He will be replacing David Kennedy, who left the position in June this year.
Bell will start his new role in November, leaving the economic consultancy he joined in 1999 and served as director of Frontier’s public policy practice since 2012.
Bell said in a statement that he intends to use his position to tackle the economic challenges inherent in the climate action debate in providing advice to policy makers.
“We are living in challenging times. Everyone is looking closely at their budgets and expenses, and businesses are focusing on their competitiveness,” he said.
Bell added: “The CCC has established itself as the independent authority on climate change issues and I look forward to my new role heading up this authoritative body as it takes on these and other challenges in its advice to Government and Parliament.”