Speakers and Panellists

Piers Forster

Director, Priestley Centre for Climate Futures

Piers Forster is Professor of Physical Climate Change and founding Director of the Priestley Centre for Climate Futures at the University of Leeds. He has played significant roles authoring Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports, including the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth assessment reports and the IPCC Special Report on 1.5°C. He was appointed as a member of UK Climate Change Committee in 2019 and appointed as its Interim Chair in 2023.

Bart van den Hurk

Co-Chair, Working Group II, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Professor Bart van den Hurk was elected Co-Chair of Working Group II for the seventh assessment cycle in July 2023. He was a Lead Author of the Sixth Assessment Report. An expert in the field of weather and climate information, he is currently the Scientific Director at Deltares, Delft in The Netherlands.

Robert Vautard

Co-Chair, Working Group I, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Robert Vautard is currently the co-chair of IPCC Working Group I on the physical science basis of climate change. He is a research director at National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and works at the Pierre-Simon Laplace Institute (IPSL), a major research institute in environmental sciences in France.

Kristie L Ebi

Professor in the Center for Health and the Global Environment, University of Washington

Kristie L. Ebi, Ph.D., MPH has been conducting research on the health risks of and adaptation to climate variability and change for more than 30 years. She has worked with multiple countries, assessing their vulnerability and implementing adaptation measures. She also co-chairs the International Committee On New Integrated Climate change assessment Scenarios (ICONICS). She was a lead author for the IPCC 6th assessment cycle.

John Barrett

Deputy Director for Policy, Priestley Centre for Climate Futures

John Barrett is a Professor in Energy and Climate Policy at the University of Leeds. His research is applied in various arenas having been an advisor to a number of UK Government departments and agencies such as the UK Climate Change Committee. He was also a lead author for the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report, Working Group III.