The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) will be established as a new independent, statutory, advisory Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB) following Royal Assent of the UK Climate Change Bill, expected in 2008. The Committee is required to formulate high-quality advice on three five-year ‘carbon budgets’, setting caps on UK emissions for 2008 – 2022, by 1 September 2008. To enable this deadline to be met effectively, a ’shadow’ secretariat has been established. The shadow secretariat of the Committee has published a call for evidence, inviting organisations and individuals to submit information on specific questions related to the planned tasks of the CCC. Submissions are required by 18 January 2008.

The Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) has today launched a new inquiry into climate change and local, regional and devolved government. With a vital role to play in reducing emissions , all levels of government should work to mitigate the effects of, and generate strategies to adapt to, climate change. Recent evidence to the Committee suggests a lack of cohesion between the various levels of government in the UK with respect to engagement in this area. Written evidence to the Committee from organisations and members of the public is invited by 3 January 2008.

The UN launched its annual Human Development Report in Brazil on 27 November. The report, ‘Fighting Climate Change: Human Solidarity in a Divided World,’ is critical of all developed countries for their performance so far in cutting emissions. The report states that radical new policies are needed if Britain is to meet its target to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 26-32% by 2020, including higher vehicle excise duties for high-polluting cars and carbon taxes. The UK should also phase out highly polluting power stations and increase its use of renewable energy sources, particularly wind and tidal.

“In a divided but ecologically interdependent world, [the report] challenges all people to reflect upon how we manage the environment of the one thing that we share in common: planet Earth”

“Changing Climates: Interdependencies on Energy and Climate Security for China and Europe” , a report from Chatham House published today, suggests that by working together, the EU and China could lead the low carbon economy. China and the EU together account for 30% of both global energy consumption and global emissions, with both facing similar challenges to energy and climate security.

The report offers a number of options to assist policy makers in mapping the future of a low carbon economy, including:

• the formation of a joint consultative committee to define aggressive standards for energy efficiency and low carbon goods to drive progress in both markets
• pioneering sectoral approaches to climate change
• establishing a high level joint commission on renewables to address bottlenecks and advance progress towards renewables targets
• Increasing energy efficiency and low carbon technology co-operation, with suggestions around combining EU and Chinese public R&D budgets in strategic areas and the creation of an EU-China climate technologies prize fund.

The International Steering Committee of the consultative process towards an International Mechanism of Scientific Expertise on Biodiversity (IMoSEB) met for the final time in Montpellier, France on 15- 17 November to discuss establishing an intergovernmental panel to address biodiversity loss – intended to be similar to the IPCC. The Statement from the Committee recommends:

“Further and urgent consideration of the establishment of a means and enhancement of existing institutions to provide an objective source of information about biodiversity change and its impact on ecosystem services and human well-being, employing high scientific and technical standards and reflecting a range of views, expertise and wide geographic coverage. “

The Committee has invited the Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme, Achim Steiner, to convene an intergovernmental meeting to consider establishing a science-policy interface to promote regular global and sub-global assessments of the state and trends in biodiversity and ecosystem services.

A report by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) published on 26 November, pledges that industry will do “what it takes” to fight climate change. The authors, chief executives of big business, including Tesco, British Airways, Shell and Ford which between them emit 370m tonnes of carbon per year, say UK industry must take climate change seriously and fundamentally change its approach to reflect green concerns.

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The Scottish Government wants new members for its Science Advisory Council. The Committee provides independent advice to Scottish Government Ministers on strategic scientific issues, including science strategy, science policy and science priorities. The deadline for applications is 30 November 2007.

The IPCC has published its Synthesis Report which completes its 4th Assessment Report. The IPCC conclude that it is necessary in both the short and long term that adaptation and mitigation complement each other to combat the risks of climate change. The report states that:

• An increase of temperature between 1.5C to 2.5C will put 20-30% of species at an increased risk of extinction
• An increased risk of extreme weather events would cause droughts, flash floods and storms, especially affecting low lying land and small islands
• Oceans have become more acidic due to an increased uptake of anthropogenic carbon, thus having a negative impact on marine-shell forming organisms and their dependant species
• The risk of sea level rise from the melting of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets may be larger than once thought.

On Monday, the Prime Minister gave a speech on climate change and energy. He announced the Government’s position on a post-2012 agreement to meet the challenges posed by climate change. He committed to increase the amount of electricity produced from offshore wind farms and to continue discussions regarding other renewable energy sources such as the Severn Barrage. He is committed to keeping in line with the EU agreement of ensuring that global temperatures do not increase above 2C.