Hoesung Lee

Lee began his career as an economist working for ExxonMobil.^[4] In 1986, he became the first head of the Korea Energy Economics Institute [ko], and beginning in 1988 led the Korean Resource Economics Association.^[3]

Lee joined the IPCC in 1992, and formerly served as the panel's vice chair.^[3] Lee was elected as the chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on October 6, 2015.^[5] Lee succeeded former chair Rajendra K. Pachauri, who had resigned in February 2015.^[3]

In his opening statement as chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) at the 48th Session held in Incheon, Korea in October 2018, he described this IPCC meeting as "one of the most important" in its history.^[6] The landmark Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 °C (SR15) was released at the meeting on October 8, 2018.^[7][8][9] The highlight of his term as chair, he said in an interview, was personally witnessing numerous world leaders declare their goal of net-zero emissions by mid-century, based on the IPCC reports.^[10]

Lee has two children. In 2015, The Guardian reported that he has a reputation as a "private, quiet person who listens and gives everyone a chance to speak during meetings".^[3]

In 2016, he became a laureate of the Asian Scientist 100 by the Asian Scientist. Lee was named one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2019.^[11]