Prof. Dr. Hans-Joachim (John) Schellnhuber CBE and Prof. Dr. Messner were elected Chair of the sixth term.

Prof Hans Joachim (John) Schellnhuber CBE (Co-Chair), director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, external professor at the Santa Fe Institute and chair of the Governing Board of the Climate-KIC of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology.

Prof Dirk Messner (Co-Chair), director of the German Development Institute, Bonn

Prof Frauke Kraas, Professor for Human Geography at the University of Cologne. Main fields: Urban and Social Geography (Megacities, Governance, Urban Heritage, Migration, Transformation) in Southeast Asia, China and India. Member of WBGU since 2013.

Prof Claus Leggewie, Director of the Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities, Essen, Institute for Advanced Study of the University Alliance Metropolis Ruhr

Prof Peter Lemke, Professor of Physics of Atmosphere and Ocean,  University of Bremen and  head of the Climate Sciences Research Division at the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Bremerhaven.

Prof Ellen Matthies, Professor for Enviromental Psychology, Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg.

Prof Nebojsa Nakicenovic, professor of Energy Economics, Deputy Director General/Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Laxenburg, Austria; Former Professor of Energy Economics at the Vienna University of Technology

Prof Sabine Schlacke, Director of the Institute  for Environmental Law and Planning Law at the University of Münster

Prof Uwe Schneidewind, President and Chief Research Executive oft he Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy and Professor for "Sustainable Transition Management" at the University of Wuppertal.