Professor Myles Allen appointed Frank Jackson Foundation Professor of the Environment

Gresham College, London’s oldest Higher Education Institution, and the Frank Jackson Foundation are delighted to announce the appointment of Professor Myles Allen as Frank Jackson Foundation Professor of the Environment. This is a 3-4 year appointment.

Allen is Professor of Geosystem Science in the School of Geography and the Environment and Department of Physics, University of Oxford, and has been called “the physicist behind ‘Net Zero’”, widely accepted as the benchmark for where the world has to get to on carbon emissions to avoid further global warming. He is leader of the Environmental Change Institute’s Global Climate Research Programme and Director of the Oxford Net Zero Initiative.

He succeeds Professor Jacqueline McGlade. 

Professor Allen said: “Everyone has agreed that Net Zero is a good idea, without necessarily agreeing what it means, still less on how to get there. I am delighted to be giving a series of lectures on this theme, looking at the science behind it, how climate impacts are emerging, and when and how we need to act to turn things around.

"I will argue that both the science, and the policy challenge, of achieving net zero are far simpler than many are led to believe. Simple does not mean easy, which makes it all the more important that everyone should understand both why and how we need to get to net zero: you shouldn’t have to take a scientist’s or politician’s word for it.

"Reducing the problem to its essentials – how to stop fossil fuels from causing further global warming – should help you form your own views on which policies are actually going to work.”

Professor Allen will continue the 425-year-old tradition of delivering free lectures aimed at the public within the City of London and beyond. Gresham College live streams lectures online and delivers them to physical audiences in London, with over 8 million views of lectures online last year.  More than 2,500 past lectures are freely available to view on the College’s website.

The Frank Jackson Foundation has sponsored an Environment Professor since 2014. Professor Allen will be the third Professor in post.

Dr Simon Thurley, Provost of Gresham College, said: “We are delighted to appoint Professor Myles Allen as Frank Jackson Foundation Professor of the Environment. He is a talented communicator and will be a real asset to the College.”

Dr Wendy Piatt, CEO of Gresham College, said: “Climate change is one of the biggest environmental issues of our time so we are thrilled to welcome Professor Myles Allen, the architect of Net Zero, to Gresham.”

David Tennant, Chair of the Frank Jackson Foundation, said: “The Frank Jackson Foundation is delighted to support this Professorship, which we have been sponsoring since 2014 to bring environmental issues to a wider public.”