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The Environmental Audit Committee has published a report reflecting on its activity throughout the 2019-2024 Parliament.

• Read the full report (PDF)
• Read all Environmental Audit Committee reports

The Committee was appointed in February 2020 to consider the extent to which government departments and non-departmental public bodies contribute to environmental protection and sustainable development, and to audit their performance against targets set by Ministers.

During this Parliament, the Committee made 23 reports to the House, and published 18 Government responses to its reports. It published 34 letters sent from the Chair to Cabinet Ministers, heard from Secretaries of State on 11 occasions and published 2231 submissions of written evidence.

The Committee did not complete its work on three inquiries: on the UK and the Antarctic environment, on climate change and security and on the role of natural capital in the green economy. It recommends that the Committee in the new Parliament take up work on these issues.

The Committee makes two recommendations for the next administration to take up.  It recommends that in the new Parliament Ministers publish a report on the implementation and operation of the Environment Act 2021, to inform post-legislative scrutiny of that Act during the Parliament.

It also recommends that the Committee’s proposals for parliamentary scrutiny of the Seventh Carbon Budget, as set out in the Chair's letter to the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero of 6 February 2024, be implemented in full.

Further information

• Environmental Audit Committee
• About Parliament: Select committees
• Visiting Parliament: Watch committees