Climate Change Committee

The Climate Change Committee (CCC), originally named the Committee on Climate Change, is an independent non-departmental public body, formed under the Climate Change Act (2008) to advise the United Kingdom and devolved Governments and Parliaments on tackling and preparing for climate change. The Committee provides advice on setting carbon budgets (for the UK Government carbon budgets are designed to place a limit or ceiling on the level of economy-wide emissions that can be emitted in a five-year period), and reports regularly to the Parliaments and Assemblies on the progress made in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.^[2] Notably, in 2019 the CCC recommended the adoption of a target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by the United Kingdom by 2050.^[3] On 27 June 2019 the British Parliament amended the Climate Change Act (2008) to include a commitment to net zero emissions by 2050.^[4] The CCC also advises and comments on the UK's progress on climate change adaptation through updates to Parliament.^[5]

History

The Committee on Climate Change was formally launched as a statutory committee in December 2008 with Lord Turner as its chair.

An Adaptation Sub-Committee was set up in 2009 to provide advice to Government about adaptation, meaning the steps the government and devolved administrations of the United Kingdom should be taking to prepare for climate change impacts.

On 1 December 2008 the committee published its first major report entitled "Building a low-carbon economy – the UK’s contribution to tackling climate change".^[6] This recommended that the UK adopt a long-term target to reduce emissions of all greenhouse gases by at least 80% by 2050, in order to tackle climate change. It recommended the level of three five-yearly carbon budgets to cover the periods 2008–2012, 2013-2017 and 2018–2022.

In line with the recommendations in the committee's report, in April 2009 the Government set a requirement for a 34% cut in carbon emissions by 2020.^[7]

In December 2010 the Committee recommended a 4th Carbon Budget to cover the period from 2023 to 2027. They recommended that the Government aims to cut emissions by at least 60% by 2030 to ensure that the UK is on track to meet the 2050 target, with Parliament to debate the contents and proposals of this report before the summer's recess. A recommendation on the 5th Carbon Budget was published in November 2015 and adopted by the UK Government on 30 June 2016.

In addition to reports to advise on the level of carbon budgets, the CCC also provides annual progress reports to Parliament which provide an update on Government's progress towards meeting climate targets. The CCC has published Progress Reports for 2009, 2010, and every year since. The first biennial joint progress report from the Committee on Climate Change and the Adaptation Sub-Committee was presented to the UK Parliament on 30 June 2015. The joint progress reports include an assessment of the UK Government's National Adaptation Programme by the Adaptation Sub-Committee.

The Adaptation Sub-Committee published in July 2016 the Evidence Report to inform the UK Government's second UK Climate Change Risk Assessment due to be presented to Parliament in January 2017.

On 15 October 2018, Energy and Climate Change Minister Claire Perry formally wrote to the CCC requesting advice on a date for achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions across the economy.^[8] This came seven days after the publication of a special report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on the impact of global warming of 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels. The CCC published its advice on 2 May 2019.

In December 2020, the CCC published its advice for the sixth Carbon Budget (2033 to 2037). The sixth carbon budget is the first to be advised on since Parliament legislated for a target of Net Zero carbon emissions by 2050 in 2019. The recommended pathway is consistent with the Net Zero target and requires a 78% reduction in UK territorial emissions between 1990 and 2035. In effect, this brings forward the UK's previous 80% target by nearly 15 years.^[9] The Government formally accepted the recommendation from the CCC (965Mt of Carbon dioxide equivalent in the budgetary period 2033 to 2037) in April 2021,^[10] and Parliament passed the relevant statutory instrument in June 2021.^[11]

Separately in December 2020, following a request for advice from the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Alok Sharma, the CCC recommended that the government adopt a commitment to reduce UK territorial carbon emissions by at least 68% from 1990 to 2030, as part of the UK's nationally determined contribution (NDC) to the UN process as specified in the Paris Agreement.^[12] Under the Paris agreement signatory countries have discretion to set their own NDCs, and some environmental activist groups had previously called for a UK NDC of a 75% reduction, whilst Professor Lord Nicholas Stern (speaking in an academic capacity as chair of the Grantham Institute at the London School of Economics) had suggested 70%.^[13] The Prime Minister Boris Johnson made the 69% commitment the same day as the CCC published its recommendation (3 December) and stated "We have proven we can reduce our emissions and create hundreds of thousands of jobs in the process. We are taking the lead with an ambitious new target to reduce our emissions by 2030, faster than any major economy … The UK is urging world leaders to bring forward their own ambitious plans to cut emissions and set net zero [carbon] targets."^[14]

In December 2020, the Committee was formally renamed as the Climate Change Committee.^[15]

Members of the Committee

Members

(As of June 2017), the chair is John Gummer, Lord Deben, and the other committee members are Baroness Brown, Professor Nick Chater, Dr Rebecca Heaton, Professor Piers Forster, Paul Johnson, Professor Corinne Le Quéré and Professor James Skea.

Baroness Brown is the Chair of the Adaptation Sub-Committee. The other Sub-Committee members are Professor Richard Dawson, Professor Dame Georgina Mace, Ece Ozdemiroglu, Rosalyn Schofield and Professor Michael Davies.

As of April 2018, the Chief Executive of the committee is Chris Stark.

Former members

The first chairman of the committee was Lord Turner (2008–12). Other previous Committee members include Professor Michael Grubb (2008-2011), Lord Krebs (2009-2017), Lord May (2008-2016), and Professor Sam Fankhauser (2008-2016). David Kennedy was Chief Executive of the committee from 2008 until May 2014.

Former members of the Adaptation Sub-Committee include Professor Martin Parry (2009-2017), Professor Sam Fankhauser (2009-2017), Sir Graham Wynne (2009-2018), Dame Anne Johnson (2009-2018) and Professor Jim Hall (2009-2019).

Criticism

The CCC has been criticised by George Monbiot for what he says is its target culture, and for emphasizing planting trees commercially for bioenergy with carbon capture and storage instead of letting them regrow naturally as part of rewilding,^[16]

See also

• Energy policy of the United Kingdom
• Energy in the United Kingdom
• Department of Energy and Climate Change

References

External links and further reading

• Committee on Climate Change website
• Read the CCC's reports
• Latest news about the Committee
• CCC Blog
• Find out more about the CCC
• Contact information
• "COLUMN-UK climate act limits energy choices: Gerard Wynn"

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