Harald Winkler is a professor in the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment and associate of Policy Research in International Services and Manufacturing and African Climate and Development Initiative at the University of Cape Town Harald’s research interests are at the intersection of sustainable development and climate change mitigation, in the context of poverty and inequality. He is a coordinating lead author lead author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and has been a member of the SA delegation to the negotiations under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Paris Agreement. He has been actively involved in the African Group of Negotiators (AGN) and G77&China for almost two decades. Harald is an engaged scholar, who seeks to make a difference to the grand challenges facing South Africa, Africa and the world, based on excellent research and a passion for sustainable development. His approach is transdisciplinary, seeking to understand how to accelerate mitigation and shifting development pathways towards sustainability. Prof Winkler has extensive experience of facilitation of creative processes that make a difference. Specific focus areas for future research include the global stock-take; equity and inequality between and within countries; just transitions to net zero; and low emission development strategies. Harald will continue to build on his past work on narrative storylines and modeling of scenarios; equity in relation to the global stock-take and fairness and ambition in NDCs; transparency and MRV; and renewable energy. His transdisciplinary research has informed energy and climate policy at the national level and multi-lateral negotiations. Harald led the research work underpinning South Africa’s Long-Term Mitigation Scenarios (LTMS) from 2005-8. From 2010 to 2015, he co-directed a large programme called MAPS – Mitigation Action Plans and Scenarios, sharing the LTMS experience with governments, researchers and facilitators in other developing countries. LTMS and MAPS involved coproduction of knowledge through facilitated stakeholder process, honing Harald’s skills in mediating conflicts and building consensus. Harald has published extensively and is joint Editor-in-Chief of the journal Climate Policy. While his primary field is mitigation, he has extensive knowledge of adaptation – understanding climate action in the context of poverty, inequality and sustainable development.