IPCC: Scots professor to lead top global climate body

Professor Jim Skea says he is honoured to take up the position

A Scottish scientist has been chosen to lead one of the world's most influential climate change bodies.

Prof Jim Skea, from Dundee, has been elected as chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Last year its work was described as a "code red for humanity" by the head of the UN.

Prof Skea said he was "humbled and deeply honoured" to have been elected chair of the IPCC.

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The scientist, a former physics student at the University of Edinburgh, is professor of sustainable energy at Imperial College in London and the co-founder of the UK Committee on Climate Change.

He was elected by 90 votes to 69 in a run-off and will lead the IPCC through its seventh assessment cycle.

In his address to IPCC delegates, Prof Skea said: "Climate change is an existential threat to our planet.

"My ambition is to lead an IPCC that is truly representative and inclusive, an IPCC looking to the future while exploiting the opportunities that we have in the present. An IPCC where everyone feels valued and heard.

"In this, I will pursue three priorities - improving inclusiveness and diversity, shielding scientific integrity and policy relevance of IPCC assessment reports, and making the effective use of the best available science on climate change."

The election took place at the headquarters of the United Nations Environment Programme in Nairobi, Kenya, where the IPCC is holding its 59th session.

Prof Skea previously served as the co-chair of a working group assessing the mitigation of climate change during the IPCC's sixth assessment cycle.

It cannot be overestimated how powerful the work of the IPCC is.

Leading it has to be one of the most prestigious climate change jobs on the planet but also one of the most challenging.

The panel defines the science by examining all available studies and reaching a consensus. It's the science of the science.

The challenge is then convincing governments to back the conclusions because its weight comes from the international political support attached to it.

That process has led to accusations that the science is watered down but what's left is difficult for anyone to credibly challenge.

For that process to now be led by a renowned scientist from Dundee will undoubtedly shine a spotlight on the climate actions of Scotland and the UK.