Profile
Walter Kahlenborn
Dipl.-Ing. Business Engineering, M.A. History/Philosophy
Managing Director
Walter Kahlenborn is a co-founder and Managing Director of adelphi research and adelphi consult. The core topics of his research and consultancy work are: sustainable economic development, and energy and climate. He advises federal ministries, the European Commission, companies and organisations.
Since 1995, he has managed more than 100 national and international research and advisory projects with inter-disciplinary teams, predominantly on issues concerning energy efficiency, renewable energy, climate, sustainable financial services, and corporate social responsibility. He has been an expert evaluator for the European Commission’s Framework Programmes since the 1990s and evaluates programmes and projects for various institutions. He is fully trained in Capacity WORKS. His regional focuses are Europe and the USA. Walter Kahlenborn has published more than 200 books, articles and technical papers on issues regarding environmental policy and is a member of various scientific advisory boards.
The Managing Director has played a leading role in devising work programmes for international organisations and developing technology road maps, as well as contributing extensively to a wide range of eco-political and economic studies. He was commissioned by the German government to oversee the foundation of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), and organised a large-scale energy efficiency campaign with several thousand participants for DEHOGA, the German Hotel and Restaurant Alliance. In parallel to these activities, he has initiated and managed numerous European research projects on environmental, economic and political issues and their interactions.
He is founder of the German Sustainable Investment Forum and worked many years both as Deputy Chairman and Managing Director of the forum. He also held for several years the post of Vice President of the European umbrella organisation Eurosif, which he helped co-found.
Walter Kahlenborn studied industrial engineering (Dipl.-Ing.) and history and philosophy (M.A.) in Berlin, Bologna and New Orleans.
Recent Publications
Knopf, Jutta, Esther Hoffmann, Lucienne Damm, Klaus Jacob und Walter Kahlenborn 2009: Meta-Analyse. Nachhaltigkeitsstrategien in Politik und Wirtschaft. Literaturstudie. Berlin: adelphiJacob, Klaus, Jutta Knopf und Walter Kahlenborn 2010: Ländervergleichende Analyse industriepolitischer Maßnahmen und Instrumente. FFU-Report 01-2010. Berlin: Freie Universität Berlin, Forschungsstelle für Umweltpolitik
Knopf, Jutta, Walter Kahlenborn, Daniel Weiß, Anna Pechan, Nina Khuchua, Klaus Jacob, Holger Bär, Magnus Grubbe und Lisa Münch 2011: Innovationspotentiale der umweltfreundlichen öffentlichen Beschaffung. In: UBA-Texte 54/2011. Dessau-Roßlau: Umweltbundesamt
Kahlenborn, Walter, Hauke Dierks, Daniel Wendler und Matthias Keitel 2010: Klimaschutz durch Kapitalanlagen. Wirkung von Klima- und Nachhaltigkeitsfonds auf deutsche Aktienunternehmen. Berlin: adelphi
Kahlenborn, Walter, Sibylle Kabisch, Johanna Klein, Ina Richter and Silas Schürmann 2010: DIN EN 16001: Energy Management Systems in practice. A Guide for Companies and Organisations. In comparison with ISO 14001 and EMAS. Berlin, Dessau-Roßlau: Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU), Federal Environment Agency (UBA)
