UK Climate Change Committee needs urgent reform, says think tank

A new paper, published by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), puts the UK’s Climate Change Committee – and its activities – under the spotlight. Its author, IEA Head of Regulatory Affairs Victoria Hewson, claims that the CCC has expanded far beyond its statutory obligations and acts in an overtly political way.

The paper finds that the economic analysis carried out by the CCC lacks rigour and transparency, which undermines the Committee’s legitimacy. For example, it refused to publish the underlying calculations for the claim that the cost of net zero would be 1-2 per cent of GDP contained in its 2019 Net Zero Report. When finally disclosed, it was found that there had been no independent scrutiny or interrogation of the spreadsheets. Yet government departments and others who use the CCC figures for their reporting and analysis lean heavily on its findings.

It says that while the CCC was established as an ‘independent’ advisory body, it has morphed into a pressure group with an active media profile, but without proper political accountability.

It claims the deference to the CCC undermines the need for departments such as BEIS, DEFRA and HM Treasury to take full responsibility and accountability for policies that will bring immense costs and disruptions, even if they consider that those costs will be outweighed by benefits over time.

The paper also calls into question the independence of the CCC, given that the Committee is funded, and its members appointed, by government. And it documents allegations of conflicts of interest among committee members, including claims that clients of Committee chair Lord Deben’s family firm, Sancroft International, stood to benefit directly from the recommendations of the CCC on topics such as electric vehicles.

The report claims that, while they do not wish to suggest that members of the Committee are corrupt, this information underscores that they are subject to competing incentives, which should be taken into account when evaluating the CCC’s output.

The committee recommends that the CCC should revert to its core task of advising ministers and Parliament and that it should improve the way its reports are communicated to politicians, to ensure the government’s legal targets and political commitments are grounded in an honest cost-benefit analysis.

It adds that whatever the outcome of the upcoming COP26 summit, the government should institute a strategic review of its climate policy priorities.

Victoria Hewson, IEA Head of Regulatory Affairs and author of ‘Hot Air: A critique of the UK’s Climate Change Committee’, said: “As we can see from the Treasury Net Zero Review published last week, the scale and impact of the areas covered by the advice of the Climate Change Committee is vast – including everything from your electricity bill, to the food you can eat, to international aid.

“Far from being treated as an irreproachable source of truth, the CCC should be challenged and scrutinised more than any other regulator or advisory body. But the reverse seems to be true, and this should be urgently addressed as it influences policymaking that will affect lives and livelihoods for generations.”