Dr Zinta Zommere, from Latvia, has been elected Vice-Chair of the Working Group II – Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC). This is the first time Latvia will be represented on the IPCC, demonstrating its readiness to contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation capacity building.
The IPCC is the world’s leading UN body that regularly assesses climate change and its science, impacts and future risks, as well as adaptation and mitigation options. The IPCC Secretariat is located in Geneva.
Zinta Zommere is the lead for climate science at the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs with over 20 years of experience in research and implementing disaster risk reduction and humanitarian programmes in Africa and Asia.
Zinta Zommere has actively contributed to the IPCC as a lead author, has been an editor of several reports and a member of the scientific steering committee. Dr Zinta Zommere has authored and edited two books on climate change adaptation and early warning systems. Zinta holds a PhD degree in Zoology at the University of Oxford and has been awarded various prestigious scholarships.
Latvia’s position in support of Zinta’s candidature was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers on 13 July. The elections for the IPCC took place from 25 to 28 July in Nairobi, Kenya, with member governments electing the new IPCC office. Zinta Zommere of Latvia was elected Vice-Chair of the IPCC Working Group II – Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability.
