The UK Government has recently published a series of documents that set out its vision for a transition to a green economy GreeneconomyI have provided evidence to an Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) Inquiry on what I consider to be the barriers to achieving this transition and issues surrounding Government policy, actions and inactions in this area. My report can be found at PHAevidence and is summarised as follows:
This memorandum provides my view on the preparedness of the UK for the transition to a ‘green economy’ by addressing each of the themes set out in the EAC Select Committee Announcement of 7 July 2011. In summary this memorandum suggests that:
• The Government’s own Sustainable Development Indicators could be used as a basis for establishing a scheme to monitor progress of the transition towards a green economy.
• More research is required on measuring the key metrics that define a green economy and these should be used to assess and compare the performance of the main developed world economies.
• The Government will need to develop a strategy to persuade the public, industry and investors that proposed measures are both risk free and the only alternative for preserving the future of the planet.
• The Green Deal is a central plank of the green economy, but there remain uncertainties about its likely uptake and funding, particularly in the light of the 30 to 35% of British homes that fall below decency standards and are likely to require considerably more than the £10,000 upper limit mooted for the Green Deal.
• Apart from funding, the attitude and behaviour of the public is the biggest challenge to the success of the transition to a green economy. For example resistance to disruption from energy efficiency works and inefficient operation of buildings. Incentives such as free loft clearance should be included in the Green deal, whilst smart metering should be rolled out in conjunction with the Green Deal.
• Businesses should be encouraged to measure and monitor their sustainability performance through such measures as the Green Building Management Toolkit, BREEAM In Use and the Ska
• Funding for the Energy Company Obligation may exceed Government tax and spend limits set for 2014 in the 2010 Spending Review.
• Government’s willingness to dilute feed-in tariffs and zero carbon has eroded confidence that it will not meddle with poorly designed schemes that are found to have unintended consequences
• Manufacturers of green products will have to contend with both increases in energy and fuel prices and competition from countries such as China and India.
• Reducing the carbon targets in future Building Regulations could threaten the assumptions made in the 2050 Pathways Analysis that require carbon emissions associated with building energy consumption to remain constant between now and 2050, despite an additional 10 million new homes.
• The major programme of improving energy efficiency of the existing building stock requires a massive increase in the number of professionals and contractors with the necessary skills. The Government has ask the Green Deal Skills Alliance to develop the framework to address the skills gap, however it is not clear where the people will come from, particularly with cuts in the education maintenance allowance and inactive benefits.
• There is real concern about the trend for a reduction in ‘ecosystem services’ exacerbated in both the intensification of agriculture and 10 million new homes projected over the next 40 years. The draft National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) allows development that significantly harms biodiversity ‘as a last resort’.
• Government needs to support the development of anaerobic digestion, gasification and pyrolysis of waste as an alternative to landfill and incineration, but not reducing the amount of sustainable recycling.
• Government transport policy should focus on both reducing the need to travel and encourage the transition to lower carbon transport modes. However the increase in rail fares by a potential 30% by 2015 mitigates against this.
• In my view there is an inherent dichotomy between growth and a green economy, but this can be overcome by a reorientation of the types of products and services that support GDP from consumer orientated to ones that support sustainable development and climate change mitigation, or what the UNEP calls a ‘Green New Deal’.
• Government should prepare a spreadsheet that sets out the costs for the transition to a green economy, including what will be spent in each Department’s sector, how much is expected to be leveraged from the private sector, what will be the GIB involvement and what areas of the economy are expected to grow and by how much?
• Enabling the Transition to a Green Economy is a useful summary of key Government initiatives, although there are a number of important gaps, particularly with regard to local communities and enterprise zones.
• Priorities should be informed by the investment sectors proposed for the Green Investment Bank, with decarbonising the electricity grid representing the largest initiative in need of finance.
• The dilemma for the Rio+20 conference to address is how to achieve the Millennium Goal of halving extreme poverty by 2015 and subsequently creating a world where the prospect of economic prosperity is available to the hundreds of millions of people currently living below the poverty line, whilst reducing global carbon emissions and conserving threatened non-renewable resources.
I would conclude that although Government policy appears to tick most of the right boxes in enabling a green economy, it is questionable whether the various measures will have the teeth to instil sufficient confidence to leverage the vast amounts of money required at a time when recession and cost cutting permeate every aspect of the economy.
The Committee will be publishing its full report in due course and it will be interesting to see what conclusions it comes to and recommendations it makes to Government.
