{"id":352013,"date":"2024-11-22T14:37:14","date_gmt":"2024-11-22T13:37:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=352013"},"modified":"2024-11-22T14:37:16","modified_gmt":"2024-11-22T13:37:16","slug":"desnz-permanent-secretary-has-shocking-conflict-of-interest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=352013","title":{"rendered":"DESNZ Permanent Secretary has \u201cshocking\u201d conflict of\u00a0interest"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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

From NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Paul Homewood<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
London: 20 November 2024<\/h6>\n\n\n\n
Whitehall Permanent Secretary has \u201cshocking\u201d conflict of interest<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Net Zero Watch calls for inquiry into the renewables sector<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Campaigning organisation Net Zero Watch has demanded a Parliamentary inquiry into conflicts of interest in Westminster. The call comes after it was revealed that the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has a brother who is CEO of Good Energy, a major operator in the renewables sector. [i]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The DESNZ register of interest states that \u201cappropriate mitigations\u201d have been put in place, and that Mr Pocklington has agreed not to have direct contacts with Good Energy. But this has been dismissed by Net Zero Watch director Andrew Montford:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cThe insinuation that Mr Pocklington no longer speaks to his brother is preposterous. The public needs confidence that decisions are being made in their interests and not those of the family members of civil servants.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Mr Montford also said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cI have tried and failed to get Mr Pocklington to tell ministers the truth about the cost of Net Zero.[ii] Indeed, somewhat mysteriously, he seems determined to avoid the subject altogether. Many will conclude that the explanation lies in his conflict of interest.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The revelation about Mr Pocklington comes just days after it was revealed that Baroness Brown, the chairman of the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee, oversaw the writing of a report that called for immediate support for hydrogen energy storage, despite being the director of a hydrogen company and of a windfarm company,[iii] both of which will reap huge benefits from subsidies. Indeed, the Secretary of State recently announced \u2013 apparently in response to the House of Lords report \u2013 astonishing levels of subsidy for new hydrogen projects.[iv]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, David Miliband, the brother of the Secretary of State, is involved with a company that invests in gridscale batteries in the UK, a sector that will expect to see huge growth under the Government\u2019s ambitious plans for the energy sector.[v]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

None of these conflicts of interest appears to have broken any rules. Net Zero Watch director Andrew Montford said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cThis has been going on for at least ten years, right back to the repeated revelations about Lord Deben\u2019s conflicting interests during his time at the Climate Change Committee.[vi] The rule in Westminster and Whitehall for Net Zero people appears to be that it is perfectly acceptable to have a conflict of interest, so long as it is declared, and if it isn\u2019t, or if there are undeclared payments, a blind eye is turned anyway. It\u2019s shocking.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Net Zero Watch is calling for a Parliamentary inquiry into conflicts of interest in the Net Zero decision-making process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
Notes for editors<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

[i] https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/desnz-register-of-board-members-interests-2024-to-2025\/bf19565a-3f26-4695-ae55-d16bcfd70338<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

[ii] https:\/\/www.netzerowatch.com\/all-news\/letter-to-pocklington<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

[iii] https:\/\/unherd.com\/2024\/09\/the-baroness-making-a-fortune-from-net-zero\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

[iv] Hydrogen companies will get both capital subsidies and revenue subsidies. The capital subsidies may represent the majority of the construction cost of the electrolysers. On the revenue side, the subsidy will allow hydrogen, with a production cost of at \u00a3240\/MWh to compete with natural gas at \u00a380\/MWh. In other words, the subsidy might be expected to be around \u00a3160\/MWh. \u00a32 billion is expected to be shared between 11 small electrolyser projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[v] https:\/\/unherd.com\/2024\/09\/the-miliband-files\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

[vi] https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-6661513\/Climate-Change-chief-John-Gummer-faces-calls-quit-payments-green-businesses.html<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Campaigning organisation Net Zero Watch has demanded a Parliamentary inquiry into conflicts of interest in Westminster. The call comes after it was revealed that the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has a brother who is CEO of Good Energy, a major operator in the renewables sector.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":352016,"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":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"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":[691831615,691818154,691825591,691818130,691831614],"class_list":{"0":"post-352013","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-ceo-of-good-energy","9":"tag-net-zero","10":"tag-net-zero-watch","11":"tag-renewables","12":"tag-secretary-of-the-department-for-energy-security-and-net-zero-desnz","14":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/0UK-Department-for-Energy-Security-and-Net-Zero-DESNZ_Black_Digital.png?fit=1750%2C1033&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1tzD","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":337892,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=337892","url_meta":{"origin":352013,"position":0},"title":"DESNZ Has Net Zero Competence","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"29\/07\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The election is over and we all know Labour has won with a massive majority. 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The UK\u2019s energy security is far too important to be put at the whim of a judge and an eco-nutjob, who is no doubt funded by far left eco groups. 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