Dr. Yuoba Sokona was elected Vice-Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in October 2015. Prior to this, Youba Sokona 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. Dr. Sokona is currently the Special Advisor for Sustainable Development at the South Centre. He has over 35 years of experience addressing energy, environment and sustainable development in Africa and served as a coordinator of the African Climate Policy Centre (ACPC) and as Executive Secretary of the Sahara and the Sahel Observatory (OSS). He is a Member of the Board for the Institute of Development Studies, UK, Honorary Professor at the University College London (UCL), and as a Special Advisor to the African Energy Leaders Group. Overall, he has deep technical knowledge, extensive policy experience and an unreserved personal commitment to African led development.