Why the UK’s Climate Change Committee is crucial to advancing evidence-based climate policymaking

A range of countries display evidence of the positive impacts of independent advisory bodies like the UK’s Climate Change Committee (CCC) on climate policymaking, political discussions, public debate and government accountability for climate action. Tiffanie Chan, Alina Averchenkova and Isabela Keuschnigg explore these impacts and set out why the new UK Government must harness the expertise of the CCC to advance evidence-based climate action.

Independent expert advisory bodies such as the UK’s Climate Change Committee play a key role in strengthening evidence-based policymaking and encouraging a long-term perspective in climate policy. Composed of experts chosen for their individual merit rather than their affiliation with a particular stakeholder group or political party, these institutions help to enhance the legitimacy and accountability of the climate policymaking process. The primary objectives of these bodies are to ensure that climate policy is consistent with the latest scientific findings and to hold governments to account for the implementation of such policies, primarily through independent scrutiny and public reporting of progress.

Out of the 26 climate framework laws globally that contain net zero targets, 18 laws establish or grant powers for governments to establish an expert advisory body. The CCC, formed in 2008 under the UK Climate Change Act, is considered a trailblazing example and has been used as a model for many countries to learn from. The CCC has a comprehensive mandate to recommend targets, evaluate progress and advise on climate policy decisions.

Evidence shows that the CCC is a trusted, depoliticised source of climate information

The CCC plays an important role in ensuring that the UK’s climate mitigation targets and adaptation priorities, and the policies designed to support their achievement, are based on the latest and best available science.

Research by the Grantham Research Institute has assessed the first 10 years of the CCC’s operation, providing key empirical evidence of its role as a knowledge broker that offers trusted information to Parliamentarians across the political spectrum and influences policy debates within its statutory mandate (e.g. carbon budgets) and beyond (e.g. spending on flood defences). It found that between December 2008 and May 2018 the CCC and its Adaptation Committee (previously the Adaptation Sub-Committee) were referenced in more than 850 Parliamentary interventions, with most political parties mentioning the CCC at least once.

This role as an impartial information provider can be seen to be even more important at a time when climate misinformation and disinformation is spreading rapidly.

Independent expert advisory bodies can drive ambition and accountability on climate

The same paper by Grantham Research Institute authors showed that the CCC’s analysis has been used to justify more ambitious climate action and greater political accountability in the UK. The creation of a formalised process for governments to receive impartial expertise and advice has been shown to work elsewhere too. We recently published a study that found that independent expert advisory bodies in Germany, Ireland and New Zealand provide a credible knowledge base to inform and drive ambitious policy development and improve the quality of political debate. Our research on the impact of climate framework laws in these countries, based on 73 expert interviews, highlighted these bodies as key features created under the law.

Our interviewees specifically emphasised the role of independent expert advisory bodies in tackling challenging policy issues. Being composed of independent and unbiased experts allows advisory bodies to contribute to the advancement of difficult debates around high-emitting sectors where competing interests are often at stake. For example, emissions from agriculture is an area of contentious political debate in Ireland and New Zealand given the sector’s economic and cultural importance. Yet, according to an independent evaluation, the Irish Climate Change Advisory Council has managed to “stimulate the maturing of the sensitive debate” on this topic, and one of our research interviewees described the New Zealand Climate Change Commission as being able to address “issues that politically aren’t possible… [issues] that would never get signed off from a government department”.

By providing regular and credible assessments of progress on climate policies and targets, independent expert advisory bodies can contribute to holding government to account. Their reports are public, increasing visibility of whether a government is on track to meet its climate commitments. This has enabled such reports to be used successfully in climate change litigation to challenge the adequacy of governments’ proposed climate change response measures and targets (see for example Climate Case Ireland, or the case of VZW Klimaatzaak v. Kingdom of Belgium & Others, which cited the European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change, the EU’s equivalent to a national advisory body). In the UK, non-governmental organisations have successfully challenged the Government’s Net Zero Strategy twice – and both judgments took into account the views of the CCC. (See R (oao Friends of the Earth) v. Secretary of State for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy and R(Friends of the Earth Ltd) v. Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero; ClientEarth v. SSESNZ; and Good Law Project v. SSESNZ (challenges to the Carbon Budget Delivery Plan).)

In simple terms, these bodies create ‘accountability on top of accountability’, as climate policy is scrutinised by many different stakeholders.  

Considerations for the new UK Government

The effectiveness of expert advisory bodies is influenced by the scope and clarity of their statutory mandates, their political independence and, critically, their resourcing and capacity. These bodies should have a clear mandate, ideally set in law, to advise on climate targets and the policies required to meet them, and to undertake independent assessment of progress on implementation – with a requirement for government to respond to their advice. The composition of expert advisory bodies should ensure diverse expertise across a breadth of thematic expertise, gender balance and political independence.

The provisions in the UK Climate Change Act have ensured that the CCC meets these criteria for a strong mandate, and it is now a well-respected and authoritative voice on climate policy. For the CCC to continue to improve the quality and legitimacy of climate policy and help to maintain the UK’s international leadership on climate change, its independence must be protected and it must be allocated sufficient financial resources for the delivery of its core tasks. The failure to appoint a new permanent Chair of the CCC for almost two years, after Lord Deben announced he would step down, must also be addressed as a priority.

The Government must respect and act on the existing and forthcoming expertise and advice of the CCC to ensure that the UK’s plans on climate mitigation and adaptation action are credible and fully compliant with the Climate Change Act. This includes:

• The CCC’s policy recommendations for meeting the Fifth and Sixth Carbon Budgets, the limit to net emissions determined in the Seventh Carbon Budget (due to be legislated by mid-2025), and the recommendations of the Fourth Climate Change Risk Assessment (due to be presented to Parliament by January 2027).
• The CCC’s warning in its 2023 Report to Parliament that “the UK will continue to need some oil and gas until it reaches Net Zero, but this does not in itself justify the development of new North Sea fields”.
• The additional warning in its 2023 Report to Parliament that the UK risks not meeting its emissions targets, including not being on track to achieve the 68% emission reductions by 2030 as specified in its Nationally Determined Contribution to international climate goals.
• The CCC’s advice that an “urgent refresh” of the third National Adaptation Programme and adaptation governance is needed to avoid “locking in additional climate impacts”.

The CCC is expected to publish its 2024 Report to Parliament on 18 July 2024. The Government should take this opportunity to signal its commitment to evidence-based climate policymaking and thoroughly consider the advice and recommendations made within it.

Further reading

Additional details on the mandate of the UK Climate Change Committee and its impacts are available in the journal article on the CCC’s influence referenced above (Averchenkova et al., 2020).

A table comparing the mandates of the independent advisory bodies in Germany, Ireland and New Zealand is available in the Technical Annex to the policy report ‘Impacts of climate framework laws: lessons from Germany, Ireland and New Zealand’ referenced above (Averchenkova et al., 2024).

For further recommendations to the new UK Government on climate action, see a joint publication by the Grantham Research Institute at the London School of Economics and the Grantham Institute, Imperial College London (Brandmayr et al., 2024).