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Final members of the Adaptation Sub-Committee appointed.

News release

Ref: 238/09
Date: 16 October 2009

The Secretary of State for Environment, Hilary Benn, and the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Ed Miliband, today announced that Professor Anne Johnson and Professor Tim Palmer will take up the remaining two posts in the Adaptation Sub-Committee, which is chaired by Lord John Krebs. The committee is a sub-committee to the Climate Change Committee.

The founding members were appointed in June: Dr Sam Fankhauser, Professor Martin Parry, Professor Jim Hall, Dr Andrew Dlugolecki, Baroness Barbara Young and Graham Wynne.

Professor Anne Johnson trained as a Public Health doctor. She is now Professor of infectious diseases epidemiology and Director of the Division of Population Health at University College London. Anne’s research has been used to inform public health policy for prevention and treatment of HIV and other infectious diseases and for sexual and reproductive health promotion. She is currently Chair of the Medical Research Council Population Health Sciences Group. She was a member of the University College London/Lancet Commission on managing the health effects of climate change published in May 2009

Professor Tim Palmer is a world leader in physical climate science and climate modelling. He has pioneered approaches to representing uncertainty in weather and climate forecasts and has worked extensively with users of climate forecasts. He was lead author of the third assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and is Chair of the international scientific steering group of a key climate prediction project under the UN World Climate Research Programme. Tim is a Fellow of the Royal Society and has been appointed a Royal Society 2010 Anniversary Research Professor from January 2010, a position which he will hold at Oxford University.

The Adaptation Sub-Committee to the Committee on Climate Change was established under the Climate Change Act 2008 to advise the UK Government and Devolved Administrations – through the Committee on Climate – on the preparation of the national Climate Change Risk Assessment and ensure that the Adaptation Programme for England enables the country to prepare effectively for the impacts of climate change.

Hilary Benn said:

“The Adaptation Sub-Committee will play a significant role in helping to prepare the country for the impacts of climate change.  These two appointments provide the committee with leading experts in the area of public health and climate change science. Their knowledge will make a vital contribution in our efforts to adapt to climate change.”

Lord Krebs welcomed the appointments saying:

“Both appointments are excellent and provide the Sub-Committee with expertise in areas that are vital for assessing the UK’s preparedness for climate change. “

These appointments were made jointly between the Government and the Devolved Administrations. The Welsh Assembly Government represented the Devolved Administrations in the selection process.

The other members of the Sub-Committee are:

Lord John Krebs (Chair)
Lord Krebs is an internationally renowned scientist. He is the Principal of Jesus College, Oxford University. Lord Krebs sits in the House of Lords as an independent cross-bencher and is currently chairing an enquiry by the Science and Technology Select Committee into Nanotechnology and Food. Lord Krebs was the first Chairman of the British Food Standards Agency (2000–05). He has received numerous awards and honorary degrees for his scientific work.

Dr Samuel Fankhauser
Dr Samuel Fankhauser is a Principal Research Fellow at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change at the London School of Economics. He is a former Deputy Chief Economist of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and former Managing Director (Strategic Advice) at IDEAcarbon. He also a member of the Committee on Climate Change.

Professor Martin Parry
Professor Martin Parry is a visiting professor at the Centre for Environmental Policy and a visiting research fellow at the Grantham Institute at Imperial College London. Martin has previously chaired the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change task group on Scenarios for Climate Impact Assessment and was co-chair of the IPCC working group II, focusing on Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability.

Professor Jim Hall
Jim Hall is Professor of Earth Systems Engineering at Newcastle University where his research activities focus on flood risk assessment, climate change impacts, adaptation and decision making under uncertainty. Jim is also Deputy Director (Engineering) of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research and Associate Editor of the International Journal of Flood Risk Management. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers and a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society.

Dr Andrew Dlugolecki
Dr Andrew Dlugolecki is currently a self employed consultant on climate change and the insurance and finance sector. Prior to this he had a long career at General Accident and a period as Director of General Insurance Development at Aviva (then CGNU). He has also published extensively on the impacts of climate change on the insurance and finance sector, independently and as an author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Baroness Barbara Young
Baroness Barbara Young currently chairs the Care Quality Commission – the independent regulator for the quality of health and social care. Prior to joining the Care Quality Commission in 2008 Barbara worked as the Chief Executive of the Environment Agency, as Chairman of the then English Nature and as Chief Executive of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. She sits in the House of Lords.

Graham Wynne
Graham Wynne started his career working on planning and land use for regional government in London where he was involved in urban regeneration and land use. Graham has spent the last 20 years working in senior positions at the Royal Society for the protection of Birds, where he is currently Chief Executive. During this time he has worked on significant international and local conservation and ecology projects.

Notes to editors

  • According to the UK Climate Change Projections, the UK faces warmer, wetter winters and hotter, drier summers, with more drought, heat-waves, flooding and sea-level rise.  The results illustrate how important it is for the country to plan for the impacts of climate change. The Projections underline that cutting global greenhouse gas emissions to limit future climate change is essential for the UK – as for the rest of the world. 
  • The Adaptation Sub-Committee to the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has been established under the Climate Change Act 2008 to advise Government and Devolved Administrations on its work on the national Climate Change Risk Assessment, and ensure that the Government’s Adaptation Programme enables England to prepare effectively for the impacts of climate change.
  • These appointments were regulated by the Office for the Commissioner for Public Appointments (OCPA).
  • The appointments will be for a period of five years with the possibility of re-appointment. Professor Anne Johnson has been appointed from October 2009 and Professor Tim Palmer’s appointment will start from January 2010.
  • The appointments process was managed by Defra (who have policy and sponsorship responsibility for the ASC) in concert with DECC (who have policy and sponsorship for the CCC). The appointments were approved by Ministers in the Devolved Administrations.
  • The Adaptation Sub Committee sits within the CCC and is supported by 6 members of the CCC Secretariat. The CCC is an independent body established under the Climate Change Act to advise the Government on setting the first legally binding carbon budgets, and to report to Parliament on the progress made in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The CCC also advises on what the UK’s long-term climate change target should be as a fair contribution towards a global deal. More information about the ASC can be found on the CCC website at: www.theccc.org.uk/about-the-ccc/adaptation-sub-committee

 

 

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Page published: 16 October 2009