Our Team

Dr. Brigitte Knopf is Founder and Director of Zukunft KlimaSozial, a new scientific thinktank connecting climate and social policy. She was Secretary General of the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC) from 2015 to the end of 2023. Until September 2025, she has also been a member and Deputy Chair of the German government’s Council of Experts on Climate Change for five years.

Brigitte Knopf holds a PhD in physics and has been working in an interdisciplinary context for many years. She conducts research on climate economics and energy policy issues in the German and European context, with a focus on the socially balanced design of the energy transition, and with a strategic orientation towards scientific policy advice. She is author of numerous publications in scientific journals and involves actively in public debate in Germany and at the EU level with presentations, interviews, and via social media.

Sina Lippmann is responsible for press and public relations at Zukunft KlimaSozial. She previously worked as communications manager at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). She has worked in the German Bundestag as a research assistant, office manager and climate policy officer. She studied Cultural Anthropology, English Language and Literature, Journalism and Communication Science (M.A.).

Scientific Advisor

Dr. Carlotta Giustozzi is a Scientific Advisor at Zukunft KlimaSozial. Most recently, she worked as a research project manager at the Competence Centre for Regional Development at the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR). There, she focused on structural change and social cohesion in Germany’s lignite mining regions. She previously completed her doctorate in sociology at Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, where she researched the social consequences of social and economic inequality.

At Zukunft KlimaSozial, she contributes her specialisation in quantitative empirical methods to develop and conduct data-based analyses on climate and social policy issues.

Data Analyst

Felicitas Kaiser is data analyst at Zukunft KlimaSozial. She is a graduate of the Socioeconomics program at the University of Duisburg-Essen and worked as a student assistant at the Macroeconomic Policy Institute (IMK) in Düsseldorf.

Scientific Advisor

Frederik Lettow is a Scientific Advisor for European climate policy at Zukunft KlimaSozial. Most recently, he worked in policy consulting at Prognos, focusing on energy and climate policy in the building and heating sectors. Prior to that, he worked at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin), among other institutions, on various climate policy topics including emissions trading, the decarbonisation of heavy industry, and the promotion of renewable energy. He holds a master’s degree in economics with a focus on public finance.

At Zukunft KlimaSozial, Frederik Lettow focuses primarily on the implementation of the second European emissions trading scheme for heating and transport (EU ETS2) and its accompanying social measures. He also continues to work on issues related to buildings and heating, such as the implementation of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) and the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED).

Policy Analyst

Astrid Schaffert is a policy analyst at Zukunft KlimaSozial. Prior to this, she had been developing the area of social climate policy and the transformation of the 25,000 services and facilities of the German Caritas Association (Deutscher Caritasverband) since 2020, both professionally and strategically. She develops analyses and policy proposals, communication and implementation strategies and contributes them to public discourse. In 2000, she was a co-founder of Attac Deutschland. She has a degree in social economics.

Scientific Advisor

Marie-Louise Zeller is a scientific advisor at Zukunft KlimaSozial. Until September 2025, she has also been a scientific advisor for the German government’s Council of Experts on Climate Change for almost five years. Before joining Zukunft KlimaSozial, she worked at the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC) in Berlin in the Policy Unit, focusing on international climate policy. She has a master’s degree in climate physics and a bachelor’s degree in politics and public administration.

At Zukunft KlimaSozial, her focus is on European issues. Marie-Louise Zeller works in particular on the second European Emissions Trading System for road transport and buildings (EU-ETS2), on its social design, including the Social Climate Fund, and on successful examples of socially just climate policy in Europe.

Office Management