One hundred leading UK climate research scientists have called on the UK Prime Minister Theresa May to press US President-Elect Donald Trump to accept the realities and risks of climate change.
In a letter to the UK Prime Minister, the scientists call on her to use the United Kingdom’s ‘special relationship’ with the US to persuade Mr Trump: “to acknowledge the scientific evidence about the risks of climate change, to continue to support international action to counter climate change, and to maintain support for world class research and data-gathering on climate change in the United States.”
The full text of the letter follows with the list of supporting scientists:
13 January 2017
Dear Prime Minister,
We are writing as members of the climate change research community in the United Kingdom to alert you to what we see as potential threats to, and opportunities for, the national interest arising from the recent elections in the United States of America.
President-Elect Trump has indicated on many occasions, including since his election on 8 November 2016, that he does not fully accept the scientific evidence about the risks of climate change caused by human activities. Several of the individuals nominated for key posts in the President-Elect’s administration, such as the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, have made public statements rejecting the evidence for climate change risks. In doing so, the President-Elect and his nominated appointees are disregarding the findings and advice of the leading expert bodies around the world, including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the United States National Academy of Sciences.
Furthermore, there have been worrying media reports that the incoming administration may severely weaken climate change research and data-gathering undertaken by federal organisations in the United States. This would diminish the provision of robust and rigorous evidence that is used by policy-makers and researchers around the world, including in the United Kingdom.
We believe that the United Kingdom must be prepared to respond decisively to these developments. The United Kingdom has been at the forefront of international climate change research and evidence- based policy-making for more than 30 years. Margaret Thatcher was the first world leader to publicly acknowledge the risks of climate change in 1988, and established the Hadley Centre at the Met Office, now internationally renowned for its climate change research.
For many years, climate change researchers in the United States and United Kingdom have worked extensively with each other and with researchers from across the world. We stand ready to support and assist our counterparts in the United States, as collaborators, co-authors and colleagues, in resisting any political attempts to prevent, hamper or interfere with vital research on climate change.
We urge you, as Prime Minister, to use the United Kingdom’s special relationship with the United States, as well as international fora such as the G7 and G20, to press President-Elect Trump and his administration to acknowledge the scientific evidence about the risks of climate change, to continue to support international action to counter climate change, including the Paris Agreement, and to maintain support for world class research and data-gathering on climate change in the United States.
Effective management of the risks of climate change requires all countries to be fully engaged in understanding both their complexities and the options for responding to them. We believe that the United Kingdom could now have a great opportunity to work alongside the United States in strengthening the evidence base, supporting the development of innovative technologies, and leading international cooperation to manage the risks of climate change. We are signing as individuals, rather than as representatives of our employers, but we list our affiliations as evidence of our membership of the climate change research community.
Yours sincerely (in alphabetical order),
Dr. George Adamson (Lecturer in Geography, King’s College London)
Professor Richard Allan (Meteorology Department Head for External Affairs, University of Reading)
Professor Myles R. Allen FInstP (Professor of Geosystem Science, Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford)
Professor Chris Armstrong (Professor of Political Theory and Head of the Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Southampton)
Professor Nigel Arnell FRGS FRMetS (Professor of Climate System Science, University of Reading) Dr. Scott Archer-Nicholls (Postdoctoral Research Associate, Centre for Atmospheric Science, Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge)
Professor John Barrett (Director of the Centre for Industrial Energy, Materials and Products, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds)
Professor Paul Bates (Head, School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol)
Dr. Stephanie Bates (Research technician in isotope biogeochemistry, School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol)
Dr. Emma Boland (Physical Oceanographer, British Antarctic Survey)
Dr. Michelle Cain (Post-doctoral Researcher, University of Cambridge)
Professor Andy Challinor (Professor of Climate Impacts, University of Leeds)
Professor Mat Collins FRMetS (Exeter Climate Systems, University of Exeter)
Professor Peter Convey (Deputy Leader, Biodiversity, Evolution and Adaptation Team, British Antarctic Survey)
Professor Declan Conway (Professorial Research Fellow, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, London School of Economics and Political Science)
Professor Rosalind Cornforth FRMetS (Director, Walker Institute, University of Reading)
Dr. Kevin Cowtan (Research Fellow, University of York)
Professor Peter Cox (Professor of Climate System Dynamics, University of Exeter)
Dr. Elizabeth Cripps (Senior Lecturer in Political Theory, University of Edinburgh)
Dr. Emma Cross (Research Associate, University of Cambridge and British Antarctic Survey)
Professor Richard Dawson (Director of the Centre for Earth Systems Engineering Research, Newcastle University)
Professor Simon Dietz (Co-Director, ESRC Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science)
Professor Paul Ekins OBE FEI (Director, Institute for Sustainable Resources, University College London)
Dr. Robert Falkner (Associate Professor of International Relations, London School of Economics and Political Science)
Professor Sam Fankhauser (Co-Director, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, London School of Economics and Political Science)
Professor Piers Forster FRMetS (Director, Priestley International Centre for Climate, University of Leeds)
Professor Eric S. Fraga CPSE (Chemical Engineering, University College London)
Professor Pierre Friedlingstein (Chair, Exeter Climate Systems, University of Exeter)
Professor Hayley Fowler (Professor of Climate Change Impacts, School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Newcastle University)
Professor Timothy J. Foxon (Professor of Sustainability Transitions, Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex)
Professor Alberto C. Naveira Garabato (National Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton)
Alyssa Gilbert (Director of Policy and Translation, Grantham Institute – Climate Change and the Environment, Imperial College London)
Dr Marisa Goulden (Lecturer in Climate Change, University of East Anglia and Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research),
Professor Andrew Gouldson (Deputy Director, ESRC Centre for Climate Change economics and Policy, University of Leeds)
Professor Dabo Guan (Director of Water Security Research Centre, University of East Anglia)
Professor Joanna Haigh CBE FRS (Co-Director Grantham Institute – Climate Change and the Environment, Imperial College London)
Professor Sir Andy Haines (Departments of Social and Environmental Health Research and of Population Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine)
Professor Jim Hall FREng (Director of the Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford)
Professor Jason Hall-Spencer (Professor of Marine Biology, University of Plymouth)
Professor Neil Harris (Co-chair of WCRP/SPARC Centre for Atmospheric Informatics and Emissions Technology, Cranfield University)
Professor Gideon Henderson FRS (Head of Department, Earth Sciences, University of Oxford)
Dr. Sian Henley (NERC Independent Research Fellow, School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh)
Dr. Scott Hosking (Climate Scientist, British Antarctic Survey)
Dr. Jo House (Cabot Institute, School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol)
Dr Keith Hyams (Associate Professor, University of Warwick)
Dr. Helen L. Johnson (Associate Professor in Climate and Ocean Modelling, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford)
Dr. Dan Jones (Physical Oceanographer, British Antarctic Survey)
Professor Phil Jones FRMetS (Professorial Fellow, Climatic Research Unit, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia)
Dr. Joakim Kjellsson (Postdoctoral Research Assistant, Atmospheric, Oceanic & Planetary Physics, University of Oxford) Professor Christine S. Lane (Professor of Geography (1993), University of Cambridge)
Professor Alice Larkin FInstP (Director of Tyndall Manchester, Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Manchester)
Professor Corinne Le Quéré FRS (Professor of Climate Change Science and Policy at the University of East Anglia and Director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research)
Professor Simon Lewis (University College London)
Professor Dan Lunt (Professor of Climate Science, University of Bristol)
Dr Niall Mac Dowell (Clean Fossil and Bioenergy Research Group and Lecturer in Energy and Environmental Technology and Policy, Imperial College London)
Professor Catriona McKinnon (Director, Leverhulme Programme in Climate Justice, University of Reading)
Professor Mark Maslin FRGS FRSA (Director, London NERC Doctoral Training Partnership, University College London)
Dr. Elaine Mawbey (Postdoctoral Research Assistant, School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol)
Dr Dann Mitchell (Lecturer in Climate Change, University of Bristol)
Professor Hugh Montgomery FRCP FRGS FRSB FRI FFICM, Professor of Intensive Care Medicine, University College London)
Dr. Twila Moon (Lecturer in Cryospheric Sciences, Bristol Glaciology Centre, School of Geographical Sciences, University or Bristol)
Professor Stephen de Mora CChem FRSC FRSB FRSA (Chief Executive, Plymouth Marine Laboratory)
Professor Richard Morris (Professor in Medical Statistics, University of Bristol)
Professor Andy Morse FRMetS FRGS (Professor of Climate Impacts, University of Liverpool)
Professor David Newbery FBA CBE (Director, Cambridge Energy Policy Research Group),
Professor Dan Osborn (Chair of Human Ecology, Department of Earth Sciences, University College London)
Professor Timothy Osborn (Director of Research, Climatic Research Unit, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia)
Professor Jouni Paavola (Co-Director of the ESRC Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds)
Professor Tim Palmer CBE FRS (Royal Society Research Professor, Department of Physics, University of Oxford)
Professor Richard Pancost (Professor of Biogeochemistry and Director of the Cabot Institute, University of Bristol)
Professor Martin Parry OBE (Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London)
Professor Paul N. Pearson (School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Cardiff University)
Professor Arthur Petersen (Professor of Science, Technology and Public Policy, University College London)
Professor Nicholas Pidgeon MBE (Professor of Environmental Risk, Cardiff University)
Professor Raymond Pierrehumbert (Halley Professor of Physics, University of Oxford)
Dr. Jeff Price (Senior Researcher, Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, University of East Anglia)
Professor Chris Rapley CBE (Professor of Climate Science, University College London)
Dr. Tim Rayner (Research Fellow, Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, University of East Anglia)
Professor Dave Reay (Assistant Principal, University of Edinburgh)
Professor Rosalind Rickaby (Professor in Biogoechemistry, Associate Head of Department for Research, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford)
Dr. Maria Russo (Research Scientist, National Centre for Atmospheric Science/Cambridge Centre for Climate Science, University of Cambridge)
Professor Daniela Schmidt FRSB (School of Earth Sciences, Cabot Institute, University of Bristol)
Professor Andrea Sella (Department of Chemistry, University College London)
Professor Ted Shepherd FRS (Grantham Professor of Climate Science, University of Reading)
Professor Keith P. Shine FRS (Regius Professor of Meteorology and Climate Science, University of Reading)
Dr. Emily Shuckburgh FRMetS OBE (Deputy-Head of Polar Oceans, British Antarctic Survey)
Professor Henry Shue (Senior Research Fellow, Centre for International Studies, University of Oxford)
Professor Martin Siegert FRSE (Co-Director, Grantham Institute – Climate Change and the Environment, Imperial College London)
Dr. Thomas Smith (Lecturer in Physical & Environmental Geography, Kings College London)
Dr. David Stainforth (Associate Professorial Research Fellow, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, London School of Economics and Political Science)
Dr. Julia K. Steinberger (Associate Professor in Ecological Economics, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds)
Professor Lindsay C. Stringer (Professor in Environment and Development, University of Leeds)
Professor Phil Taylor (Director, National Centre for Energy Systems Integration)
Dr. Carol Turley OBE (Senior NERC Knowledge Exchange Open Fellow, Plymouth Marine Laboratory)
Professor Paul Valdes (Director, NERC Great Western Four+ Doctoral Training Partnership, University of Bristol).
Bob Ward FGS FRGS (Policy and Communications Director, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, London School of Economics and Political Science),
Professor Rachel Warren (Professor of Global Change and Environmental Biology, Tyndall Climate Change Centre, University of East Anglia)
Professor Jim Watson (Director, UK Energy Research Centre)
Professor Lorraine Whitmarsh (School of Psychology and Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, Cardiff University)
Dr. Phillip Williamson (Associate Fellow, University of East Anglia)
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