Workineh Kelbessa is a Professor of Philosophy at Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia, where he has taught since 1988. Professor Kelbessa’s research interests are wide-ranging and highly interdisciplinary: African philosophy, indigenous knowledge, environmental philosophy, environmental ethics, development ethics, climate ethics, water ethics, globalization, and the philosophy of love and sex. He has published extensively in a wide range of fields. His most recent publications include “Intergenerational Justice and the Environment in Africa” (2024), “The Ethical Responsibility of Developed Countries to Help Finance Adaptation Costs in Poor Developing Countries” (2024), and “African Environmental Philosophy and the Quest for a Sustainable Future” (2024).

He was appointed as a member of several prestigious international bodies, including the UNESCO Commission COMEST: The World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology (2012-2019) and the International Panel on Social Progress (2015-2017). He was also a Research Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. He is currently a member of the Ethiopian Academy of Sciences and other international professional associations. Moreover, he has served on the Editorial Boards of various journals including Health Care Analysis, the African Journal of Environmental Ethics and Values, the Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, Environmental Values, and the  International Journal of Ethics and Society.

Kelbessa has held visiting posts at various institutions including the University of Rostock, Germany (2005), Stellenbosch University, South Africa (2005), the University of Greifswald, Germany (2007-2008), the Technical University of Dresden [TU Dresden], Germany (2011), the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Germany (2011, 2015, 2019, 2020, and 2022), and the University of Oxford, United Kingdom (2022 and 2023).

For more information about Kelbessa’s research and publications, visit his website:  Workineh Kelbessa | College of Social Science (aau.edu.et)