Rishi Sunak, UK Prime Minister is being accused of trying to avoid scrutiny of his green policies after details surfaced about his government’s failure, over more than 18 months, to appoint a new chair of the independent climate change committee.
Senior environmentalists have been quoted as saying that they believed Sunak may be deliberately trying to avoid appointing a successor to Lord Deben – who first announced that he was stepping down in July 2022 – until after a general election, so he does not face criticism for his U-turns on green issues.
Former Tory minister David Willetts, who had been seen as the clear favourite, was interviewed for the post last summer but has since had no further contact at all from the government about the job and no indication as to whether he is still being considered.
It is understood that others who were interviewed for the five-year post last summer – including former Tory minister Richard Benyon and former head of the environment agency, Emma Howard Boyd – and the head hunters ministers used to sift applications, have also been left in the dark.
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Reacting, a Whitehall source who knows several people who applied for the post said: “No one seems to know what is going on. There could be a number of reasons. Either Sunak does not want anyone in the job because he wants to avoid being criticised in the run-up to a general election or there is a blockage, a disagreement at high level over who it should be. Whatever it is, it is scandalous that a job like this has not been filled when climate change is supposed to be the most urgent question facing humanity.”
Recall that In July 2022, it was announced Lord Deben had been asked to continue in the post until the end of June 2023, while a new chair was sought. A year and a half later, the chair is still unfilled, with Prof Piers Forster acting as interim head.
The committee suffered another blow last week, when its chief executive, Chris Stark, announced he was standing down after six years. Stark is to join net zero advisory group the Carbon Trust as chief executive.
Two weeks ago, it was reported that the leading UK organisation working on the economic effects of global warming had written to the prime minister condemning the “excessive delay” in finding a replacement for Lord Deben.
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
