professor Richard Betts

Professor Richard Betts MBE is Head of Climate Impacts Research in the Met Office Hadley Centre and Chair in Climate Impacts at the University of Exeter. He is acknowledged as one of the world’s leading climate scientists, with a research career spanning 30 years. He has published more than 100 scientific papers on a diverse range of climate change topics including heatwaves, drought, flooding, wildfire, glacier melt, and the risk of dieback of the Amazon forest. 

Richard has been a lead author on several major reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), including in 2007 when the IPCC received the Nobel Peace Prize. He was Technical Lead for the UK’s latest national climate change risk assessment and is currently serving as Expert Advisor to the UK’s Climate Change Committee for the next risk assessment. He is also a member of the Devon Climate Taskforce, advising Devon County Council on their action to reduce emissions and adapt to climate change, and collaborates with the Eden Project on climate exhibits.

Richard is a passionate climate communicator and an advocate of collaboration between science and the arts for increasing public connection with environmental issues. He is a regular spokesperson for the Met Office on national and international media, and active on social media. 

He frequently speaks on climate change at festivals including regular appearances at Glastonbury, BlueDot and Beautiful Days and more recently at 2000 Trees and Standon Calling. 

A strong believer in the power of music to change the world, Richard has long worked with artists and music industry figures to support their work in relation to climate change, including Enter Shikari, John Robb, Charlotte Church and the Pussycat Dolls. 

In the 2019 Queen’s Birthday Honours List he was awarded an MBE for Services to Understanding Climate Change.