Prof. Piers Forster

Professor Piers Forster CBE FRS is Professor of Climate Physics and Director of the Priestley Centre for Climate Futures at the University of Leeds. An atmospheric physicist by training, his research has made important contributions to understanding the causes of climate change and the climate response. He leads the Indicators of Global Climate Change initiative that annually updates the human-caused global warming to better inform policy. 

Forster has been a lead author across multiple Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports, including the Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C. He advises governments and businesses on their energy transitions.  He has been a member of UK Climate Change Committee since 2018 and served as Interim Chair from 2023 to 2025. He was awarded a CBE in 2026 for services to tackling climate change and is a Fellow of both the American Geophysical Union and the Royal Society.