Professor Jason Lowe, Head of Climate Services at the Met Office, is a world-leading expert in climate science. Professor Lowe, who is also Met Office Science Co-ordinator for the SPF UK Climate Resilience Programme, has been recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list 2020 where he was awarded an OBE.
Professor Lowe’s work has helped the UK and other countries plan for and respond to the impacts of climate change, directly shaping national and international policy and informing vital decisions to protect businesses and communities. He has pioneered a more collaborative approach to climate research, bringing together climate science with other academic disciplines, such as economics and social sciences, and emphasising working directly with end-users, from private enterprise to local government.
Professor Penny Endersby, Chief Executive of the Met Office, said: “I am delighted to see Professor Lowe included in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List.
“At the Met Office we have some of the best teams anywhere in the world working on climate change and as Head of Climate Services at the Met Office Hadley Centre, Jason is a vital part of that.
“He has made a major contribution to our understanding of climate science, with his most recent work driving the creation of the UK’s latest climate projections (UKCP18), providing our government and policy makers with the essential tools to make our country more resilient to climate change over the next century. His work is also recognised internationally, paving the way for other nations to develop their own climate change projections.”
Professor Suraje Dessai and Dr Kate Lonsdale, co-Champions for the UK Climate Resilience Programme, echoed this praise, saying: “Jason has been key to the development of the underpinning scientific framing of the SPF UK Climate Resilience Programme and the leadership of the Met Office research within it.”
Jason Lowe led the multinational ‘Avoiding Dangerous Climate Change’ programme from 2009, the first in the world to use a collaborative approach between academia and government which has been highly influential in both UK and international policy. This programme was also highly central in the global decision that temperatures should not rise more than 2°C above pre-industrial levels.
Since then, Jason has driven the creation of the UK’s latest climate projections (UKCP18). These cutting-edge computer simulations give unprecedented levels of detail about how the UK’s climate will change over the 21st century, providing an essential tool to guide decision-making and boost resilience.
Professor Lowe is also Chair in Interdisciplinary Climate Science at the Priestley Centre, University of Leeds.