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 calls on the Government to incorporate the recommendations in the Environmental Audit Committee’s report on water quality in rivers when it publishes its strategic policy statement to Ofwat and make a statement to the House of Commons.
Intervening in a debate on sustainability and climate change in the national curriculum, Philip Dunne highlights the Environmental Audit Committee Green Jobs Report recommendation that environmental sustainability be included across all subjects in primary and secondary schools, and in the vocational curriculum.
Speaking in a debate on Lords Amendments to the Environment Bill, Philip Dunne welcomes the measures from his Private Member’s Bill included by the Government in Lords Amendments, but also spoke in favour of the additional Amendment based on the primary clause his Bill, seeking to place a duty on water companies to stop sewage discharge into our rivers.