Lawson sets up think-tank on the climate
EX-CHANCELLOR and climate change sceptic Lord Lawson launched a cross-party global warming think-tank yesterday, which will have an ex-senior policy adviser to the Prime Minister and a former deputy chairman of Barclays on its board.
The Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF), which is being launched just a fortnight before the United Nations’ (UN) climate change conference in Copenhagen, will have Lord Donoghue, who advised Prime Ministers Harold Wilson and James Callaghan, on its board.
And Sir Martin Jacomb, who was deputy chairman of Barclays between 1985 and 1993, will join Lawson and Donoghue on GWPF’s board.
Lawson, who was Chancellor between 1983 and 1989, said the independently-funded think tank was “deeply concerned about the costs and other implications of many of the policies currently being advocated”.
He added that the think-tank would “mark a turning-point in the political and public debate on the important issue of global warming policy”.
And he said the integrity of the scientific research into climate change, which many countries base policy decisions on, could be flawed.
Speaking on the financial crisis yesterday, Lawson said a separation of commercial and investment banks – based on the now-defunct US Glass Steagall act – was needed to prevent such a downturn from happening again.
He added that Tory leader David Cameron would have to “hit the ground running and cut public expenditure immediately,” if he wins next year’s general election.
The launch of GWFP came as a study from three major UK investors said companies were failing to take the strategic implications of climate change seriously, and were missing out on investment opportunities.
Firms are addressing the impact of major climate-linked events, but are neglecting to manage incremental changes or extend their focus onto supply chains, raw materials or logistics, said the study, which was published by Henderson Global Investors, Insight Investment and the universities pension scheme, USS.