Miliband to head up new department for Energy and Climate Change

The department is to be headed up by Ed Miliband  and will bring together much of the Climate Change Group, previously housed within the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), with the Energy Group from the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR).

Also appointed to the new department are Minister of State, Mike O'Brien, Minister of State, Lord Hunt and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Joan Ruddock.

The ECC is being created in response to the growing political importance of energy prices and efficiency. The Government is expected to announce this week binding new targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80 per cent by 2050.

Ed Miliband, who is the younger brother of the Foreign Secretary David Miliband, said the new department reflected the fact “that energy policy and climate change are directly linked”. He added that he would do all he could to “put Britain at the forefront of creating green jobs” and ensure “every country meets the climate change challenge”.

The new department will have responsibility for carbon emission reductions generated by electricity and heat – representing nearly two thirds of UK carbon emissions.

It is not clear yet how the new department will affect, or indeed improve on the roles previously played by of Defra, which has traditionally led the Government on climate change, and BERR, which plays a role in delivering policy on energy.

Ed Miliband, however, said he was looking forward “to working with colleagues across Government, including in particular Hilary Benn, who has led Britain's work on climate change with skill and dedication.” Hilary Benn will continue as Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

On the whole, the business sector has responded positively to Ed Miliband’s appointment and the creation of a more defined role at policy level for energy and climate change.

Gareth Elliott, policy advisor at the British Chambers of Commerce, which has just released a survey on business and the environment, said:"The British Chambers of Commerce believes strongly that the business community has a role to play in assisting the Government to meet its emissions targets. This was clearly voiced in our survey. We welcome Ed Miliband into his new role as Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change and hope he will continue to build a constructive relationship with the business sector to ensure that businesses can operate in a sustainable and profitable manner that reduces carbon emissions and promotes business."

Dr Neil Bentley, director of Business Environment at the Confederation of British Industry, said: “Both climate change and energy security are vital national interests that need the Government’s fullest attention and urgent action. Combining them may help identify both synergies and trade-offs, but we must avoid either one becoming subordinate to the other. And ultimately, it is sound, timely policy decisions that matter most, not departmental names or structures.”
 
The ECC expects to move into its own offices in Whitehall by the end of the week and has set up a website at www.decc.gov.uk.