Lord Deben steps down as Chair of Climate Change Committee after more than a decade
Fri 23 June 2023
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Lord Deben is stepping down from his role as Chair of the Climate Change Committee after more than ten years of service in the role. Professor Piers Forster has been appointed as interim Chair of the Committee until a permanent replacement is appointed.
A former Conservative environment minister, Lord Deben (John Gummer) has been a prominent and consistent voice calling for climate action for many years. As Chair of the Climate Change Committee he has been in the vanguard of discussions, working to keep the climate agenda at the forefront of Government policy. During his tenure the UK became the first major economy to pass a net zero emissions law. This has been underpinned by sectoral targets, including the commitment to phase out sales of new combustion-engine road vehicles between 2030 and 2040.
The UK Government and Governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have appointed Professor Piers Forster as interim Chair to replace Lord Deben until a permanent replacement is appointed. Piers Forster has served on the Climate Change Committee since December 2018. He is founding Director of the Priestley International Centre for Climate and has acted as lead author for several Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports. A physicist by training, Piers is now Professor of physical climate change at the University of Leeds.
Piers Foster said: “I’m very proud to take on this role and follow Lord Deben, who has been such an inspirational leader and friend. He taught us so much about the role of evidence and how best to use it to affect change. His leadership led to the landmark Net Zero report, paving the way for legislated net zero targets in the UK and around the world. We will continue the Committee’s great work, as we begin our efforts to advise on the UK’s Seventh Carbon Budget.”
Zemo Partnership's Chief Executive, Andy Eastlake, said: "I would like to extend my personal - and the whole Partnership's - thanks and warm regards to Lord Deben and to complement him on the critical role he has played for more than a decade.
"The Partnership looks to the Climate Change Committee for guidance on the necessary pace and trajectory of the decarbonisation of the UK economy. Lord Deben has been a powerful advocate for this agenda, a steady hand on the tiller and a great support in our work to decarbonise UK road transport through his involvement in our events and other initiatives over many years. His wise and forthright counsel has been very valuable throughout my time leading the Partnership."
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