Jet-setting climate change staff accused of ‘rank hypocrisy’
THE Committee on Climate Change has been accused of ‘rank hypocrisy’ after sending staff on taxpayer-funded international flights that pump out greenhouse gases.
The quango’s personnel have flown to destinations such as Edinburgh, Turin and Bonn rather than opting for greener alternatives.
The revelations come just days after committee chairman Lord Deben – formerly Tory Environment Secretary John Gummer — made a call for urgent action to stop global warming.
The flights costing a total of almost £10,000 are revealed in documents obtained by The Mail on Sunday using a Freedom of Information request.
One first-class return trip to Beijing on British Airways cost £5,081 and would have produced an estimated carbon footprint of 9.2 tons of CO2 – some 6.1 tons more than the equivalent journey in economy.
Passengers on board were able to enjoy unlimited glasses of the £125-a-bottle Laurent-Perrier Grand Siecle champagne and a sumptuous array of dishes including Herefordshire beef, chocolate cherry cannelloni and Bleu d’Auvergne cheese.
In other cases the committee has chosen to fly rather than take the train, which would have had a far smaller carbon footprint.
This week the quango published a 90-page report urging the Government to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the UK effectively to zero by 2050.
Calling for aviation emissions to be limited to 2005 levels, Lord Deben attacked the Government’s environmental strategy, saying: ‘The whole thing is really run by the Government like a Dad’s Army.
‘We can’t go on with this ramshackle system.’
Since June 2016 the committee has spent £9,531 on nine return flights abroad, producing an estimated carbon footprint of 16.7 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent.
Duncan Simpson, research director of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘These mandarins have got their heads in the clouds. It is rank hypocrisy for climate change quangocrats to be calling for zero-carbon targets while jetting across the world on the taxpayers’ dime. ‘Climate change bosses need to practise what they preach and these flights of fancy to Beijing and Paris must come to an end.’ Lord Deben faced calls to quit his post in February after The Mail on Sunday revealed that he and his family own Sancroft International, a sustainability consultancy which has received more than £600,000 from ‘green’ businesses.
He was cleared of any conflict of interest by the House of Lords Commissioner For Standards.
The Committee on Climate Change’s (CCC) chief executive
‘Officials have their heads in the clouds’
Chris Stark said: ‘We consider our travel choices carefully. We use sustainable forms of transport wherever possible, and avoid air travel in all but exceptional circumstances.
‘The small number of flights taken by committee members and staff allowed the CCC to support international climate work, where our expertise has been requested by the UK Government or international governments.’