Climate chief tried to 'kill' negative net zero story – 'Outrageous!'
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The head of the government’s climate change watchdog has been accused of obfuscation after pushing colleagues to “kill” negative media coverage with “technical language”.
Chris Stark, the chief exec of the Climate Change Committee (CCC) had made the request after it emerged the watchdog’s ‘net zero’ recommendations were based on “insufficient data”.
The CCC had made long-term recommendations for the use of wind and solar energy using only a single year’s worth of data.
The body had allegedly told Sir Chris Llewellyn Smith, head of a Royal Society energy study, that this was a “mistake” in private.
Jacob Rees-Mogg slammed the request to 'kill' coverage as 'outrageous' and accused Stark of obfuscation
CCC/UK Government/PA
When the “mistake” was investigated by the Telegraph, Stark said to his team: “How’s this – kill it with some technical language.”
The newspaper’s Freedom of Information request also found Stark told staff that the CCC “absolutely have not conceded that there’s a ‘mistake’ in our work” and had warned giving too long a response would “feed the beast”.
GB News’ Jacob Rees-Mogg, former business and energy secretary, said the request to colleagues seemed “outrageous”, and compared Stark, “a public servant seeking directly to obfuscate”, to Yes Minister character Sir Humphrey Appleby – known for his obfuscation.
David Jones, Conservative member of the Commons public administration committee, said: “Chris Stark steps down as chief executive of the CCC next month – before he goes, he has some serious questions to answer.
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The government's net zero targets were enshrined in law under Theresa May in 2019
PA“On the face of it, urging colleagues to ‘kill’ a reasonable request for information with technical language looks very much like an attempt at obfuscation.
“Mr Stark will undoubtedly understand the crucial importance of academic integrity when addressing such an important issue as climate change; a full and immediate explanation is called for.”
The row has broken out largely thanks to the fact that CCC reports are integral to the government’s net zero targets, with the Telegraph taking aim at the body’s transparency.
The paper noted that Stark, as a public servant, is bound by the Nolan Principles – one of which, accountability, requires public servants to stay “accountable to the public” by submitting themselves to scrutiny.
The targets are legally-binding requirements to reduce the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions to ‘net zero’ – a level low enough for carbon emissions to be naturally absorbed by nature.
Criticism from Commons committees and MPs like Rees-Mogg follows that of Llewellyn Smith – also an emeritus professor Oxford University – who initially raised concerns about the CCC’s academic integrity and research quality.
A CCC spokesperson said: “The CCC regularly receives a large number of media requests. Given the nature and remit of the organisation, we provide technical and accessible responses to as many as we can.
“In this specific situation, this was informal language between colleagues, written for internal purposes only.”