CHENG Lijing, a researcher at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), was awarded the UNESCO Al Fozan International Prize on September 19 at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France. The prize recognizes CHENG's significant contributions to ocean and climate change research, providing crucial scientific data for climate risk assessment and human adaptation and mitigation efforts.

Award ceremony at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France. (Image by TAN Zhetao)

CHENG was one of five young scientists from around the world to receive the prestigious award, which honors achievements in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). The UNESCO Al Fozan International Prize for the Promotion of Young Scientists in STEM is awarded biennially.

CHENG's research addresses critical gaps in fundamental ocean data. He has developed core technologies for ocean data processing and created a long-term, multi-variable gridded ocean observation dataset that is widely used internationally. His work has revealed significant changes in key ocean physical parameters since 1960, providing critical evidence for global climate change.

CHENG's work is vital for understanding and addressing the challenges of climate change. "These young researchers aren’t just the future—they’re already making a difference," said Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO Director-General.

CHENG has published over 100 papers with more than 14,000 citations. He leads an international team tracking global ocean heat content, salinity and oxygen changes and investigates our planet’s energy budget and water cycle. 

He is a lead author of the IPCC’s Special Report for Ocean and Cryosphere as well as the UN World Ocean Assessment, and also serves as a coordinating lead author for both the 7th IPCC Assessment Report and China’s National Assessment Report on Climate Change.

He leads global researchers in improving ocean data quality, constructing high-quality gridded datasets, understanding of how the ocean responds to climate change, studying the associated risks to support Sustainable Development Goals, and informing policy decisions worldwide relative to climate adaptation and mitigation.

His previous accolades include the American Meteorological Society's "The Nicholas P. Fofonoff Award" (2023) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences Young Scientist Award (2024).

The UNESCO Al Fozan International Prize for the Promotion of Young Scientists in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) was established in 2021 to recognize and reward young scientists worldwide for their achievements in promoting capacity building, scientific development, and socio-economic progress.