Baroness Verma has left her role as Under Secretary of State at the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) to take up the same position at the Department for International Development (DFID).
Verma’s departure comes as DECC has confirmed the ministerial portfolios for both Amber Rudd and Andrea Leadsom, with Rudd handed the overall energy and climate change strategy remit, meaning she will attend international climate change negotiations.
DECC’s ministerial team currently includes just three ministers compared to the last government’s four, with no new minister for climate change appointed as yet, however a DECC spokesperson confirmed to Solar Power Portal this afternoon that a fourth minister could yet be added to the roster.
DFID confirmed Verma’s appointment yesterday and she completes the department’s ministerial line-up that also includes Secretary of State Justine Greening and Ministers of State Desmond Swayne and Grant Shapps.
Verma said she was “delighted” to join the department and said its work was “not only the right thing to do, it is also firmly in the UK’s own national interest”.
“It is clear that British aid is making a tremendous difference in some of the world’s poorest countries. From Somalia to Sierra Leone, our work is transforming lives across the globe,” she added.
Verma had served at DECC since her appointment in 2012 and championed solar as an industry within the UK throughout her time. Speaking at last month’s Large-Scale Solar UK event, said that the UK’s green economy “develops jobs, strengthens the economy and also innovates other industries as well”.
“We have to got to be able to take this progress forward. The debate shouldn’t be skewed by people who have decided that the sector itself is dependent on support because, in my view, the sector has shown that it has outpaced expectations by being able to develop on its own and grow outwards,” she said. Verma added: “Solar has been a real beacon for the renewables sector.”