The Climate Change Committee (CCC), originally named the Committee on Climate Change, is an independent

non-departmental public body In the United Kingdom, non-departmental public body (NDPB) is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, the Scottish Government, and the Northern Ireland Executive to public sector organisations that have a role in the process o ...

, formed under the Climate Change Act (2008) to advise the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and devolved Governments and Parliaments on tackling and preparing for

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

. 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. Notably, in 2019 the CCC recommended the adoption of a target of

net zero Global net-zero emissions is reached when greenhouse gas emissions and removals due to human activities are in balance. It is often called simply net zero. ''Emissions'' can refer to all greenhouse gases or only carbon dioxide (). Reaching net ze ...

greenhouse gas emissions by the United Kingdom by 2050. On 27 June 2019 the British Parliament amended the Climate Change Act (2008) to include a commitment to net zero emissions by 2050. The CCC also advises and comments on the UK's progress on

climate change adaptation Climate change adaptation is the process of adjusting to the effects of climate change, both current and anticipated.IPCC, 2022Annex II: Glossary 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 effects of climate change">climate change impacts. On 1 December 2008 the committee published its first major report entitled "Building a tackling climate change". 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. In December 2010 the Committee recommended
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 th
5th Carbon Budget
was published in November 2015 an
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 Report
for 20092010
and every year since. The first biennia
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'
National Adaptation Programme
by the Adaptation Sub-Committee. The Adaptation Sub-Committee published in July 2016 th
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. This came seven days after the publication of
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. The Government formally accepted the recommendation from the CCC (965

Mt of Global warming potential#Carbon dioxide equivalent">Carbon dioxide equivalent Global warming potential (GWP) is a measure of how much heat a greenhouse gas traps in the atmosphere over a specific time period, relative to carbon dioxide (). It is expressed as a multiple of warming caused by the same mass of carbon dioxide ( ...

in the budgetary period 2033 to 2037) in April 2021, and Parliament passed the relevant

statutory instrument in June 2021. Separately in December 2020, following a request for advice from the Secretary of State for Business and Trade">Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy The secretary of state for business and trade (business secretary), is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Department for Business and Trade. The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of t ...

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 The Paris Agreement (also called the Paris Accords or Paris Climate Accords) is an international treaty on climate change that was signed in 2016. The treaty covers climate change mitigation, adaptation, and finance. The Paris Agreement was ...

. 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 The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

) had suggested 70%. The

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964) is a British politician and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He wa ...

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

arbon Arbon is a historic town and a municipality and district capital of the district of Arbon in the canton of Thurgau in Switzerland. Arbon is located on the southern shore of Lake Constance, on a railway line between Konstanz/Romanshorn and ...

targets." In December 2020, the committee was formally renamed as the Climate Change Committee.

Members of the Committee

Members

, the interim chairman is Piers Forster, who succeeded John Gummer, Lord Deben. 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. Chris Stark served as chief executive of the Climate Change Committee between April 2018 and April 2024, when he was appointed chief executive of British climate change consultancy Carbon Trust. The committee's current interim chief executive is James Richardson, its chief economist, who was set to serve until a permanent replacement was named in the role.

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), Professor Jim Hall (2009–2019) and Ece Ozdemiroglu (2016-2022).

Criticism

The committee was criticised in 2020 by

George Monbiot George Joshua Richard Monbiot ( ; born 27 January 1963) is an English journalist, author, and Environmental movement, environmental and political activist. He writes a regular column for ''The Guardian'' and has written several books. Monbiot ...

for what he called 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 Rewilding is a form of ecological restoration aimed at increasing biodiversity and restoring natural processes. It differs from other forms of ecological restoration in that rewilding aspires to reduce human influence on ecosystems. It is also d ...

Reports and key recommendations

;Carbon budget reports
"Building a low-carbon economy – the UK's contribution to tackling climate change – 1st December 2008"
Key recommendations: # The United Kingdom should reduce emissions of all Greenhouse gases by 80% by 2050 # The first three carbon budgets (2008–2012, 2013-2017 and 2018–2022) should lead to emission reductions of 34% by 2020 # The budgets should cover all sectors of the economy and can be achieved at a cost of 1-2% of GDP in 2050
The Fourth Carbon Budget – Reducing emissions through the 2020s – 7 December 2010
Key recommendations: # Review of the latest climate science reveals that the case for action is robust # The fourth carbon budget should limit emissions to 1,950 MTCO2e for period 2023–2027, leading to a 60% emissions cut by 2030 # Electricity Market Reform is urgently required, alongside appropriate policies in buildings, agriculture, transport and industry sectors
The Fifth Carbon Budget – June 2013
The fifth statutory report to Parliament on progress towards meeting carbon budgets was published in June 2013. Implementing of loft and cavity wall insulation, boiler replacement, new car efficiency, investment in renewable power generation, and waste emissions reduction was stated to be in good progress.
The Sixth Carbon Budget The UK's path to Net Zero – December 2020
This publication includes a report detailing the road to 'Net Zero finance' and a report by Cambridge Econometrics on the potential macroeconomic effect of the Sixth Carbon Budget and Net Zero. The macroeconomic analysis is based on a

Post-Keynesian Post-Keynesian economics is a school of economic thought with its origins in '' The General Theory'' of John Maynard Keynes, with subsequent development influenced to a large degree by Michał Kalecki, Joan Robinson, Nicholas Kaldor, Sidney ...

model, and suggests that UK

gross domestic product Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the total market value of all the final goods and services produced and rendered in a specific time period by a country or countries. GDP is often used to measure the economic performanc ...

will be 2-3% higher in 2050 under the pathway relative to a baseline of the continuation of existing policies. * the committee had completed advice on the Sixth Carbon Budget and had commenced work on the Seventh Carbon Budget. ;Progress reports
"Meeting Carbon Budgets – the need for a step change" – 12 October 2009"
Key recommendations: # A step change is required in the rate of emission reductions, moving from annual cuts of 0.5% to 2-3% each year # Rapid decarbonisation of the power sector is a priority, alongside energy efficiency improvements and reductions in road transport emissions # Achieving the carbon budgets is possible at low cost
"Meeting carbon budgets – ensuring a low-carbon recovery – 30 June 2010"
Key recommendations: # A step change is still required # GHG have reduced in 2009 but this is largely due to the recession and is not as the result of underlying progress # New policies are required in 4 areas: electricity market reform, energy efficiency, electric cars and agriculture ;Other advisory reports
"UK Aviation Report – 8 December 2009"
Key recommendations: # Any future airport expansion should stay within a limit of increasing passenger demand by 60% by 2050 # There is scope to reduce emissions through improving fuel efficiency and aircraft design and through operational improvements # Aviation emissions must be included within a UK strategy to tackle climate change
"Scotland's path to a low-carbon economy – 24 February 2010"
Key recommendations: # Scotland's interim target to reduce emissions by 42% by 2020 is ambitious, but achievable # Flexibility should be added to system of using annual targets to reduce risk # The

Scottish Government The Scottish Government (, ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, and is headquartered at St Andrew's House in ...

should set out a strategy to deliver budgets through strengthening key policies
"Building a low-carbon economy – the UK's innovation challenge – 19 July 2010"
Key recommendations: # Funding for a suite of low-carbon technologies required to meet 2050 target should be protected # Any reduction in current funding levels (£550m per year) would increase the risk of missing carbon budgets # The United Kingdom should focus on developing and deploying offshore wind, marine (wave and tidal),

Carbon capture and storage Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a process by which carbon dioxide (CO2) from industrial installations is separated before it is released into the atmosphere, then transported to a long-term storage location.IPCC, 2021Annex VII: Glossary at ...

, smart grids and meters, electric vehicles and aviation.
"How well prepared is the UK for climate change? – 16 September 2010"
Key recommendations: # The impacts of climate change are already being felt in the UK # The United Kingdom should act now to start to prepare itself for a warmer climate # Five key priority areas for action are: buildings, land-use planning, emergency planning, infrastructure and natural resources
"The CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme – advice to Government on the second phase – 24 September 2010"
Key recommendations: # The scheme should be redesigned to reduce its complexity before the start of the 2nd phase # Separate league tables should be established for the private and public sectors # The sale of an unlimited number of allowances at a fixed price should be used, rather than a complex auctioning system

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
*
"COLUMN-UK climate act limits energy choices: Gerard Wynn"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Climate Change Committee Climate change policy Climate change in the United Kingdom Department of Energy and Climate Change Non-departmental public bodies of the United Kingdom government

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, Climate Change Act (2008) to advise the United Kingdom and devolved G ...