The remit of the committee is to examine how government departments' policies and programmes will affect both the environment and sustainable development.
[1] The Committee was founded in 1997[2] by the incoming Labour government as a cross departmental select committee with the idea that environmental issues affect a number of departments.
[5][6] The chair was elected on 12 July 2017, with the members of the committee being announced on 11 September 2017.
[8][9] The chair was elected on 18 June 2015, with members being announced on 20 July 2015.
[10][11] The chair was elected on 10 June 2010, with members being announced on 26 July 2010.