The Founding Team

The Foundation will align its work with the upcoming IPCC Special Report on Climate Change and Cities, ensuring our frameworks incorporate the latest climate science and contribute to closing critical implementation gaps identified by the IPCC AR6. Additionally, we plan to propose that the IPCC include a dedicated chapter on 'Corporations' in future assessment reports, addressing this critical missing piece in climate action frameworks. The Urban-Corporate Climate Nexus Engine will complement existing global system dynamics models with more granular, industry-specific pathways that enable actionable implementation strategies for corporate climate leadership while informing policy makers on key intervention areas. The Foundation builds on the complementary expertise of its founders:

Prof. Dr. Jürgen Kropp

Prof. Dr. Jürgen Kropp brings decades of pioneering expertise in climate system analysis and interdisciplinary sustainability research as Deputy Head of Research Domain Earth System Analysis at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). His work bridges climate science with socio-economic systems, providing essential foundations for understanding complex Earth system interactions and their implications for human societies.

Dr. Ramana Gudipudi

Dr. Ramana Gudipudi is a global sustainability and ESG thought leader with 18+ years of experience in strategic policy advisory, corporate climate action and ESG risk assessment. He has extensive experience in translating climate change research into corporate action for several global enterprises and trained several c-suite executives and high ranking government officials on sustainability strategies at the European School of Management and Technology (ESMT).