A cross-party letter sent last week to Environment Secretary of State, Angela Eagle, calls on the Government to take steps for the UK to rejoin the European Environment Agency and its Eionet network.

The UK left the EEA following the Brexit negotiations, although membership is open to non-EU members. In fact the UK is alone with the Russian Federation and Belarus as the only European nations not to be a member. The letter makes the case that rejoining this would provide valuable access to data and expertise to help inform UK and collective efforts to tackle climate and environmental issues. Amongst the other arguments the letter makes, as one of the EEA’s roles is to inform EU policy, membership would provide the UK with one of only a few formal routes by which it could have some influence over policy areas it is considering aligning with.

The letter which was also sent to Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh MP, Minister for UK-EU Relations Hamish Falconer MP and Minister for Science, Innovation and Investment Chris MacDonald MP, and was signed by over 25 Cross-bench, Green, Labour, Liberal Democrat and SNP MPs and Peers, including IEEP UK’s chair Lord Teverson.

Read IEEP UK’s reports that explore the different options for UK cooperation with the EEA and some of the benefits.

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