The Defence and Climate Observatory is headed by Julia Tasse and François Gemenne, and coordinated by another four researchers. A network of some 20 leading experts can also be called in, depending on the subject areas to be addressed.

Julia Tasse is a senior research fellow and and head of the Climate, Energy and Security programme at IRIS. Her research focuses on maritime affairs and the ocean from a geopolitical stance. She specialised in these issues during her earlier work for the World Ocean Council, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Agence française de développement (AFD Group).

François Gemenne is a researcher in environmental geopolitics at the University of Liège, where he is Director of the Hugo Observatory, a research centre committed to the study of interactions between human migration and the environment. A member of the IPCC and president of Climate Voices, he teaches at Sciences Po (Institut d'études politiques de Paris) and at the Université libre de Bruxelles.

Marine de Guglielmo Weber is a Research Fellow in the Climate, Energy and Security programme at IRIS, and a PhD in Information and Communication Sciences, she defended a thesis entitled: "Lutte anti-grêle" v.s. "gestion des risques météorologiques" : pratiques, promesses et médiatisation de l'ensemencement des nuages". She works on strategic and security issues related to climate change. She also specializes in the study of technological responses to climate change, including weather and climate modification practices and techniques.

Sofia Kabbej is a PhD student at the University of Queensland’s School of Political Science and International Studies, where she is studying the French approach to climate security as it relates to political modernity and sovereignty issues in particular. She is also working on the security implications of climate change, and on climate geoengineering.

Alexandre Taithe is head of the environment and security unit at the Foundation for Strategic Research. He is working on renewable natural resource governance, the social and political instabilities that stem from environmental damage or major infrastructure projects, and the security and operational repercussions of climate disruption.