If Roberts wins the majority vote in Nairobi, she will become the first woman and first person from Africa to lead the IPCC.

Veteran Durban climate change researcher Professor Debra Roberts has been named among four experts nominated to lead the world's top scientific advisory panel on climate change.

Roberts - a graduate of the former University of Natal who established the first dedicated environment department for the City of eThekwini (Durban) in 1994 - has been formally endorsed by Cabinet as South Africa's candidate to chair the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

The IPCC is a panel of experts set up in 1988 to provide government policymakers with regular scientific assessments on the latest state of knowledge about climate change.

The key chair position is being contested by three other candidates: Dr Thelma Krug of Brazil, Professor Jim Skea of the UK and Professor Jean-Pascal van Ypersele of Belgium.

With more than 30 years' experience as an academic researcher and senior municipal planning official, Roberts previously served as a member of the South African negotiating team at several global climate change meetings. She is also the current co-chair of the IPCC Working Group II on Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability.

Lending his endorsement, President Cyril Ramaphosa said that if Roberts wins the majority vote at a meeting in the Kenyan capital Nairobi...