At least 60 people apply to head UK government climate crisis advisory body

Lord Deben, outgoing chair of the CCC, told the Guardian: ‘You really have to go in with both fists.’ Photograph: Dorset Media Service/Alamy

At least 60 people have applied to be the next chair of the Committee on Climate Change, with the government planning to appoint a new head in November, the Guardian has learned.

Several of the most likely candidates for the role – one of the most senior jobs in the field of UK climate policy – have been ruled out or ruled themselves out.