Arup builds world-class centre of excellence for climate modelling in Asia

By bringing together veteran climate scientists and experts, the regional hub of expertise brings a new level of scientific understanding of climate change and thus increased confidence in resilience actions.

World renowned climate scientist, Professor Johnny Chan, leads the centre’s research work. With more than 40 years of research experience, Professor Chan is internationally recognised in the areas of typhoons, monsoons and climate change. He is currently an Emeritus Professor at the City University of Hong Kong, where he was Chair Professor of Applied Physics/Atmospheric Science before his retirement in 2021.

Professor Chan also served on a number of regional and global weather authorities and advisory bodies to shape climate policy decisions and responses. These include Shanghai Typhoon Institute of the China Meteorological Administration, and the Tropical Meteorology Research Working Group of the World Meteorological Organisation of the United Nations and its Tropical Cyclone Panel.  

Joining Professor Chan is Dr Homan Wong, a climate resilience expert with over 15 years of experience in climate modelling, engineering management and environmental, social and governance (ESG) solutions. Dr Wong completed his PhD under full scholarship funded by the UK’s Natural Environment Research Council, and his research included advancing representation of climate impacts on land surface in an internationally recognised simulation model. Leading projects for top-tier developers, Dr Wong brings science to action in a number of high-profile projects from climate impact prediction to sustainability planning and carbon management. 

Arup’s probabilistic-based climate modelling follows the latest Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) data of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – first of its kind in Asia. The climate modelling provides location-specific projection data, identify and quantify potential hazards, and recommend practical actions to mitigate risks and enhance resilience. It also links up with financial models to estimate losses due to repair damage, replacement, business interruption and downtime.