Ismail Abdel Rahim El Gizouli is a

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

ese

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

specializing in energy and environment and a member of the bureau of 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 advance scientific knowledge about climate change caused by human activities. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) ...

(IPCC). He has acted as interim chairman of the IPCC since 24 February 2015, following the resignation of

Rajendra Kumar Pachauri Rajendra Kumar Pachauri (20 August 1940 – 13 February 2020) was the chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) from 2002 to 2015, during the fourth and fifth assessment cycles. Under his leadership the IPCC was awarded ...

. This appointment will last until the next election for a chairman, which is due to take place at the 42nd session in October 2015.

Background and career

Ismail El Gizouli studied physics and mathematics at the

University of Khartoum The University of Khartoum (U of K) ( ar, جامعة الخرطوم) is a public university located in Khartoum, Sudan. It is the largest and oldest university in Sudan. UofK was founded as Gordon Memorial College in 1902 and established in 195 ...

where he graduated as a Bachelor of Science. He then obtained a master's degree in Operational Research and Statistics at the

University of Aston Aston University (abbreviated as ''Aston''. for post-nominals) is a public research university situated in the city centre of Birmingham, England. Aston began as the Birmingham Municipal Technical School in 1895, evolving into the UK's first ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

. Gizouli joined the Sudanese Ministry of Industry in 1971. In 1980 he was appointed as head of the Information Systems Section of the Ministry of Energy and Mining, then served as director of the National Energy Administration from 1988 to 1992. He also worked as a freelancer and consultant for various organizations, such as the

African Development Bank The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) or (BAD) is a multilateral development finance institution headquartered in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, since September 2014. The AfDB is a financial provider to African governments and private companies ...

, the

UNEP 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 United Nations Conference on ...

, and the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...

, and in 1998 joined the Higher Council for Environment and Natural Resources of Sudan, where he ensured liaison between the Sudanese government and the United Nations (

UNDP The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)french: Programme des Nations unies pour le développement, PNUD is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human dev ...

) for joint projects related to

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

. Since 2002 Gizouli has been a member of the IPCC bureau, first as vice-chairman of Working Group III (mitigation of climate change), then as Vice-Chairman of the IPCC with effect from October 2010. He contributed to the fourth assessment report and the corresponding synthesis report. As well as holding positions in the IPCC, he was also Vice-Chair of the Facilitative Branch of the Compliance Committee of the

UNFCCC The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) established an international environmental treaty to combat "dangerous human interference with the climate system", in part by stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in th ...

between 2005 and 2007 and then acted as Co-Chair of this Committee from 2007 to 2009. Following a complaint raised against Rajendra Kumar Pachauri by a former employee, Pachauri resigned from his position as the IPCC chair on 24 February 2015, and Gizouli was appointed to act as the interim IPCC Chairman until the next election for the post at the plenary meeting in October 2015.

Notable publications

* ''Merits of Industrial Investment Act'', Industrial Research Institute, Karthoum, 1975Ismail El Gizouli's CV
* ''Energy Supply Management in Sudan'', UN, 1983 * ''Rural, Urban Household Energy Interrelation (Case of Sudan)'', Zed Books England, AFREPREN Series, 1988 * ''Towards an Energy Conservation Policy in Sudan'', Karthoum, 1992 * ''Future Energy Requirements in Industry, Transport & Tertiary Sectors in Southern & Eastern African Subregion'', African Energy Project, African Development Bank, 1994 * ''Energy Utilities and Institution in Africa'', Zed Books England, AFREPREN Series, 1996 * ''Pricing, Taxation and Financing of Energy Sector Institutions in Sudan'', African Energy Project, African Development Bank, 1994 * ''Climate Change, Facts & Figures'', Karthoum, 1998

References

External links

25 Years of the IPCC, Ismail El Gizouli
(video, YouTube.com)
IPCC web page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gizouli, Ismail Living people Sudanese scientists Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change lead authors University of Khartoum alumni Year of birth missing (living people)