The House of Lords' EU Energy and Environment Sub-Committee has launched a short inquiry on environment and climate change policy after Brexit.
The first evidence session will take place on Wednesday this week and will hear evidence from leading academics and NGOs.
The UK has previously pursued an ambitious climate change policy through its EU membership and the majority of environmental standards stem from EU law. The purpose of the inquiry is to examine what the United Kingdom's key interests are in shaping a new environment and climate change policy in advance of Brexit negotiations and the level of co-operation needed with the EU to achieve these aims.
The Committee will also explore other issues such as what international obligations and commitments will be relevant for a future policy as well as to what extent the UK will continue to have an interest in aligning policy to the EU.
The EU Energy and Environment Sub-Committee will begin its work with two evidence sessions. The first session will examine what the UK’s legislative position will be with regard to the environment and climate change after Brexit and how environmental protection can be enforced when the UK leaves the EU.
The second session will focus on the priorities for environmental policy after Brexit and whether there is a rationale for developing environmental policy in line with the EU.
Key questions the Committee is likely to ask include:
- What are the opportunities and challenges for the UK’s approach to environment and climate change arising from the UK exiting the EU?
- Will the Great Repeal Bill have any particular complexities in relation to environmental legislation?
- What are the available models for enforcing environmental legislation effectively and ensuring Government's accountability after the UK’s exit from the EU?
- What are the most critical environment and climate policy regulations that the UK should preserve after Brexit?
- What action should the Government take to ensure adequate protection of the natural environment post-Brexit, both in the short and long term?
- Will the environmental and climate change aspirations of the UK and the EU be similar following Brexit?
The House of Lords EU Committee and its six Sub-Committees are conducting a coordinated series of short inquiries looking at the key issues that will arise in the forthcoming negotiations on Brexit.
Taken as a whole, the programme of work will be the most extensive and thorough parliamentary scrutiny of Brexit. The Committees are expected to complete their work in early 2017, ahead of the Government’s potential triggering Article 50 of the EU Treaty, which would signal the start of the formal negotiations on UK withdrawal from the EU.
The European Union Committee’s report on the process for exiting the EU, published prior to the referendum on 23 June, has been widely credited as the authoritative guide to the process. Click here to download the report The process of withdrawing from the European Union.
Watch the session live on the Waterbriefing Watch channel on Wednesday 24th October at 10.30am