The United Kingdom House of Lords Select Committee on Economic Affairs

In 2005 the U.K. House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee launched an inquiry into "Aspects of the Economics of Climate Change". 

The terms of reference for the committee focussed on "the ways in which the problem of climate change has been assessed', "the key role of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in compiling and assessing technical information on climate change," and "the question of who bears the brunt of climate change and of the costs of controlling it."

In its July 2005 report the committee urged that the UK government give the Treasury "a more extensive role, both in examining the costs and benefits of climate change policy and presenting them to the United Kingdom public, and in the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)." 

It reported that the commitee had "some concerns about the objectivity of the IPCC process, with some of its emissions scenarios and summary documentation apparently influenced by political considerations" and expressed doubts about "the IPCC's emissions scenario exercise, in particular, the high emissions scenarios."

"The Government should press the IPCC to change their approach," it recommended. It also argued that "there are some positive aspects to global warming and these appear to have been played down in the IPCC reports; the Government should press the IPCC to reflect in a more balanced way the costs and benefits of climate change."

The commitee also urged that "far more" attention be "paid to adaptation measures", expressed doubts about "the roles of renewable energy and energy efficiency" and opposed the decommissioning of any existing nuclear power plants.

Other SourceWatch resources

 * Climate change sceptics