Climate Change Committee’s Topping will fight to retain political consensus

Nigel Topping, the new chair of the Climate Change Committee, has said he will fight for political consensus on net zero in the face of growing headwinds. 

The committee is the independent, statutory body that advises the government on progress against climate targets is calling for a restoration of political consensus on net zero. 

In a PA news report, Topping said: “Our job is to make sure that people have the evidence to make informed decisions, not just follow easy, plausible, but misinformed arguments. 

“A transition which is based on changing the energetic basis of society is hard, but it’s got huge benefits for households, for individuals, and for the UK, and (marks) an opportunity for us to continue to play a leadership role in the world. 

“I want to make sure that we, the Climate Change Committee, play our role in continuing that broad consensus, with the details being hotly contested, but not the broad trajectory.”

The discussion around net zero has become more contested following the election of the Trump administration in the United States. In Britain both Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch and Reform leader Nigel Farage have pushed back at policies aimed at meeting the UK’s legally binding commitment to meet net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.