July 15, 2016

expert reaction to cabinet reshuffle and department changes

As part of the cabinet reshuffle it has been announced that the government Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) will be abolished.

Prof. Joanna Haigh, Co-Director of the Grantham Institute and Professor of Atmospheric Physics at Imperial College London, said:

“I am pleased to see a number of statements reaffirming the Government’s commitment to providing affordable, reliable and clean energy for the British people. This is a fitting focus for a new Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy. It is a large brief for Greg Barker, but with sufficient effort, it could be that UK research, innovation, business and industry will be truly linked up in the coming years.
“To be part of this solution to these problems, Theresa May’s government must continue to value the huge global contribution that the UK can make in limiting climate change to well below 2 degrees Celsius. The opportunities for our country now are in designing and manufacturing innovative transport and energy systems, clean domestic and industrial technologies, and encouraging business practices that are profitable, sustainable and non-polluting.”

Prof. Andy Gouldson, Professor of Environmental Policy at the University of Leeds, said:

“The UK can rightfully claim to have been a world leader on climate change. But dismantling the Department for Energy and Climate Change creates deep concerns that the UK is actually dismantling its commitment to climate change. To tackle climate change we desperately need explicit commitments and actions that are mainstreamed into other policy areas, and especially into energy policy. But abolishing DECC risks moving the UK in the opposite direction and undermining investment in the low carbon economy. To counter these risks, the new department needs to do two things. First, it needs to provide explicit and sustained support for the UK carbon budgets and the role it can play in delivering them. Second, it needs to have an active and clear long term strategy to promote investments in energy efficiency and renewables. Without these commitments it is hard to come to any conclusion other than that the UK has started to give up its position as a world leader on climate change.”

Professor Dame Ann Dowling OM DBE FREng FRS, President of the Royal Academy of Engineering, says:

“The Academy welcomes the appointment of Greg Clark MP as Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. We appreciate his interest and involvement over many years in the development of vital infrastructure and his enthusiasm for engineering and innovation, particularly during his work as Minister for Universities, Science and Cities. We look forward to working with Mr Clark to help the UK to address national and global challenges from clean energy to disease prevention and to maximise the economic benefits of our world-class research and innovation base.

“Having consistently championed the benefits of an industrial strategy for the UK, focused on key sectors where our nation has the potential to lead the world, we are delighted that this is now a formal part of the restructured Department’s remit.”

Dr Sarah Main, Director of the Campaign for Science & Engineering, said:

“Theresa May wants a Britain that works for everyone, and I believe the UK’s leadership in science, engineering and research can help her make that happen. But the sector is facing rocky times with much at stake post-Brexit and large scale reform underway in Parliament. Added to this, the departmental restructure now separates science and higher education, which are highly co-dependent. I hope Greg Clark, Justine Greening and their departments work purposefully together to keep alive the connections between business, industry and academia that enable science and innovation to thrive, and nurture the next generation to participate in and benefit from it.”

Prof. Corinne Le Quéré, Director of the Tyndall Centre at the University of East Anglia, said:

“The abolition of DECC is a big risk but the move could also be very powerful to generate the actions needed to tackle climate change. We need to move away from fossil fuels and to do it quickly. Business and industry will be the ones delivering a large part of the changes that are needed. A solid strategy that boosts the economy, keeps existing jobs and creates new ones, and reduces emissions at the same time could deliver what we need much more effectively than current efforts. It could also go very wrong if businesses and industry are not on board, try and work around regulation, or worse if repeats of the VW fraud happen. Accountability will be critical.

“The most worrying part of the abolition of DECC concerns all the other aspects of climate change. Who will provide the evidence to inform actions on adaptation, climate science and impacts, and who will drive international agendas? A solid climate science base is critical to understand effects like the collapse of the Arctic sea ice on UK weather and rainfall in particular. DECC under Amber Rudd was a driving force to deliver the Paris Agreement on climate change last December, and that Agreement is critical to decarbonisation at the global scale. This is the part that is hit by the abolition of DECC the most and this is the part that needs support and protection in the reshuffle so that it remains strong and does its job at informing decisions on climate change.”