Former chief scientist: put climate expert on monetary policy committee

A climate scientist should be given a seat on the Bank of England's monetary policy committee (MPC), according to the government's former chief scientific adviser Sir David King.

Writing in this week's Prospect Magazine, King argued that economic policy as directed by the MPC and the Treasury is too often guilty of sidelining the need to cut carbon emissions when making decisions on monetary policy.

Government schemes to reduce carbon can be scuppered by monetary policy such as setting interest rates very low to stimulate growth, King warned.

"The problem is that any big levers the government might support – carbon pricing, long-term rules forcing more renewables and nuclear energy into the grid, much higher road tax and congestion charges – could be partially undone by the Bank if monetary policy is used to push for less-sustainable patterns of growth," he wrote.

King also criticised the Treasury for only committing 10 per cent of the UK's economic stimulus package to environmental projects, noting that China and South Korea respectively committed 50 and 80 per cent of their stimulus funds to low-carbon projects.

"At best, the Treasury sees carbon reduction as a distraction from their primary focus: GDP growth, reducing unemployment and raising productivity. At worst, they follow the Nigel Lawson school: that even if climate change is real, we should let pure markets operate to solve it," King wrote.

The former chief scientist also suggested the current Climate Change Committee, chaired by Lord Turner, should be relocated to the Bank of England to help it have a greater influence on monetary policy.

The MPC is made up of nine members – the governor, the two deputy governors, the Bank's chief economist, the executive director for markets and four external members appointed directly by the chancellor.

King's criticisms echo those of Jonathon Porritt, the former head of the Sustainable Development Commission who earlier this year accused the Treasury of being the main barrier to environmental reforms across Whitehall.