Lionello is Co-Coordinator of MedECC (Mediterranean Experts on Climate and Environmental Change) and chaired the MedCLIVAR (Mediterranean Climate Variability) network from 2006 to 2025. He has held several prominent roles in the international scientific community. He was a Lead Author of the “Europe” and “Mediterranean” chapters of the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report, Working Group II; Coordinator of the MedECC Special Report on Climate and Environmental Coastal Risks in the Mediterranean; and Coordinating Lead Author of the chapter “Drivers of Change” in the First Mediterranean Assessment Report. He also served as Co-Coordinator of the HyMeX programme and as a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.
He was elected President of the Italian Society for Climate Sciences for the 2027–2028 term. In 2024, he received the International Prize for Astronomy, Geodesy and Geophysics awarded by the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei. He was also awarded the Sigillo di Ateneo by the University of Salento and contributed to MedECC being awarded the North-South Prize of the Council of Europe in 2020.
He is the author of more than 150 scientific publications on climate dynamics, climate change and its impacts, extreme events, synoptic meteorology, marine storms and coastal flooding.
