In this talk Professor Forster will discuss the latest climate science evidence from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and how this influenced the COP26 negotiations in Glasgow. In particular, he will explain how climate science was used to relate national emission reduction ambitions to the overall aim of the conference to “keep 1.5°C alive”. He will discuss how probabilistic simple climate models are used to translate complex climate science. Finally Professor Forster will discuss how we can democratise climate science to build greater capacity among national delegations to build scientific evidence into their negotiation positions and support future COP meetings.

Piers Forster is professor of physical climate change at the University of Leeds. He researches the causes of climate change, climate impacts and mitigation strategies. He has played leading roles authoring Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports, including acting as Lead Author for the IPCC Special Report on 1.5°C and Coordinating Lead Author for the IPCC 6th Assessment Report, published in August 2021. Piers is the founding Director of the Priestley International Centre for Climate at the University of Leeds. The Priestley Centre is dedicated to research and innovation on interdisciplinary climate solutions. He has sat on the UK Government’s Climate Change Committee since 2018, acting as independent advisor to the UK Government on its climate targets.