Rockström, who is director of the Germany-based climate institute PIK, has been invited by President Ursula von der Leyen to the Commission's annual seminar in Tervuren on September 4.
The seminar serves as a kick-off meeting for the year and is held just over a week before von der Leyen gives her annual State of the EU speech to the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
The invitation to Rockström indicates that climate issues will play an important role in the speech. Over the past year, EU countries such as Italy and the Czech Republic, as well as several MEPs on the mainly right wing, have pressed for the EU to ease several previous climate proposals.
