In January 2020 Philip was elected Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC).
Philip Dunne MP chairs a meeting of the Environmental Audit Committee
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.
Philip Dunne welcomed the opening of negotiations with the EU for the UK to associate with Horizon Europe for R&D cooperation for researchers at universities across the UK, and highlighted the importance of leveraging the research capabilities of our universities and industries that work with them to innovate. He cited the example of Imperial College London whose researchers worked with over 160 partner organisations in 24 countries in Europe on the Graphene Core 3 project, which spawned Bramble Energy.
Speaking in Prime Minister’s Questions, Philip Dunne highlighted the UK's remarkable progress in cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 3.4% in 2022, while at the same time the economy grew by 4.1%, the fastest rate in the G7 and called on the Government to use next week’s Budget to stimulate continued investment in renewable energy projects.
Philip Dunne highlights the soil erosion problem off St Agnes beach in Cornwall recently, rather than caused by sewage discharge. Both are problems, but he calls on campaigners to draw distinction when it is pointed out to them, rather than leap to wrong conclusions.
Philip Dunne intervenes in a debate on rivers achieving bathing water quality status to highlight the Environmental Audit Committee’s view that achieving such status should be an objective of every water company to allow more people to enjoy swimming in all weathers in more and more rivers around the country.
