The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on Friday, September 4, 2026, announced the appointment of Annett Möhner as the next Secretary of the IPCC. Ms. Möhner will lead the IPCC Secretariat effective November 1, 2026.
Ms. Möhner, currently a Senior Manager at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), is an international climate leader with more than two decades of experience advancing global climate action at the intersection of climate science, sustainable development, and multilateral diplomacy.
Annett Möhner
“I am delighted to extend our warmest welcome to Ms. Möhner as the new Secretary of the IPCC. Her professional expertise, strategic vision, and extensive experience in multilateral climate fora will strengthen IPCC’s leadership and reinforce its capacity to deliver rigorous, policy-relevant climate science,” said IPCC Chair, Jim Skea.
Ms Möhner has been managing the delivery and follow-up to the first-ever Global Stocktake under the Paris Agreement at the UNFCCC since early 2023. Before that, she served as Secretary to the UNFCCC’s Governing Bodies and the Adaptation Committee, helping develop it into an authoritative expert body. Ms Möhner also led engagement with the IPCC, global research community, and development finance stakeholders, strengthening the science-policy nexus to enable well-informed, evidence-based policymaking.
“I am deeply honoured to take on the role of Secretary of the IPCC and to build on the IPCC’s remarkable legacy. I will help ensure that its assessments continue to provide a trusted scientific foundation for climate decision-making around the world while ensuring that the organisation remains effective, inclusive and responsive to the needs of its member governments,” said Annett Möhner.
Ms Möhner has degrees from Universität Greifswald and Louisiana State University. She is a German national. Ms. Möhner’s biography is available here.