Chris Stark is stepping down as chief executive of Climate Change Committee (CCC).
Stark, whose report paved the way for the UK’s groundbreaking adoption of the 2050 net zero emissions target, is leaving the CCC to join the Carbon Trust as chief executive later this year.
He has led the CCC, acting as the chief climate adviser to the government and Parliament, since April 2018.
Under Stark’s leadership, the CCC published a report in 2019 that recommended a UK net zero target for greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
This target was legislated for under Prime Minister Theresa May, making the UK the first major economy in the world to do so.
In 2020, the CCC then provided advice on the detailed path to net zero for the UK in its Sixth Carbon Budget advice, which May’s successor Boris Johnson’s enshrined into law in the following June.
Overall, Stark has overseen the production of over 100 publications, including six progress reports on meeting the UK’s statutory climate change targets.
He supported Lord Deben in the last five years in the position of chair, and Professor Piers Forster in his interim role as interim chair.
However, Stark’s departure potentially leaves the CCC without a full time chair and chief executive because the government has yet to appoint a successor for Lord Deben, whose term ended last spring.
The Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change recently wrote to PM Rishi Sunak warning that the government’s failure to replace Lord Deben undermined the credibility of the UK’s commitment to tackling rising emissions.
These concerns have also been compounded by Sunak’s announcements last September backpedalling on the government’s targets to decarbonise home heating and electric vehicles, which ran counter to the CCC’s advice.
Stark said: “It’s been a privilege to lead the Climate Change Committee team over such an important period. I’m so proud of the analysis and advice we have produced in the last six years.
“The dedication and professionalism of the CCC team, coupled with the vast knowledge of our committee members are central to the organisation’s success. The CCC is in great shape for its next phase of work. I’ll continue to be one of its loudest supporters.”
Claire Coutinho, energy security secretary of state, said: “I want to thank Chris Stark for his work at the Climate Change Committee and I wish him all the best for the future.
“During his leadership, he has seen many advances – including becoming the first major economy to put our net zero commitments into law, with the UK becoming the first country in the G20 to halve its carbon emissions.”
Peter Chalkley, director of the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, said: “Chris Stark is recognised by experts, businesses and politicians alike as an excellent chief executive of the Climate Change Committee, cementing the CCC’s reputation for providing top quality, impartial advice and analysis.
“Under Chris’s leadership and that of his predecessors, the CCC has become internationally recognised and respected, and an example of British leadership on climate change. The organisation itself is a product of cross-party agreement on the need for a long-term approach to policy making around climate change and has been emulated around the world.”