New Year Honours 2025: University of Leeds professor and leading climate scientist 'very humbled' with CBE
A Leeds professor who is one of the UK’s foremost climate scientists has said he feels “very humbled” to have been awarded a CBE for his ongoing work to tackle climate change.
Professor Piers Forster, who has worked at the University of Leeds since 2005, is a Professor of Physical Climate Change, Director of the university’s Priestley Centre for Climate Futures and the academic lead for the university’s own Climate Plan.
Alongside his research career, Professor Forster helped to establish the United Bank of Carbon – a UK charity that researches and protects trees and forests. He also has several roles advising industry and government. He was appointed a member of the UK Climate Change Committee in 2019 and was its Interim Chair from 2023 until July 2025.
He has contributed to the writing of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports and leads an international effort to annually update climate indictors, the Indicators of Global Climate Change project.
“I feel very humbled to have received this award,” he said. “I’ve spent my career collecting evidence on the benefits of climate action and along the way I’ve been lucky enough to work with some great colleagues on climate research and climate policy.
“I love my work, and I feel privileged to do it, and as we mark the end of another year of record-breaking UK temperatures, it feels more important than ever.”
Closer to home, Professor Forster is patron of climate action charity Zero Carbon Harrogate and a long-time supporter of Long Lands Common – Harrogate and Knaresborough’s first ever community-owned woodlands project. Earlier this year a section of woodland there was named after him in recognition of his outstanding work in the field of climate change research, environmental education and leadership.
Professor Shearer West CBE, Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Leeds, said: “Universities continue to make enormous contributions to society, innovating to tackle poverty, climate change and improve health outcomes, alongside the significant economic, cultural and community impact they make in the cities and regions that we call home.
“I am so pleased that this contribution has been recognised with New Year Honours awarded to colleagues, alumni, and partners of the University of Leeds. They are an inspiration to us all, and a reminder of the incredible talent nurtured by universities across the country.”
For the full list of everyone from Leeds to have been recognised in the New Year Honours click here.