VUB Doctor Honoris Causa title awarded to Belgian scientist Joeri Rogelj

It is our great honour and pleasure to announce that on Friday, 6 June, Prof. Joeri Rogelj was awarded the title of Doctor Honoris Causa by the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, following a nomination from the Water & Climate department.

Beyond his great academic achievements, Prof Joeri Rogelj has made major contributions to raising climate change awareness among policymakers and the public.

As the youngest member of the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Summit Science Advisory Group, he advised Mr. António Guterres directly on climate issues.

In his role on the European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change, Joeri helped shape key recommendations, including those likely to lead the EU to adopt a 2040 emissions reduction target of -90%.

He is also a lead author of the UN’s annual Emissions Gap Reports, quantifying the growing divide between climate goals and current emission trends.

Joeri is perhaps best known for his central role in three recent reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). As both lead author and coordinating lead author, he contributed extensively to the scientific assessments and played a key role in the approval of the IPCC Special Report on 1.5°C, defending its content before 190 country delegations.

In Belgium, Joeri is recognized as the scientist behind the calculation of the 55% emission reduction target for 2030. This figure was later adopted by the Belgian Court of Appeal and imposed on the federal, Flemish, and Brussels governments in the historic climate lawsuit, De Klimaatzaak.

We congratulate Joeri Rogelj again for his impressive and dedicated career to advancing climate change awareness and decision-making, congratulations!