The UK’s outgoing climate change tsar has told the Record the Westminster and Holyrood governments are both “fiddling about” while the planet burns.
Lord Deben, who has just finished a 10-year term as chair of the Climate Change Committee, slammed the Tories and the SNP for failing to hit their green targets. But the former Conservative politician – who was known as John Gummer when he served as environment minister in the 90s – reserved his fiercest criticism for Rishi Sunak’s Government.
He accused the Tories of “hiding from logic” by backing new oil and coal projects in the face of the unfolding climate disaster that threatens the world with “extinction”. Lord Deben said UK ministers would “live to regret” policies like green-lighting more than 100 new North Sea licences and approving a “deeply retrograde” new coal mine in Cumbria.
But the departing CCC boss also took aim at the SNP government, saying it was “sad” it appeared to be watering down its stance against new North Sea drilling projects. He accused administrations on both sides of the Border of wasting precious time as other countries moved ahead on addressing climate change – and said Wales was now leading the UK.
Lord Deben said Scottish and UK governments had shown they could work together at the COP26 summit in Glasgow two years ago – where they’ had “led the world” on climate issues.
But speaking exclusively to the Record, he said: “We then had to turn to the much more difficult thing of delivery and I just think we haven’t been good at doing that.
“And because we led the world, we’re now in a worse position because not only have we lost leadership because of some of the things that we haven’t done and some of the things we have done… but we’ve also, of course, encouraged others. The US has now moved from its previous position [under Donald Trump] to one of considerable leadership.
“The EU’s green policies are really advanced and even China has just announced a very, very considerably more effective programme. And here we are still fiddling about not doing it – and I’m afraid that’s true, not just of the UK Government, but there’s much more to be done in Scotland too.
“I think Wales is actually leading the way in some areas, particularly on road building and waste.”
The Welsh government announced a ban on all major road building projects earlier this year on climate grounds – and boasts the best recycling rates in the UK, with 56 per cent compared with Scotland’s 45 per cent. It comes as Humza Yousaf’s new SNP government was forced to ditch its controversial deposit return scheme after it was blocked by Westminster.
His administration has also raised eyebrows by appearing to row back on a tough stance against new North Sea drilling proposed in an energy strategy under Yousaf’s predecessor Nicola Sturgeon. Speaking to the Record shortly after taking office, Yousaf stressed it was merely a “draft” strategy.
And his Net Zero Secretary Mairi McAllan seemed to criticise Keir Starmer’s policy opposing new oil fields, saying in May that “simply stopping all future activity is wrong”.
Lord Deben, 83, said: “The fundamental thing is that the world is threatened with extinction. That’s the truth.
“Our children – well, actually, even though I’m as old as I am, I think me, all of us are going to suffer very considerably in our lives and some very significantly from climate change. And we are going to ask governments and opposition, therefore, the equivalent in today’s world of, ‘What did you do in the war, Dad?’
"I just think it is unacceptable that we should allow politicians to take these things and make them party political.”
He added: “This is one of the hard decisions we’ll have to make. The fact Keir Starmer has made it is, I think, something to be welcomed.
“The fact the SNP isn’t quite sure where it is now is sad – because it is important to set an example. The fact the UK Government has made the decision that it will have more [oil fields] is a mistake and it’s part of the reason why we have lost our international leadership. I think they will live to regret it.”
The Tory peer blasted Downing Street’s arguments for new North Sea developments as “economic nonsense”. Sunak’s government says it’s better to produce oil at home than import from abroad.
Lord Deben said: “First of all, if you do that, how can you help African and Asian nations not to extend or open up new oil deposits and use that instead of renewables? How can you tell them not to do that when you’re doing it?
“The second thing is it’s economic nonsense, because in 10 years time, the true thing is that we will be awash with oil because we will have reduced [consumption] over the world and so many countries are genuinely going to be using a lot less oil.
“And the idea that, somehow, British oil is going to be cheaper than anybody else’s oil is obvious nonsense because it’s an international sale and it’ll be sold to the people who pay the market price.”
He also hit out at a wider “sclerosis” in both Holyrood and Westminster which had seen lofty climate targets and policies announced while delivery has failed – such as, in Scotland, on boosting home energy efficiency and on restoring peatlands.
Lord Deben said: “In our last report on Scotland, we did have to say that the Scottish Government has fallen behind in a number of areas. Scotland has had a wish and a demand and a desire to do better than the rest of the UK. It has not done as well as we had hoped.”
With record heat and extreme weather bombarding the planet, there are growing reports of “climate anxiety” particularly among young people.
Asked if he experienced that feeling after a decade at the helm of the CCC, Lord Deben said: “I don’t like putting these mental health labels on it… but it’s not just young people. I’m finding increasing numbers of older people who are really stressed about this because they care about their grandchildren.”
The UK Government was approached for comment. A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Scottish Government welcomed the Climate Change Committee’s 2022 report on Scotland’s progress, accepting 98 of the 99 recommendations.
“Scotland continues to reduce emissions faster than the UK average and leads the way in areas such as industry and electricity supply. A draft of our new Climate Change Plan will be available later this year, which will contain even greater ambition in areas like transport, how we heat homes and in agriculture.
“All parties in the Scottish Parliament backed our ambitious climate legislation and we have already cut emissions in half. The hardest part of the journey is ahead of us: we need to halve our emissions again by 2030 but we are determined to rise to the challenge and take the action the climate emergency demands.”
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