The Global Climate Hub is operating as an SDSN Thematic Network which includes the expertise and talent of individuals and members of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network
The Hosting Institutions of the SDSN Global Climate Hub (SDSN-GCH) are the Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB) and the “Athena” Research and Innovation Center in Information, Communication and Knowledge Technologies (ATHENA RC), both of which are part of the Alliance of Excellence for Research and Innovation on Αephoria (AE4RIA), an initiative for collaboration between research institutions, innovation accelerators, and science-technology-policy interface networks focused on sustainable development. The Academy of Athens and the Technical University of Denmark, are two of the most important co-founding institutions of the GCH.
The chair of the SDSN-GCH is Prof. Phoebe Koundouri, who also is the founder and director of AE4RIA.
The SDSN-GCH consists of nine thematic units that cover in an interlinked fashion a broad spectrum of climate sustainability concerns & needs:
The works of the units of the GCH is supported by 200 researchers.
The SDSN-GCH collates expertise, knowledge, data, and tools to provide science-based and human-centric pathways towards net zero transformation towards 2050. For successfully treading this way, sophisticated support from advanced digital technologies, complex science modelling and a holistic multi-module approach are needed, to provide suitable science-based recommendations. The SDSN GCH makes extensive use of data, knowledge and technologies provided by experts, and couples this with country-specific action plans aiming at their adoption and reinforcement by society. It adopts a holistic multi-module approach, allowing for the evaluation of variable complexities and scales, providing relevant technical, financial, and policy solutions.
Professor Dr. Phoebe Koundouri is a globally renowned mathematical economist who has pioneered human-centered, interdisciplinary modelling systems for the sustainable interaction between nature, society, and the economy. She brings nearly 30 years of academic leadership and research excellence at leading institutions, including the University of Cambridge, University College London (UCL), the London School of Economics (LSE), the University of Reading, and the Technical University of Denmark. She is consistently ranked among the top 2% of world scientists in multiple prestigious international listings, with an academic record that includes 20 books, more than 800 published papers, over 100 large-scale research projects, and measurable impact in more than 120 countries.
She is currently Professor at the School of Economics, Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB); Visiting Professor at the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge; and Senior Research Fellow at Peterhouse, University of Cambridge—her alma mater. She is the Founder of the Alliance of Excellence for Research and Innovation on Aeiphoria (AE4RIA), a global research and innovation network bringing together more than 200 researchers. AE4RIA is anchored in ReSEES.AE4RIA at AUEB and SDU.AE4RIA at the ATHENA Information Technology Research Center, both research centers directed by Professor Koundouri.
In 2025, she was invited by the UN Secretary-General to co-chair the 2027 United Nations Global Sustainable Development Goals Report. She serves on the Nominating Committee for the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences and is an elected Fellow of several distinguished academies, including Academia Europaea; the World Academy of Art and Science (WAAS), where she also serves as Trustee; the European Academy of Sciences and Arts; the Academy of Engineering and Technology of the Developing World; and the InterAcademy Partnership (IAP). She is also a Fellow of leading scientific associations, including the European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists (EAERE) and the European Forest Institute. Her scientific distinctions include the prestigious European Research Council (ERC) Synergy Grant; the Academy of Athens Award for Excellence in Science—awarded only once every four years; and the Award of Excellence of the Republic of Cyprus, conferred by the Academy of Sciences, Letters and Arts of the Republic of Cyprus.
Professor Koundouri serves as Chair of the World Council of Environmental and Natural Resource Economists Associations and is former President of the European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists. She is Chair of the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) Global Climate Hub and Co-Chair of SDSN Europe. She advises numerous multilateral institutions and national governments worldwide. She is a member of the European Investment Bank Climate Leaders Network, a co-author of the Lancet COVID-19 Commission, and a contributor to the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences project “Financing for Development in the Jubilee Year 2025.” She also serves as an Ambassador for the European Research Council (ERC) and was named World Ambassador of Happiness and Peace in 2022, a distinction conferred by the Government of India at the House of Lords in London.
