How much is 'Climate Change ' costing the UK?
For those who believe in the power of man-made global warming, there is an alarmingly high cost - the UK goverment offers, for example, several alarming figures. But for those who are sceptical, the cost is scarecly less alarming!
And in a speech on 'Spending Cuts', June 07, 2010, The new Prime Minsister said:
| "Based on the calculations of the last government, in five years’ time the interest we are paying on our debt is predicted to be around £70 billion. That is a simply staggering amount. |
| "No wonder the previous government refused to publish the information. Let me explain what it means. Today we spend more on debt interest than we do on running schools in England. But £70 billion means spending more on debt interest than we currently do on running schools in England plus climate change plus transport..." |
In principle, it would seem possible to find the figures for education and transport and subtract those from the £70billion to find out what the government is spending on Climate Change - but better would be for the Department concerned to share details of its spending.
The United Kingdom, the primary sponsor of research information on the causes and effects of man-made global warming, has now renamed its 'Department of Energy' the 'Department for Energy and Climate Change'. (And it's share of the cuts is tiny.)
But so far, the Department has been reluctant to let the public know details of its virtuous work.
In a letter in response to a 'Freedom of Information' request (9 June 2010) for details of:
”a brief summary of UK government funding of Climate Change research, ..... both directly funded and indirectly (ie. through support to institutions such as the Hadley, the CRU at East Anglia, the Met Office)preferably over the full span of public interest in such matters, ie. since 1988.I would also be interested to know how much funding the OCC has undertaken of research by sceptical scientists looking for evidence contrary to the 'resounding consensus' that your website refers to (![[WWW]](http://wikispot.org/wiki/eggheadbeta/img/sycamore-www.png){kind=small} http://www.occ.gov.uk/activities/aa.htm), and if there is any policy in place prejudicing such contrarian research.” |
Christopher Sear, a civil servant closely involved with research at the Hadley Centre and the UK MET Office replied:
| "The UK government’s direct and indirect funding of climate change research has, over the decades, come from many departments, their agencies, trading funds, research councils and other sources. Information on much of this expenditure is not and has never been held by DECC and its predecessor departments (Defra and BERR). |
| However, I can confirm that the Department does hold some information that falls within the scope of your request. However, I regret that we cannot provide you with the requested information under the Regulations as the effort to administer your request would be likely to involve a significant cost and diversion of resources from the teams other work. Regulation 12(4)(b) of the EIRs states a public authority may refuse to disclose information to the extent that the request for information is manifestly unreasonable. In order to provide you with the information on the scale that you have requested would require searching, locating and extracting information from diverse archives, most of which are not complete back to 1988. Furthermore, expenditure was not formally categorised and tracked back to 1988, so significant new work would be needed to identify appropriate projects and contracts individually – these are not held centrally. |
| In applying this exception, we have had to balance the public interest test in withholding the information against the public interest in disclosure. The factors considered in deciding where the public interest lies are considered below. In considering this we have applied a presumption in favour of disclosure as required by Regulation 12(2) of the EIRs. |
Generously, Mr Sears went on to offer that "there is high public interest in climate change research and we recognise that disclosure of the requested information, if available, could enhance public understanding of these issues and facilitate the accountability and transparency of government spending and decision making. However, your request is very broad, ranging across most research supported by many government departments and across all fields related to climate change, and covers a period of nearly 23 years."
| Searching, locating and extracting the information held by this department would involve a significant cost and diversion of resources from the team’s other work. |
| Therefore, your request will not be processed further." |
But, fortunately (as explained above), this last 'prediction' has proved to be premature...
.
The June 2010 UK Budget
| Climate Change and the June 2007 UK Budget |
|
More money needed - The June 2010 UK Budget offers some evidence of how the UK government is still wedded to its strategy, saying: |
| "Climate change is one of the most serious threats that the world faces.The Prime Minister has pledged to make this the greenest government ever,including reducing the Government’s own emissions by 10 per cent between mid-May 2010 and mid-May 2011. |
| "The Government is committed to playing its part in moving to a low-carbon economy. The transition will change the shape of industry, growthand jobs. As part of this, the UK needs £200 billion of investment to 2020to provide secure low-carbon energy. This will require reform of the energy market and action to attract additional private sector funding. |
| "Alongside wider market reforms, the Government will assess how the energy tax framework can provide the right incentives for investment. In the autumn, the Government will publish proposals to reform the climate change levy in order to provide more certainty and support to the carbon price. Subject to consultation, the Government intends to bring forward relevant legislation in Finance Bill 2011." |
This page started out as part of an attempt both to answer the question for ourselves - and to prepare the ground for a more specific information request later to the UK Department for Energy and Climate Change. This new request has indeed met with a more helpful response and PI hopes to have some of the relevant informaton for 'costing Climate Change' in the next few weeks.
Renewables Obligation
The UK Department for Energy and Climate Change's Renewable Energy Strategy, ( Strategy paper
paragraph 7.32) which maps how the UK's 15 per cent renewables target by 2020 will be achieved states:
“…we estimate that, if taken in isolation, the measures included in this Strategy
would increase … [non-domestic energy bills] by an average 15% for electricity
and 30% for gas by 2020”.
The 'Climate Change Levy'
This fine new tax is producing several billions of UK pounds a year. This golden-egg-laying goose is being asked now to be even more generous - via changes in 'exemptions' related to the levy. (The levy is a tax on the use of energy in industry, commerce and the public sector, to reduce energy use and hence CO2 emissions. The Global Warming Policy Foundation (see http://www.thegwpf.org/opinion-pros-a-cons/882-alan-rudge-co2-and-climate-change-the-impact-upon-industry-and-the-uk-economy.html) note that the Government’s own figures put the net costs of the 'decarbonisation' strategy for the period 2010-2030 as £55bn to £65bn.||
More Climate Costs
Here are some more of the known ways the UK government is spending money 'fighting CO2':
* Basic climate related research on oceans, biosphere, including forestry
* Climate models, particularly based at the Hadley centre, and at the UEA (Climate Research Unit)
* Low-carbon energy technology research
* Energy related funding justified with reference to decarbonisation, e.g impacts on agriculture
* Related research on policy instrument (regulatory and financial)
research with the same objective in house and funded at universities
and NGOs
* Spending on the UK Climate Impact Programme
(giving local authorities and businesses info so that can 'prepare for climate change)
* Funding of 'clean energy'
(to bodies like the Carbon Trust, the Royal Society ,Imperial College, even to the Foreign Office and via ODI grants)
* How much DEFRA and the Environment Agency get for Climate Change related activity
* How much the DECC uses up for purely administrative and internal purposes.
How many people (and bits) of the UK government are involved can be seen by looking at the list of participants for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in June 2004 1. Many countries are listed, but the UK excels:
United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Northern Ireland
Department for Environment, Food and
Rural Affairs2
Ms. Sarah HENDRY
Head of Global Atmosphere Division
Also from this 'Global Atmosphere Division' are:
Mr. David WARRILOW
Head of Science Unit, Global Atmosphere Division
Mr. Jim PENMAN
Principal Scientific Adviser,
Ms. Jackie JONES
Senior Policy Adviser,
Mr. Simon CRABBE
Senior Policy Adviser,
Ms. Cathy JOHNSON
Principal Scientific Adviser,
Mr. Andy DEACON, Ms. Jo HALLIDAY, Mr. Karl NSIAH, Ms. Lizzy PEARSON and Ms. Rachel WARREN
[roles not specified]
Mr. Martin HESSION
Policy Adviser,
Ms. Cinzia LOSENNO
Global Atmosphere [advisor?]
Ms. Sophia OLIVER
Scientific Adviser,
Also needed was input from:
Mr. Henry DERWENT
Director, Climate, Energy and Environment Risk
Mr. Alistair MCGLONE
Legal Services Directorate General
Mr. Matthew COYNE
Policy Advisor
From the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Ms. Kate WHITE
Ms. Meghna PATEL
From the Department of Trade and Industry
Mr. Terry CARRINGTON
Head of Climate Change Section, Energy Strategy Unit
Ms. Lorraine HAMID
Economist, Energy Strategy Unit
From the Department for International Development
Ms. Jessica TRONI
Coordinator
Mr. Jos WHEATLEY
Policy Adviser
From Scottish Executive Rural Affairs
Mr. John HOLMES
[role not specified]
And of course there were representatives from:
The Technical Support Unit IPCC Working Group II
[which includes]
The Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research and others for the Met Office in general - the Hadley and the Met Office require not a lot under UK£200 million a year nowadays to run, and a sizeable chunk of that is dedicated to 'Climate Change' speculation.
The University of East Anglia - notably the Climate Research Unit
Other recipients of Climate Change money
Not included in the list of attendees at the UN Framework conference , but also known to be heavily into 'Climate Change' is the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills 3
The 2010 'Climate Strategy' of the Department for Environment, Food and
Rural Affairs' indicates the following as major recipients of research funds for climate modelling:
• The Met Office Hadley Centre
• UK Climate Impacts Programme
• British Atmospheric Data Centre
• Newcastle University
• University of East Anglia
• Environment Agency
• Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory
• Tyndall Centre
• Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership
Footnotes
- 1"the twentieth sessions of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice and the Subsidiary Body for Implementation, 22 June 2004:
- 2See, for example, their own 'Climate Strategy' as at 2010, here, http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/climate/index.htm
- 3See for example, its publications, here: http://bis.ecgroup.net/Publications/EnergyClimateChangeDECC/Climatechange.aspx"
