Filippo Giorgi awarded climate change prize

ICTP scientist Filippo Giorgi has been awarded the 2020 Premio Motumundi for his contributions to the understanding of climate change and environmental issues.

The newly established prize will be awarded in the context of the first Motumundi festival, which will take place from 15 to 18 October in Tuscany, Italy. The festival will focus on climate change, environmental education, eco-sustainable development, the 17 United Nations sustainable development goals and the aim of a plastic-free world.

During the four days of the festival, many important personalities linked to the world of climate research and activism will be present, including the President of Legambiente Stefano Ciafani, OGS general director Paola Del Negro, and OGS International Cooperation director Mounir Ghribi, as well as several journalists and political figures.

In this context, the delivery of the 2020 Motumundi Prize to Giorgi will also take place. Giorgi is an international expert in climate modeling and climate change research. He pioneered the field of regional climate modeling and leads an ICTP team that develops and maintains the RegCM regional climate model system, which is used by a large scientific community worldwide. He has been deeply involved with international efforts at the climate-policy interface, having contributed to all five reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. He is also active in outreach to the general public to increase understanding of climate change and its importance for the world.

Filippo Giorgi obtained a Laurea in Physics from the University of L'Aquila, L'Aquila, Italy in 1982 and a PhD from the School of Geophysical Sciences of the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA in 1986. From 1986 to 1998 he was a scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado, USA. He has been at ICTP since 1998. In 2018, he was awarded the prestigious Alexander von Humboldt Medal by the European Geosciences Union (EGU), Europe’s top association of geoscientists.

The Motumundi Festival is organized by the Cinzia Vitale Cultural Association, founded in 2012 to pursue purely non-profit social solidarity purposes, through the promotion of culture and art and the enhancement of linguistic heritage. The protection of environment is also a primary goal in the organization’s agenda, promoting several initiatives aimed at a full individual and social enrichment on the subject.

The honorary and scientific committees of the Vitale non-profit organization include, among others, the Nobel Prize winner Filippo Giorgi, the General Director of the International Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) Lawrence Banks, the journalist Tiziana Ferrario, as well as meritorious members such as the journalist Paolo Rumiz, the writer Claudio Magris, the medical scientist Mauro Giacca, and the late astrophysicist Margherita Hack, all prominent personalities in Trieste’s cultural landscape, as well as internationally recognized experts and intellectuals.

The award ceremony will be held on 17 October in Tuscany during the Motumundi Festival.