Youba Sokona is currently Special Advisor for Sustainable Development at the South Centre. With over 35 years of experience addressing energy, environment, and sustainable development in Africa, Sokona has been at the heart of numerous national and continental initiatives. He coordinated the scoping, framing, and development of the “Africa Renewable Energy Initiative.”
Sokona was elected Vice-Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in October 2015. Prior to this, he was Co-Chair of IPCC Working Group III on the mitigation of climate change for the Fifth Assessment Report after serving as a lead author since 1990.
Sokona is affiliated with numerous boards and organizations, including as member of the Board for the Institute of Development Studies, the African Academy of Sciences, the Science Advisory Committee of the International Institute for Applied System Analysis, and the Advisory Board of the Payne Institute for Public Policy, Colorado School of Mines, USA. He is also a special advisor to the African Energy Leaders Group.