2009. Assessing dangerous climate change through an update of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) "reasons for concern": ''Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA'' * 2009. PRIMES scenario analysis towards 2030 for Belgium: ''European Review of Energy Markets, Energy Policy Studies'' * 2008. Internal variability in a regional climate model over West Africa: ''Clim. Dyn. '' * 2007. The 1979-2005 Greenland ice sheet melt extent from passive microwave data using an improved version of the melt retrieval XPGR algorithm: ''Geophys. Res. Lett. '' * 2006. L'injustice fondamentale des changements climatiques

''Alternatives Sud'' * 2006. The 1988-2003 Greenland ice sheet melt extent using passive microwave satellite data and a regional climate model: ''Clim. Dyn. '' * 2002. Are natural climate forcings able to counteract the projected anthropogenic global warming?: ''Clim. Change'' * 2001. Managing

climate risk Climate risk is the potential for problems for societies or ecosystems from the impacts of climate change.IPCC, 2022Annex II: Glossary öller, V., R. van Diemen, J.B.R. Matthews, C. Méndez, S. Semenov, J.S. Fuglestvedt, A. Reisinger (eds.) InC ...

: ''Science'' * 2000. Nous empruntons la Terre aux enfants d'aujourd'hui et de demain

''Lumen Vitae'' * 1999. Potential role of solar variability as an agent for climate change: ''Clim. Change'' * 1999. Volcanic and solar impacts on climate since 1700: ''Clim. Dyn. '' * 1992. Simulation of the Last Glacial Cycle By a Coupled, Sectorially Averaged Climate-ice Sheet Model. 2. Response To Insolation and CO₂ Variations: ''J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos. '' * 1991. Simulation of the Last Glacial Cycle By a Coupled, Sectorially Averaged Climate-ice Sheet Model.1. The Climate Model: J. Geophys. ''Res.-Atmos.'' * 1986. Climate and Desertification – Editorial, in van Ypersele J.P. & M. Verstraete (eds), Climate and Desertification Special Issue: ''Climatic Change''

Book chapters

* 2012. ''Comment le GIEC gère-t-il les incertitudes scientifiques?''

* 2008. ''The fundamental injustice of climate change'' * 2006. ''The Relationships Between Population and Environment'' * 2004. ''A few, ou comment affaiblir un texte du GIEC''

* 2002. ''The Kyoto Protocol: an economic and game-theoretic interpretation''

Involvement with the society

Since 1993, he is a member of the ''Belgian Federal Council for Sustainable Development'', and since 1998 he chairs its Working Group on ''Energy and Climate''. From July to December 2001, he was scientific advisor for climate affairs with the Belgian

Presidency of the Council of the European Union The presidency of the Council of the European Union is responsible for the functioning of the Council of the European Union, which is the co-legislator of the EU legislature alongside the European Parliament. It rotates among the member state ...

. In 2005, he was appointed as member of the "Energy 2030" commission (advising the Belgian government on energetic transition). From 2008 to 2011, he was the chair of the scientific committee of the world's largest exhibition (SOS-Planet) on climate change in the

Liège-Guillemins railway station Liège-Guillemins railway station (; ) is the main station in Liège, Belgium. It is one of the most important hubs in the country and is one of the four Belgian stations on the high-speed rail network. The station is used by 15,000 people ...

. In 2011, he co-organised the First Stephen Schneider Symposium (

Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

, US). In 2013, he co-chaired the First interdisciplinary Symposium on Sustainable Development in

Namur Namur (; ; ) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is the capital both of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration. Namur stands at the confl ...

(

), and co-chaired its second edition in 2015 in

(

). He personally briefed several heads of state, many ministers and CEOs about climate issues, and has been or is member of several international scientific advisory or editorial boards ( EU FP7 Research Programme, Dutch Climate Research Programme,

Météo-France Météo-France is the official French meteorological administration, also offering services to Andorra and Monaco. It has the powers of the state and can exercise them in relation to meteorology. Météo-France is in charge of observing, study ...

, EU JPI-Climate TAB,

Royal Meteorological Institute The Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium (French: ''Institut Royal Météorologique de Belgique'' or IRM; Dutch: ''Koninklijk Meteorologisch Instituut van België'' or KMI) is a Belgian federal institute engaged in scientific research in the ...

(Belgium), the leading journal ''

Climatic Change ''Climatic Change'' is a biweekly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Springer Science+Business Media covering cross-disciplinary work on all aspects of climate change and variability. It was established in 1977 by Stephen H. Schneider, ...

'', established by Stephen Schneider). In 2019 he became member of a think tank of climate experts that was established in synergy with the climate strikes of the Belgian Youth For Climate, in which secondary school students left classes to demonstrate in favour of measures against

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

. Throughout 2019 he appeared as an assiduous supporter of the young activists. In 2019 he was appointed as an expert with the EU

Horizon 2020 The Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development, also called Framework Programmes or abbreviated FP1 to FP9, are funding programmes created by the European Union/European Commission to support and foster research in the Europe ...

Mission Board for Adaptation to Climate Change, including Societal Transformation.

Awards and honours

* 2006: ''Energy and Environment Award'' of the ''International Polar Foundation'' * 2007:

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...

, awarded to

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American former politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He previously served as ...

and the

(van Ypersele was vice-president of IPCC's working group II) * 2008: Francqui-Chair at the

Université libre de Bruxelles The (French language, French, ; lit. Free University of Brussels; abbreviated ULB) is a French-speaking research university in Brussels, Belgium. It has three campuses: the ''Solbosch'' campus (in the City of Brussels and Ixelles), the ''Plain ...

* 2009: Member of the

Royal Academy of Belgium The Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium (RASAB) is a non-governmental association that promotes and organises science and the arts in Belgium by coordinating the national and international activities of its constituent academies su ...

* 2010: Honorary member of the

Club of Rome The Club of Rome is a nonprofit, informal organization of intellectuals and business leaders whose goal is a critical discussion of pressing list of global issues, global issues. The Club of Rome was founded in 1968 at Accademia dei Lincei in R ...

(EU Chapter) * 2011: Francqui-Chair at the

KULeuven KU Leuven (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) is a Catholic research university in the city of Leuven, Belgium. Founded in 1425, it is the oldest university in Belgium and the oldest university in the Low Countries. In addition to its main campu ...

and HUBrussel * 2011: Commander of the * 2014: Grand Officer in the

Order of the Crown (Belgium) The Order of the Crown (, ) is a national Order (decoration), order of the Belgium, Kingdom of Belgium. The Order is one of Belgium's highest honors. History The Order was established on October 15, 1897, by Leopold II of Belgium, King Leopold ...

* 2018: ''Leadership Prize'' by the ''Harvard Club of Belgium''

Renown

Van Ypersele has delivered hundreds of lectures and has given more than a thousand interviews in international media; he has almost 14000 followers on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

, which puts him among the 50 top world climate scientists on Twitter. He has been featured in a ministry examination for the secondary 5 level in

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

province,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. Which had sparked controversy over a question on the exam. In a 2018

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

interview, van Ypersele urged that "countries should do everything possible to work towards the report's goal of reining in carbon emissions by 2030, at which point scientists say damage to the climate will be irreversible unless urgent action has been taken." He added, "Nobody, even the so-called superpowers, can negotiate with the laws of physics."

Controversy

Van Ypersele's work is sometimes challenged by “ climate confusers”; there was a petition signed by eight Belgian academics and opinion makers opposing his candidacy as IPCC chair in 2015. Most known of these opponents is his colleague from

, Professor who produced a large scientific output in the field of organic chemistry, but not climatology.

References

Sources

Jean-Pascal van Ypersele

More information about the candidature of Jean-Pascal van Ypersele to the position of Chair of the IPCC
{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Ypersele, Jean-Pascal 1957 births Living people Belgian climatologists Scientists from Brussels Université catholique de Louvain alumni Academic staff of the Université catholique de Louvain Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change lead authors