About

Diana Ürge‑Vorsatz is a Professor at the Department of Environmental Sciences and Policy at Central European University (CEU). She was elected as Vice Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in July 2023.

In the Sixth Assessment Cycle, she served as Vice‑Chair of IPCC’s Working Group III (Mitigation). She was a Coordinating Lead Author in both the Fourth and Fifth Assessment Reports (AR4 and AR5) of the IPCC, with a particular focus on mitigation pathways in the buildings and urban sectors.

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She holds a PhD from the University of California (Los Angeles and Berkeley) and previously worked at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. At CEU, she has also served as Acting Head of Department and as Director of the PhD Programme.

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Diana is a member of the ICLEI Global Executive Committee, where she leads the Urban Research and Innovation Portfolio, working closely with city leaders worldwide to accelerate sustainable urban development and climate action. She also serves on several high‑level international scientific advisory and foresight bodies, including the Science Advisory Committee of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), UNEP expert panels, and United Nations expert groups addressing climate change and sustainable development synergies. She is Vice Chair of the Hungarian Scientific Panel on Climate Change and an invited member of Academia Europaea.

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She holds an appointment to the Climate Policy Observatory of the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, where she provides strategic, science‑based guidance to national climate policy. She served as Co‑Chair of the Scientific Steering Committee of the Cities and Climate Change Science Conference in Edmonton in 2018, the largest conference to date on urban climate science.

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Diana has also contributed to the United Nations’ Scientific Expert Group on Climate Change and led the buildings‑related work for the Global Energy Assessment. She has worked on and directed numerous research projects for international organisations, including the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Global Environment Facility, UNEP, the World Energy Council, OECD, and the World Bank.

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She has served on the governing and advisory boards of several organisations and companies and is regularly invited to high‑level review panels, including evaluations for Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, and the European Research Council. Working at the interface of science and policy, she has delivered over 200 keynote speeches worldwide and has more than a thousand media appearances, including on BBC World News, Euronews, RTL, and major international and Hungarian media outlets.