A new team of experts to help government meets its aims of combating climate change and delivering reliable, competitive and affordable energy was announced today by ministers.

The new Sustainable Energy Policy Advisory Board will help bring high-level expert advice to bear on delivery of the government's Energy White Paper, which set a long-term commitment to four key goals embracing environment, competitiveness, security and affordability.

The Board will be chaired by Sir John Collins, chairman of Dixons and former chairman of National Power and of Shell UK.

Other members are: Dr Bernard Bulkin (chief scientist for BP plc, who retires at the end of 2003), Professor John Chesshire OBE (Honorary Professor, SPRU, Sussex University), Eileen Claussen (founder and President of the Pew Center on Global Change and President of Strategies for Global Environment), Professor Paul Ekins (head of the Environment Group at the Policy Studies Institute and Professor of Sustainable Development at the University of Westminster), Dr Dieter Helm (Fellow in Economics at New College Oxford), Professor Nicholas Jenkins (Professor at the Department of Electrical Engineering and Electronics, UMIST), Margaret Mogford (group advisor, corporate affairs at BG Group) and Justin Mundy (senior consultant to Deutsche Bank's Global Markets Division).

Trade and industry secretary Patricia Hewitt said: "I am delighted that the Sustainable Energy Policy Advisory Board is holding its first meeting today. This is the final part of the machinery we are putting in place to deliver the Energy White Paper. The Board will have a crucial role in advising Ministers and the Sustainable Energy Policy Network on the implementation of the White Paper. It will advise us on our policies and programmes and whether there are any gaps in what we propose to do."

Environment secretary Margaret Beckett said: "We have appointed a strong team of leading independent experts who will provide us with high quality advice. They have a wide range and balance of skills. Sir John Collins, the Board's chairman, heads one of the UK's leading retailers and has extensive previous experience in the energy world. The Board will help us to take forward the White Paper and implement a truly sustainable energy policy in the UK."

• The White Paper sets four new goals for energy policy: to put the UK on a path to cut the carbon dioxide emissions by some 60 per cent by about 2050, with real progress by 2020 (as recommended by the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution), to maintain the reliability of energy supplies, to promote competitive energy markets in the UK and beyond, helping to raise the rate of sustainable economic growth and improve productivity, and to ensure that every home is adequately and affordably heated.

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