Professor Myles Allen

Myles Allen is Professor of Geosystem Science in the Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment and Head of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics, Department of Physics, University of Oxford. His research focuses on how human and natural influences on climate contribute to climate change and risks of extreme weather. At a workshop in 2005, Allen introduced the notion of a finite carbon budget, implying net zero emissions of carbon dioxide are necessary to halt global warming. He has been working on the implications ever since, most recently on the case for Geological Net Zero, or a balance between ongoing production of carbon dioxide from geological sources with carbon dioxide capture and geological storage.

He has served on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, most recently as a Coordinating Lead Author on the IPCC Special Report on 1.5°C. He was awarded the Appleton Medal and Prize from the Institute of Physics “for his important contributions to the detection and attribution of human influence on climate and quantifying uncertainty in climate predictions" featured on the BBC’s Life Scientific as "the physicist behind net-zero" was awarded a CBE “for services to climate change attribution, prediction and net zero” and is a Fellow of the Royal Society.

• Leader of Climate Research Programme, Environmental Change Institute.
• Head of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics (AOPP), Department of Physics, University of Oxford. Responsible for climate modelling and attribution, comprising on average 4 post-docs and 5 doctoral students over the past three years.
• Principal Investigator, Oxford Net Zero, a 4-year interdisciplinary research initiative to inform effective and ambitious climate action among those setting net zero targets in institutions and governments across the globe, comprising 5.5 research and 3.5 policy engagement and administrative positions
• Principal Investigator, www.climateprediction.net - distributed computing for global climate research", collaborative project (2000 present, overall budget c. £4m), performing large-scale Monte Carlo simulation of climate change 1900 - 2100 using idle CPU on personal computers volunteered by the general public.
• Coordinating Lead Author, Chapter 1, “Framing and Context”, and member of Summary for Policymakers core writing team, IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C, 2016-2018
• Lead Author, Detection of Climate Change and Attribution of Causes, Chapter 12 of the IPCC WG1 Third Assessment. Review Editor, "Global Climate Projections" Chapter 10 of the IPCC WG1 Fourth Assessment. Lead author, "Detection and Attribution of Climate Change: from Global to Regional", Chapter 10 of the IPCC WG1 Fifth Assessment.
• Member of the US NOAA/Dept of Energy International Advisory Group on the Detection and Attribution of Anthropogenic Climate Change.