The UK’s new adviser on climate change has vowed to fight for political consensus on net zero in the face of growing “headwinds”.
Nigel Topping was recently appointed chairman of the Climate Change Committee, which advises ministers on climate targets and reports to Parliament on the UK’s progress towards cutting planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions.
Speaking to the PA news agency, Mr Topping said the widening political division on climate action is “one of the main issues” he expects to face.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch and Reform leader Nigel Farage have been pushing back against policies aimed at reaching the UK’s legally binding commitment to reduce its net emissions to zero by 2050.
Asked about how the committee will approach the growing opposition to net zero among the British public, he said: “Our job is to make sure that people have the evidence to make informed decisions, not just follow easy, plausible, but misinformed arguments.
“That’s part of the reason I took the role on.
“A transition which is based on changing the energetic basis of society is hard, but it’s got huge benefits for households, for individuals, and for the UK, and (marks) an opportunity for us to continue to play a leadership role in the world.
“At a time when there are some more headwinds than has been in the past, the role of the committee in the UK, leadership in this space, becomes even more important.”
Asked if he is up to the task, he said: “Definitely.”
“I want to make sure that we, the Climate Change Committee, play our role in continuing that broad consensus, with the details being hotly contested, but not the broad trajectory,” he said.
He said he will spend time in the next few months travelling to the UK’s four devolved administrations and engaging with all political parties to ensure they have the evidence and analysis behind the committee’s latest guidance to the Government.
In February, the CCC outlined what it believes is a feasible and cost-effective path to the necessary emissions reductions from 2038 to 2042 – the seventh period in a series of national “carbon budgets” that aim to steer the UK towards its 2050 target.
The Government must now determine the reduction targets for the seventh carbon budget, which will then go to a Parliamentary vote before the end of June next year.
On engaging with all political parties ahead of the vote, Mr Topping said: “We provide evidence-based advice to inform the public, elected parliamentarians and the government of the day.
“If people disagree with that advice, then they’re welcome to explain why, and we’ll engage on the basis of robust evidence. Everything that we do is published. It’s transparent.”
Asked if he agrees with Mrs Badenoch’s comments that net zero is impossible, he said: “No. We’ve published a plan which shows it is possible.
Mr Topping, who has an 18-year career in manufacturing, said climate action is “not naturally” a wedge political issue, adding: “I’ve been working nearly 20 years on this as a business issue.
“Somebody may choose to try and make it a wedge issue, but it’s an issue of economic stability and security and of competitiveness.
“If we get it wrong, we give competitiveness head starts to others (and) it’s very hard to catch up.”
Mr Topping said there is “very strong support” for climate action among people and across most political parties.
“Obviously, Reform’s gone out on a particular limb (but) we think this is a very Conservative issue – like preserving the atmosphere that we breathe so we don’t have children with permanent pulmonary diseases or heat deaths, and preserving the jobs that we’ve got, and making sure that we’re competitive for the jobs of the future.”
With his background in manufacturing, Mr Topping said he hopes to bring private sector expertise to the role as well as continue to provide “robust, neutral advice” to ministers and MPs.
“I’m very focused on making sure that our advice is cognisant of what’s happening in the real economy, and by the real economy I mean households as well as factories and boardrooms,” he said.
