The House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) has revived the inquiry into the role of natural capital in the green economy launched ahead of the General Election by the predecessor EAC.
Image credit: Unsplash
The Committee had begun its inquiry into ‘the role of natural capital in the green economy’ to consider how Government policy is supporting and promoting investment in nature recovery.
The new Committee has revived the inquiry with a view to making recommendations to Government in the coming months.
The Government is committed to preserving 30% of land and sea in England by 2030. However, at the end of October 2024, the Government stated that just 7% of land is currently protected for nature. With just over five years to go, the EAC will consider whether private investment can spur nature protection schemes that will see the pledge become reality.
Tomorrow the Committee will hold the first of two ‘recap’ evidence sessions to take stock of the current position on natural capital.
Former Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee, Philip Dunne, will reflect on what the predecessor Committee heard. He is likely to cover the importance of developing a natural capital approach to the management of the economy, and the potential benefits for the environment of encouraging private investment to nature recovery schemes.
Representatives of landowners will then offer their view as to the appetite in the sector to attract private investment into schemes focused on environmental improvement; the take-up of Government-backed schemes promoting nature restoration, and how schemes – such as delivering biodiversity net gain – are working.
Representatives of the financial sector will close the session by considering the financial mechanisms currently in place to drive investment, and whether further Government action is needed to spur private investment into nature recovery.
Witnesses will appear before the EAC on Wednesday 4 December at 2.15pm, The Grimond Room, Portcullis House as follows:
From 2.15pm:
Rt Hon Philip Dunne, Chairman of the Environmental Audit Committee (2020—2024)
From 2.45pm:
Judicaelle Hammond, Director of Policy and Advice, Country Land and Business Association
Alan Carter, Chief Executive Officer, The Land Trust
From 3.30pm:
Helen Avery, Director, Nature Programmes and GFI Hive, Green Finance Institute
Kate McGavin, Chief Policy and Strategy Officer, National Wealth Fund
Stakeholders who wish to send in written evidence to the revived inquiry can make submissions through the Committee’s evidence portal until 5pm on 20 December 2024. Click here to access the portal.
Sulzer has launched a new global Center of Excellence (CoE) for Water Treatment Solutions - the CoE consolidates Sulzer’s wastewater treatment expertise in a unified and global manner.
“SAS (Surplus Activated Sludge) is a bit weird and 
Owen Mace has taken over as Director of the British Plastics Federation (BPF) Plastic Pipes Group on the retirement of Caroline Ayres. He was previously Standards and Technical Manager for the group.
PureTec Separations, the Ledbury-based water treatment engineering firm, has appointed Dan Norman as its new Sales Manager – Water Process Systems, supporting the company’s continued growth in the UK and international markets.
Hear how Scottish Water has completed its £235 million Ayrshire Glasgow Resilience Project - customers across Greater Glasgow, Ayrshire and East Renfrewshire will now benefit from a more secure and resilient water supply.
Hear how United Utilities is accelerating its investment to reduce spills from storm overflows across the Northwest.
Find out more about the remarkable career opportunities on offer at WSP - scroll down to watch the inspirational video.