New DESNZ Chief Scientific Adviser appointed
Source: gov.uk (2025-10-21)

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has appointed Professor Emily Shuckburgh to the role of Chief Scientific Adviser.

Professor Emily Shuckburgh has been appointed as the new Chief Scientific Adviser (CSA) at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.

Professor Shuckburgh, who is currently the Director of Cambridge Zero, the University of Cambridge’s major climate change initiative, and Professor of Environmental Data Science at the Department of Computer Science and Technology, will join the department from 3 November 2025. She will succeed Professor Paul Monks, who has concluded his 5-year term in the role.

Professor Shuckburgh was awarded an OBE in 2016 and a CBE in 2025. Her professional fellowships include FRMetS, HonFEI, FRGS, FRSA. In addition to her academic awards, she co-authored ‘A Ladybird Book on Climate Change’ with HM King Charles III and Tony Juniper.

Jeremy Pocklington, Permanent Secretary, said:

The role of the CSA is so critical to our work and our mission, therefore I’m delighted that Professor Shuckburgh is joining the department. She brings incredible experience as a world leading climate scientist, and I know she’ll add considerable value to the work of our department.

Professor Shuckburgh said:

It’s a great honour to join the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero as Chief Scientific Adviser at a time when scientific evidence is so crucial to informing the UK’s response to the twin challenges of climate change and energy security.

The CSA delivers independent and impartial science and engineering advice to ministers and policymakers across the DESNZ policy and delivery portfolio and Clean Energy Superpower Mission. The CSA is also responsible for ensuring the department has robust systems in place to access science and engineering expertise, including as departmental Head of the Government Science and Engineering Profession.

Professor Emily Shuckburgh Biography

Professor Emily Shuckburgh is a mathematician and climate scientist, a Fellow of Darwin College and alumna of Trinity College, Cambridge. She is President-elect of the Royal Meteorological Society, a Fellow of the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, a Fellow of the British Antarctic Survey, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, and an Honorary Fellow of the Energy Institute.

At the University of Cambridge she is Academic Director of the Institute of Computing for Climate Science, and co-Director of the Centre for Landscape Regeneration and of the UKRI Centre for Doctoral Training on the Application of AI to the study of Environmental Risks (AI4ER).

Professor Shuckburgh worked for more than a decade at the British Antarctic Survey where her work included leading a UK national research programme on the Southern Ocean and its role in climate. Prior to that she undertook research at École Normale Supérieure in Paris and at MIT. She has also acted as an adviser on climate to the UK Government in various capacities, including as a Friend of COP26.

Notes to editors

The CSA delivers independent and impartial science and engineering advice to ministers and policymakers across the DESNZ policy and delivery portfolio and Clean Energy Superpower Mission. The CSA is also responsible for ensuring the department has robust systems in place to access science and engineering expertise, including as departmental Head of the Government Science and Engineering Profession.