In January 2020 Philip was elected Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC).
The EAC shares with the Public Accounts Committee the remit to look across government, rather than shadowing an individual department. This allows the EAC to scrutinise all government departments, and public and private sector impact on our environment, as well as measures to mitigate climate change. This could well be one of the defining policy areas of this Parliament, as we put in place the policies to enable the UK to reach net zero emissions as soon as possible, and certainly by 2050.
In the past two years, Philip initiated the Committee’s enquiry into one of the largest - yet largely hidden – sectors where modern slavery is prevalent today in Britain, and have pushed for more transparency to encourage Green Finance and greening of UK export finance, in improving biodiversity, air, water and soil quality.
It is clear from maiden speeches that many new MPs are committed environmentalists. They will help keep up the pressure on government to deliver policies for the UK to be a leader internationally in addressing climate change. Not least this November when we host the next UN Climate Change conference (COP26) in Glasgow.
Visit the Environmental Audit Committee webpages here: http://parliament.uk/eacom.
Following publication of the Environmental Audit Committee report on the challenge of decarbonising existing homes that account for most emissions, Philip Dunne calls on the Government to commit to a clear timetable to encourage owners of all tenures of homes to install affordable energy upgrades in order to meet the UK’s net zero targets.
Contributing to the debate on COP26 Philip Dunne calls for UK to give clarity in progressing our own path to net zero, in order to show leadership in delivering on commitments to the participating countries in Glasgow in November.
This week, all eyes will be on the chancellor’s budget, where he will decide which fiscal and monetary levers to pull to revive the economy from its greatest contraction in over three centuries. It is crucial that the measures materially help the goal of net zero Britain.
Philip Dunne, Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee, makes a statement to the House of Commons on the Committee’s Third Report ‘Growing back better: putting nature and net zero at the heart of the economic recovery’ and answers questions from MPs.
The Environmental Audit Committee, of which Philip Dunne is chair, is calling on the Government to cut VAT on repairs for electrical goods and green home improvements, to help people reduce greenhouse gas emissions in their everyday lives.