Communicating Climate Science

Julie Elliott Excerpts

Thursday 23rd October 2014 Westminster Hall

[Julie Elliott (Sunderland Central) (Lab)]

As ever, it is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Alan. I congratulate the Chair of the Science and Technology Committee, my hon. Friend the Member for Ellesmere Port and Neston (Andrew Miller), on securing this important debate. I am not a scientist, but listening to the two members of the Select Committee, I could see where some of the problems lie. Much of the language in discussions about climate change science is not very usable for the average person on the street. Sitting here and listening, we sometimes struggle to understand exactly what is being said. That is part of the problem.

My hon. Friend the Member for Blackley and Broughton (Graham Stringer) mentioned how journalists are being taught how to report this stuff by other journalists. There is a point in that, and perhaps a bit more specialism is needed within journalism. I always say that the people who best put across issues of complex science are those who really understand the fine technical detail, because they are able to explain it in everyday language. It is the same with good teachers. Some important points have been raised on that issue, which is why this is an important debate.

The debate is timely, as there are two events with huge ramifications for the UK taking place in the next year. The first is the general election, and the second is the United Nations climate change conference in Paris. It is essential to have in the public domain a simple, clear, evidence-based narrative about climate change, its causes and likely impacts.

I could not agree more with the Government’s submission to the report; I only wish sometimes that the Government’s actions matched their rhetoric on this issue—I am not referring to the Minister. It is perhaps an understatement to suggest that the Government are guilty of mixed messages, with differing views on the severity, consequences and even the existence of climate change coming out of different Departments. The report repeatedly makes a point about the lack of coherence in Government climate policy and communications, and I think that point is well founded.

Until just a few months ago, the Government had a Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the right hon. Member for North Shropshire (Mr Paterson), who holds views that run counter to the scientific consensus. His greatest hits include:

“the climate has always been changing.”

He has also said that wind farms are “clearly a massive waste” of everyone’s money, and that:

“People get very emotional about this subject and I think we should just accept that the climate has been changing for centuries.”

That is somewhat disconcerting coming from a man who was in charge of the UK’s climate change adaptations.

--- Later in debate ---

On resuming—

[Julie Elliott]

As I was saying, the former Secretary of State’s words were somewhat disconcerting coming from a man who was in charge of the UK’s climate change adaptation. His successor as Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the right hon. Member for South West Norfolk (Elizabeth Truss), seems to be carrying on in that vein. Just a few days ago, her Department announced that it would remove a common agricultural policy subsidy from solar developments, under the curious logic that solar farms have caused the UK to become an importer of apples.

That is further evidence of a Government who have no joined-up voice on renewable energy and climate change, and who are more interested in sensationalist headlines than sound policy. The Prime Minister promised to lead the “greenest Government ever”, but just a few years later he was reported as saying that he would cut “the green crap”. These inconsistencies in communications have far-reaching consequences. My hon. Friend the Member for Ellesmere Port and Neston put very well the point about the media not being balanced in their reporting of climate change—pitting scientists against non-scientists—and I totally agree with his analysis of that unbalanced reporting.

We combat climate change by developing a low-carbon energy mix, including renewables, new nuclear, and carbon capture and storage. Incoherent messages from the Government and the media undermine both investment in the low-carbon sector and our response to the threat of climate change, which is real. As David Kennedy, the former chief executive of the Committee on Climate Change, put it so clearly:

“Not investing in renewables only makes sense if you don’t want to meet our emissions targets.”

Record investment in electricity generation under the last Labour Government has collapsed under the coalition and a fifth of our capacity is coming offline in the next decade. That creates a squeeze on our security of supply. Only last month, the UK slipped to seventh place on EY’s energy attractive index for investment in renewables, with EY referring to Government “policy tinkering” and saying that

“conflicting signals…become too much for investors…to handle.”

The Select Committee’s report feeds in to so many of my meetings with renewable energy developers; the mixed-up messaging emanating from Government about our commitment to reducing our carbon emissions through low-carbon technologies gets raised every time I meet developers. Every Conservative-Lib Dem row, whether real or for public relations purposes, is another hammer blow to investment in low-carbon technologies. Of course those rows get reported, so even when the media are accurately reporting what is said, they are again sending out mixed messages to the public.

We cannot expect investors to put their money into low-carbon technologies if they hear expressions of different levels of commitment on climate change from different Departments. It is with great regret that I have seen the cross-party consensus that we had before the 2010 election crumble. Just five MPs voted against the Climate Change Act 2008. I want to be entirely clear: it was not Labour that broke that consensus. We understand the importance of speaking with a clear message on climate change.

It must be both frustrating and confusing for members of the public to hear, on the one hand, that averting catastrophic climate change is the great challenge of our time, which it is, and, on the other, that the Chancellor wants to water down the implementation of the fourth carbon budget, that Britain should go no faster than the rest of Europe, that wind farms are pointless and that solar PV is a blight on our communities. The reporting of these issues is often misleading and sometimes verges on the hysterical.

In the Government’s response to the Select Committee’s report, I am pleased to see an admission that Departments could operate in a more joined-up manner. I will give just one example of where there is a lack of joined-up working: planning for onshore wind. I asked the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what discussions he had had with his colleagues at the Department for Communities and Local Government about such planning, and the answer came back: none.

The Committee on Climate Change, the Government’s independent advisory body, has warned the Government about their mixed messages on climate change. For example, the CCC supports a 2030 power sector decarbonisation target, as do Labour and large renewable energy developers such as Siemens, yet the Government have refused to set such a target. For the sake of clarity, I should add that the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change supports the target, but voted against it.

I hope that the Government look again at the recommendations of the Select Committee’s report, and in particular that they speak with one voice on climate change.

[Sir Alan Meale (in the Chair)]

Before the Minister speaks, may I say that I welcome her move to a new role on the Front Bench? It is well deserved. You are a former member of the Council of Europe, Minister, and I am sure that your great knowledge of greater Europe will serve you well in your new post.