Uwe S. Brandes Appointed Chair of D.C. Commission on Climate Change

Uwe Brandes, Georgetown professor of the practice, Faculty Director of the Urban and Regional Planning Program and the Global Cities Initiative, and affiliated faculty in the Walsh School of Foreign Service, has been selected by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser to serve as the chairman for the D.C. Commission on Climate Change and Resiliency. The Commission provides guidance to the Mayor and the D.C. Council regarding the impacts of climate change on Washington, D.C. and the District of Columbia’s ability to mitigate and adapt to such effects.

Testifying before the Council of the District of Columbia, Brandes remarked, “Our ability to mitigate and adapt to climate change is one of society’s most serious challenges. I am humbled to work collaboratively with all stakeholders to embrace new innovations and by doing so, ensure that all of our citizens, all of our communities, all of our businesses and our entire nation’s capital grows even stronger and more resilient than it already is.”

Professor Brandes has previously directed urban planning projects which have earned recognition from the World Bank, Urban Land Institute, American Planning Association, American Institute of Architects, American Society of Landscape Architects, and the Environmental Design Research Association.  He recently served on a faculty committee to interpret the Pope’s encyclical, Laudato Si, in the context of university operations, as well as serving as Co-PI at the Georgetown Climate Center for the development of a policy tool box for communities requiring coastal land use retreat from rising sea levels.