COP26: Climate change not embedded enough in Whitehall policy and decision-making - Lords committee
Monday 1 November 2021
Government departments are not doing enough or prepared enough to meet Britain’s targets to combat climate change and deliver a successful COP26, a House of Lords committee has warned.
In a letter to Alok Sharma, President of COP26 – the United Nations climate change conference being held in Glasgow - the House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee voices concerns about the government’s climate change decision-making process and how departments are held to account for developing credible green policies.
Baroness Parminter, chair of the committee, wrote to the Leader of the House of Lords last week to express disappointment about “unsatisfactory” government cooperation with its inquiry into COP26. Now the committee has questioned whether there are enough staff with the necessary expertise devoted to climate change across government - and is “especially disappointed” with the efforts of the Education and International Trade departments as well as the renamed Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
The committee fears that it is “probable” that COP26 will fail to secure commitments needed to limit global warming to 1.5°C and that there is “a lack of clarity on what will be considered the minimum benchmarks for success at the event.”
Baroness Parminter said:
“The climate change emergency is one of the greatest challenges of our time and COP26 is the biggest political event that Britain has ever hosted, so we would have expected clear leadership from the top and effective processes in place to coordinate action across departments.
“The absence of an effective climate change machinery across government has hindered preparation for COP26 and limited wider progress.
“Not all departments are embedding climate change sufficiently into their policy-making and it is unclear how the centre of government is holding departments to account firmly.
“It’s hard to conclude that the delivery of COP26 across government will be equal to the scale of the challenge.”
The committee also wants ministers to address climate change and biodiversity loss at the same time.
Baroness Parminter added:
“It’s essential that tackling climate change and restoring nature are done together. We are concerned that the government may not be seeking to maximise the links between the two.”
