{"id":306772,"date":"2024-03-10T12:35:11","date_gmt":"2024-03-10T11:35:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=306772"},"modified":"2024-03-10T12:35:14","modified_gmt":"2024-03-10T11:35:14","slug":"climate-chief-told-staff-to-kill-negative-net-zero-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=306772","title":{"rendered":"Climate chief told staff to \u2018kill\u2019 negative net zero story"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chris Stark accused of obfuscation after being asked for clarity over claims of a mistake made by the Climate Change Committee.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The head of the Government\u2019s climate watchdog told officials to \u201ckill\u201d a negative news story with \u201ctechnical language\u201d, The Telegraph can disclose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chris Stark, chief executive of\u00a0the Climate Change Committee<\/a>\u00a0(CCC), drafted the response when asked for clarity over claims of a \u201cmistake\u201d made by the body. The Telegraph<\/a> has the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow\u2019s this \u2013 kill it with some technical language,\u201d he told his team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The exchange was revealed in a Freedom of Information request submitted by The Telegraph after apparent obfuscation by the climate watchdog over a story published by The Telegraph in January<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It raises questions about the transparency of the committee, which has been pushing the Government to impose more radical net zero targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Stark, a senior public servant whose pay package amounts to more than \u00a3170,000 per year, is bound by the Nolan Principles of Public Life, which require \u201copenness\u201d and \u201caccountability\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David Jones, a Tory member of the Commons public administration committee and former Cabinet minister, said: \u201cChris Stark steps down as chief executive of the CCC next month. Before he goes, he has some serious questions to answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOn the face of it, urging colleagues to \u2018kill\u2019 a reasonable request for information with technical language looks very much like an attempt at obfuscation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMr Stark will undoubtedly understand the crucial importance of academic integrity when addressing such an important issue as climate change. A full and immediate explanation is called for.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On-the-record denials removed<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Jacob Rees-Mogg, the former business and energy secretary, said: \u201cThis seems outrageous \u2013 a public servant seeking directly to obfuscate. At least Sir Humphrey did it subtly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Stark\u2019s comments were made in private emails exchanged within the CCC after The Telegraph contacted the body for a response to a planned article in January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The article reported a claim by Sir Chris Llewellyn Smith, who led a recent Royal Society study on future energy supply, that the CCC had privately admitted that it made a \u201cmistake\u201d when it only \u201clooked at a single year\u201d of data showing the number of windy days in a year when it made pronouncements on the extent to which the UK\u00a0could rely on wind and solar farms<\/a>\u00a0to meet net zero targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Referring to The Telegraph\u2019s initial query about Sir Chris\u2019s comments on Thursday, Jan 18, Mr Stark told staff: \u201cI\u2019m happy with a short response. If you need more, here\u2019s what I suggest. But it may just feed the beast \u2013 so less may be more here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that the Royal Society would be \u201cvery embarrassed about this\u201d, and one of his officials contacted the body to alert them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An unnamed individual \u2013 apparently a representative of the Royal Society \u2013 stated that Sir Chris \u201csays the comments about privately conceding a mistake were made to him by Chris Stark\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the internal emails, Mr Stark insisted to staff that \u201cwe absolutely have not conceded that there\u2019s a \u2018mistake\u2019 in our work\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, despite repeated questions from The Telegraph about whether he did make the comments described by Sir Chris, Mr Stark removed suggested on-the-record denials from the body\u2019s response, telling staff: \u201cNo need to fuel a fight.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018We stand by the analysis\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In emails to The Telegraph, the CCC said Sir Chris\u2019s comments, in a presentation given in a personal capacity in October, following the publication of his review, related solely to a particular report it published last year on how to deliver \u201ca reliable decarbonised power system\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But The Telegraph pointed out that its original recommendations in 2019 about the feasibility of meeting the 2050 net zero target were also based on just one year\u2019s worth of weather data. The recommendations were heavily relied on by ministers when Theresa May enshrined the 2050 target into law<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Telegraph put several questions to the CCC, including asking to what extent the 2019 recommendations – and the predicted cost of the 2050 target – would have been different had they relied on a greater amount of weather data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read the full story here<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The head of the Government\u2019s climate watchdog told officials to \u201ckill\u201d a negative news story with \u201ctechnical language\u201d, The Telegraph can disclose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":306775,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"The head of the Government\u2019s climate watchdog told officials to \u201ckill\u201d a negative news story with \u201ctechnical language\u201d, The Telegraph can disclose.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691821836,691823159,691818154,691822124],"class_list":{"0":"post-306772","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-chris-stark","9":"tag-climate-change-committee-ccc","10":"tag-net-zero","11":"tag-wind-and-solar-farms","13":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/0Episode-22-Chris-Stark-1400x1043-1.webp?fit=1400%2C1043&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1hNW","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":297866,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=297866","url_meta":{"origin":306772,"position":0},"title":"Climate chiefs admitted net zero plan based on insufficient data, leading physicist says","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"22\/01\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Key committee only looked at \u2018a single year of data\u2019 when making controversial green energy claims","rel":"","context":"In \"Chris Stark\"","block_context":{"text":"Chris Stark","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=chris-stark"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0net-zero-istock-1190148959-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C761&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0net-zero-istock-1190148959-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C761&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0net-zero-istock-1190148959-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C761&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0net-zero-istock-1190148959-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C761&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0net-zero-istock-1190148959-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C761&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":273537,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=273537","url_meta":{"origin":306772,"position":1},"title":"Heat Pumps Not Good Enough For Chris\u00a0Stark!","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"15\/08\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The head of the climate watchdog behind the planned boiler ban has admitted that he still has gas heating in his own home.","rel":"","context":"In \"Chris Stark\"","block_context":{"text":"Chris Stark","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=chris-stark"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/image-584.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/image-584.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/image-584.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/image-584.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/image-584.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":307365,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=307365","url_meta":{"origin":306772,"position":2},"title":"New calls for inquiry into Climate Change Committee","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"12\/03\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The list of scandals at the Climate Change Committee seems to be endless, but Parliamentarians seem to want to let them get away with it. 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