Labour has appointed one of the country’s foremost climate experts to lead a “mission control centre” on clean energy.

Chris Stark, the former head of the UK’s climate watchdog, will head a Covid vaccine-style taskforce aimed at delivering clean and cheaper power by 2030.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said the centre would work with energy companies and regulators and would be the first of its kind in Whitehall, following Keir Starmer’s plan for mission-driven government.

According to this model, ministers will focus on tackling five of the biggest challenges facing the country, one of which is clean energy.

Stark said: “Tackling the climate crisis and accelerating the transition to clean power is the country’s biggest challenge, and its greatest opportunity. By taking action now, we can put the UK at the forefront of the global race to net zero.”

  • GreatAlbatross
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    25 months ago

    The only downside I can find is that his formal education was in finance and law, rather than climate science.
    But I guess when dealing with other finance/law people, you might as well have the same as a head, and delegate the actual science.

    • ᴇᴍᴘᴇʀᴏʀ 帝OP
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      15 months ago

      It definitely feels like the kind of solution a technocrat would come up with.

      That said, a lot of clean energy is going to require expertise in finance and law, he has spent long enough looking into green issues that he will have a good grounding in what the sector needs.