The case for urgent climate action is clearer than ever before. Find out how we play a vital role in climate research and action worldwide, contributing to international reports, and developing ground-breaking ideas. As one of the world's leading universities, we play a vital role in tackling the numerous complex climate challenges. We are one of the largest and most successful groups of researchers delivering crucial research on the science of climate change, its impacts and risks, and options for adaption and mitigation. Many of our researchers are pioneers in their field, with their work underpinning some of the most important international policy decisions in history.Equilibrium Climate sensitivityProfessor Gabi Hegerl's seminal work has pioneered the method to detect the 'human fingerprint' in climate change through combining observations and climate model simulations.Her method has become one of the central pillars of climate science. Since then, our researchers have played a significant role in determining critical relationships between greenhouse gas emissions and climate warming.We achieved this through world-leading analysis combining multiple sources of evidence, including:Observed warming in the pre-and post-industrial climateInstrumental recordsModelling and dataThis led to the development of the Equilibrium Climate Sensitivity (ECS) – a key climate metric showing how much greenhouse gas emissions warm the climate.Our work was used as evidence in reports by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)The IPCC exclusively selected Professor Hegerl for the Core Author Team of the overarching and top-level document of the IPCC 5th Assessment Report (AR5). She also led the section on observed emissions and changes in the climate in the report. At the approval plenary for the report involving all the United Nations country delegations, Professor Gabi Hegerl presented the keynote presentation on climate sensitivity. It was one of only four key science presentations given to directly communicate the report's findings to the full session of government representatives.Find out more about how our research, climate policy and reporting below: The Fifth Assessment Report and the Paris Agreement Find out how our research and researchers influenced the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report, which led to the groundbreaking Paris Agreement on climate policy and action. IPCC special reports View our contributions the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) special reports that each address an important topic for how we live with climate change. Our University and COP26 Our University had a part to play when the 26th UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP26) came to Glasgow, Scotland. This article was published on 2025-07-16
