Dr Steve Smith

Executive Director, Oxford Net Zero and CO2RE

Profile

With a background in atmospheric physics and a career in UK climate policy, Steve’s interests lie at the intersection of climate science and decision-making. He is Executive Director Oxford Net Zero and CO2RE: two programmes both focussed on stabilising the climate both rapidly and sustainably.

Oxford Net Zero brings together experts from across the University to address the critical issue of how to reach global net zero emissions. It includes academics from disciplines including Anthropology, Biology, Earth Sciences, Geography, Law, Business and Governance.

CO2RE is a multi-disciplinary research hub focused on removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. Backed by seven UK universities, CO2RE works with demonstration-scale removal projects around the country. It conducts solutions-led research to develop and evaluate a balanced portfolio of scalable techniques.

Steve has published in major journals on a range of topics, including metrics for comparing emissions of different greenhouse gases, and the governance of carbon dioxide removal. He is also passionate about turning the latest science into usable tools, such as the Net Zero Tracker and the State of Carbon Dioxide Removal.

He joined the Smith School from the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) where he co-led the Climate Science Team and played a role in the legislation of the UK's net zero target. Before that he was Head of Science at the Committee on Climate Change. He has a PhD from Imperial College London and is a Fellow of the Royal Meteorological Society.

Alongside continuing to advise governments and businesses, Steve communicates climate change to children and wider audiences. He helped write Climate Crisis for Beginners by Usborne Books, and was a contributor to the Ladybird book on Climate Change.

Projects

Teaching

Steve is open to supervising graduate students with an interest in climate action and policy, particularly those with skills in numerical analysis and coding, in the following topics:

Evaluating deep decarbonisation commitments by countries and companies
Economics, policies and systemic impacts of greenhouse gas removal techniques

Publications

Journal (36)

Open

Lamb W, Gasser T, Roman-Cuesta R, and others, ‘Author Correction: Current National Proposals Are off Track to Meet Carbon Dioxide Removal Needs’ [2024] Nature Climate Change 1

Friedlingstein P, O’Sullivan M, Jones M, and others, ‘Global Carbon Budget 2023’ (2023) 15 Earth System Science Data 5301

Nemet G, Gidden M, Greene J, and others, ‘Near-Term Deployment of Novel Carbon Removal to Facilitate Longer-Term Deployment’ (2023) 7 Joule 2653

Štrubelj L, Smith S, House J, and others, ‘The New EU Carbon Removal Certification: Landmark Legislation or an Empty Promise?’ (2023) 6 One Earth 1093

Powis C, Smith S, Minx J, and others, ‘Quantifying Global Carbon Dioxide Removal Deployment’ (2023) 18 Environmental Research Letters 024022

Hickey C, Fankhauser S, Smith S, and others, ‘A Review of Commercialisation Mechanisms for Carbon Dioxide Removal’ (2023) 4 Frontiers in Climate

Smith S, Geden O, Minx J, and others, ‘The State of Carbon Dioxide Removal Report 2023’

Lu Y, Cohen F, Smith S, and others, ‘Plant Conversions and Abatement Technologies Cannot Prevent Stranding of Power Plant Assets in 2 °C Scenarios.’ (2022) 13 Nature communications 806

Allen M, Peters G, Shine K, and others, ‘Indicate Separate Contributions of Long-Lived and Short-Lived Greenhouse Gases in Emission Targets’ (2022) 5 npj Climate and Atmospheric Science

Fankhauser S, Workman M, Smith S, and others, ‘Consideration of Greenhouse Gas Removals (GGR) in Emissions Trading Systems: Principles and Practice’

Fankhauser S, Smith S, Allen M, and others, ‘The Meaning of Net Zero and How to Get It Right’ (2021) 12 Nature Climate Change 15

Hale T, Smith S, Black R, and others, ‘Assessing the Rapidly-Emerging Landscape of Net Zero Targets’ (2021) 22 Climate Policy 18

Schenuit F, Colvin R, Fridahl M, and others, ‘Carbon Dioxide Removal Policy in the Making: Assessing Developments in 9 OECD Cases’ (2021) 3 Frontiers in Climate 638805

Smith S, ‘A Case for Transparent Net-Zero Carbon Targets’ (2021) 2 Communications Earth & Environment 24

Lezaun J, Healey P, Kruger T, and others, ‘Governing Carbon Dioxide Removal in the UK: Lessons Learned and Challenges Ahead’ (2021) 3 Frontiers in Climate 673859

Schenuit F, Colvin R, Fridahl M, and others, ‘Carbon Dioxide Removal Policy in the Making: Assessing Developments in 9 OECD Cases’ (2021) 3 Frontiers in Climate 638805

Lezaun J, Healey P, Kruger T, and others, ‘Governing Carbon Dioxide Removal in the UK: Lessons Learned and Challenges Ahead’ (2021) 3 Frontiers in Climate 673859

Cullen K, Axelsson K, Lezak S, and others, ‘Leveling up Net Zero Climate Leadership in the United States’ [2021] Smith School working paper series

Smith P, Haszeldine R and Smith S, ‘Preliminary Assessment of the Potential For, and Limitations To, Terrestrial Negative Emission Technologies in the UK.’ (2016) 18 Environmental science. Processes & impacts 1400

Smith A, Holland M, Korkeala O, and others, ‘Health and Environmental Co-Benefits and Conflicts of Actions to Meet UK Carbon Targets’ (2016) 16 Climate Policy 253

Bell M, Bellamy O, Gault A, and others, ‘UK Climate Change Following the Paris Agreement’ [2016] Committee on Climate Change, Tech. Rep 27

Huntingford C, Lowe J, Howarth N, and others, ‘The Implications of Carbon Dioxide and Methane Exchange for the Heavy Mitigation RCP2.6 Scenario under Two Metrics’ (2015) 51 Environmental Science & Policy 77

Smith A, Holland M, Korkeala O, and others, ‘Health and Environmental Co-Benefits and Conflicts of Actions to Meet UK Carbon Targets’ (2015) 16 Climate Policy 253

Bowerman N, Frame D, Huntingford C, and others, ‘The Role of Short-Lived Climate Pollutants in Meeting Temperature Goals’ (2013) 3 Nature Climate Change 1021

Bernie D, Lowe J and Smith S, ‘Technical Appendix: Updated Projections of Global Emissions and Temperatures’ [2013] Report commissioned by the UK Committee on Climate Change in support of the fourth carbon budget review

Smith S, Lowe J, Bowerman N, and others, ‘Equivalence of Greenhouse-Gas Emissions for Peak Temperature Limits’ (2012) 2 Nature Climate Change 535

Huntingford C, Lowe J, Gohar L, and others, ‘The Link Between a Global 2 °C Warming Threshold and Emissions in Years 2020, 2050 and Beyond’ (2012) 7 Environmental Research Letters 014039

Gosling S, Warren R, Arnell N, and others, ‘A Review of Recent Developments in Climate Change Science. Part II: The Global-Scale Impacts of Climate Change’ (2011) 35 Progress in Physical Geography Earth and Environment 443

Good P, Caesar J, Bernie D, and others, ‘A Review of Recent Developments in Climate Change Science. Part I: Understanding of Future Change in the Large-Scale Climate System’ (2011) 35 Progress in Physical Geography Earth and Environment 281

Smith S and Toumi R, ‘Direct Observation of Cloud Forcing by ground‐based Thermal Imaging’ (2008) 35 Geophysical Research Letters

Smith S and Toumi R, ‘Measuring Cloud Cover and Brightness Temperature With a Ground-Based Thermal Infrared Camera’ (2008) 47 Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology 683

Smith S, Golborne N, Gohar L, and others, ‘Projecting Global Emissions, Concentrations and Temperatures’ [2008] Building a Low-carbon Economy-The UK’s Contribution to Tackling Climate Change. Norwich, UK: The Stationary Office

Lamb W, Gasser T, Roman-Cuesta R, and others, ‘Current National Proposals Are off Track to Meet Carbon Dioxide Removal Needs’ Nature Climate Change 1

Lamb W, Gasser T, Roman-Cuesta R, and others, ‘The Carbon Dioxide Removal Gap’ Nature Climate Change 1

Conference paper (3)

Open

Lu Y, Cohen F, Smith S, and others, ‘Can Technologies Mitigate the Risk of Fossil Fuel Assets Being Stranded in the Power Sector?’, Energy, COVID, and Climate Change, 1st IAEE Online Conference, June 7-9, 2021 (2021)

Smith S, Bowerman N, Lowe J, and others, ‘An Alternative Approach to Comparing Long-and Short-Lived Emissions in Light of the 2&Deg; C Global Temperature Limit’, EGU General Assembly Conference Abstracts (2014)

Skea J, Smith S, Lowe J, and others, ‘Keeping Government on Track: The UK Climate Change Act and the Committee on Climate Change’, IOP Conference Series. Earth and Environmental Science (2009)