Policy announcements/Jobs
1. Marketing & Communications Officer & Stronger Voice Project Managerpositions at South West Forum: http://www.southwestforum.org.uk/
2. MEPs call for new environmental framework for the EU. MEPs (Members of the European Parliament) called for the European Commission to introduce a Seventh Environmental Action Programme and for higher political priority to go to preserving and restoring damaged ecosystems. The Seventh Environmental Action Programme (7th EAP) will be Europe’s next flagship environmental policy. MEPs have called for the 7th EAP to mainstream climate change and other environmental objectives across all policy areas, whilst also reflecting the need for binding targets for greater energy efficiency. The EAP should also lead to an overall reduction in waste generation, along with ambitious prevention, re-use and recycling targets for waste. In addition, MEPs have called for the 7th EAP to incorporate targets to ensure the sustainable use of land and to address emerging threats to human and animal health, such as nanomaterials, endocrine disruptors and the combined effects of chemicals in the environment. MEPs also urge Member States to implement fully and effectively existing rules on water. MEPs also used the resolution to encourage the European Commission to introduce sustainability criteria for biofuels and biomass.
MEPs sitting on the Environment Committee of the European Parliament voted on a second resolution to call for more ambitious targets to restore damaged and degraded ecosystems, whilst also highlighting the economic damage caused by biodiversity loss. The loss of biodiversity, they stated, ‘leads to devastating economic costs to society which until now have not been sufficiently integrated into economic and other policies’. Reforms to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and Common Fisheries Policy, along with reforms to the Multi-Annual Financial Framework (MFF) – the EU budget from 2014-2020- are necessary to tackle this, they state. EG. payments under the CAP should be underpinned by cross-compliance measures that contribute to the preservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services. In addition, at least 1% of the total MFF should be devoted to environmental protection. The Common Fisheries Policy should guarantee an ecosystem approach to fisheries management.
The Environment Committee calls for the target to restore at least 15% of degraded ecosystems by 2020, agreed at the UN’s 10th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Nagoya, in 2010, to be seen only as a ‘minimum’, with the EU going beyond this to tackle environmental degradation. In addition, the MEPs call for detailed EU and national level plans to be developed to phase out all environmentally harmful subsidies by 2020.
Research & Publications
1. SWPLF/Dorset AONB CORDIALE FIELD Trial is looking to use GIS analysis of the Integrated Habitat System table and aerial photography to identify functioning ecological networks and prioritise activity that would help maintain and enhance these networks. Environment Systems is undertaking the work and have produced an interim report - Final report is due in May with a final phase of the CORDIALE field trial taking place this summer when we will use the data to engage land owners and managers in discussions around land management responses to strengthening the ecological networks. More information is available from: i.rees@dorsetcc.gov.uk and the interim report is available: http://www.southwestlandscapes.org.uk/CrossBorderBid.asp
2. Funding available for academics and business to collaborate The Natural Environment Research Council are funding a number of short projects / internships on ‘Business Engagement with Natural Capital and Ecosystem Services’.
i. The aims of the NERC-funded scheme are to
• Initiate collaborations between academics and business or third sector organisation partners, leading to the application of ecosystem services approaches in longer term self-sustaining activities undertaken by partners.
• Generate evidence and case studies of how businesses and other organisations have used or could use ecosystem services approaches, in collaboration with academics, to introduce innovation into their business.
• Provide evidence concerning the effectiveness of policies intended to facilitate the development of ecosystem services approaches by businesses and third sector organisations.
ii. For more information contact the Environmental Sustainability Knowledge Transfer Network Administrator, Anna Baginska on anna.baginska@esktn.org or phone 01865 610505. Deadline The call is now open, deadline is Friday 15 June 2012.
3. Farmers have collaborated with scientists in France to evaluate agri-environmental measures that reduce soil erosion and surface water pollution at a catchment level. The exercise helped the farmers understand the benefits of the measures and provides an example of how policymakers could engage with stakeholders under the Water Framework Directive (WFD). Science for Environment Policy, DG Environment News, European Commission. For the full report: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/integration/research/newsalert/pdf/281na5.pdf
4. Carbon sequestration in urban green space: For the first time, researchers have applied a carbon footprint analysis to calculate carbon sequestration by an urban green space. Their results indicate that urban green space can act as a carbon sink, but its design and maintenance influence the amount stored. Science for Environment Policy, DG Environment News, European Commission. For the full report: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/integration/research/newsalert/pdf/281na1.pdf
5. Changing State of the South West 2012 publication: http://www.swo.org.uk/sotsw2012. As well as assessing and highlighting key regional information, each chapter includes analysis and comment on the policy context, and (where possible) on what might happen next in this rapidly changing policy environment.
6. DEFRA – Progress towards a sustainable future for livestock farming - report on the sustainability of UK livestock production and consumption, drawing on the contributions of many different stakeholders: http://www.defra.gov.uk/publications/2012/04/17/pb13756-sustainable-livestock/
7. The megatrends companies must face to meet sustainability challenges. Systems thinking comes of age as KPMG says environmental, social and economic problems cannot be solved separately. In a new report, Expect the unexpected, KPMG says companies need to understand 10 "sustainability megaforces that will impact each and every business over the next 20 years. These forces do not act alone in predictable ways. They are interconnected. They interact." The megaforces that KPMG highlights represent all the usual suspects, from climate change, unpredictable energy supplies and water scarcity to urbanisation, deforestation and food security. The report warns that trend projections prepared without consideration of the entire system of sustainability megaforces no longer provide an adequate basis for strategic business decisions."Systems thinking ... is an important way to assess and manage new risks and uncover risks that were previously unidentified. For example, a company may understand its direct dependency on water, but may not have thought about how the supply of its material resources could be impacted by increasing water scarcity." The Guardian Sustainable Business Blog http://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-business/blog/systems-thinking-social-environmental-economic-challenges?intcmp=122&CMP
Previous
Green investment: bank or fund? The Green Investment Bank (GIB) - proposed as part of governmnet's strategy to tackle climate change through the promotion of investment in environment and clean energy projects, is not the most controversial topic to spring to mind... yet the subject of how to process with plans for the GIB has been one of hot debate - BES Ecology & Policy.
The GIB hopes to raise £200 billion in the long term to help renew the UK's energy grid. The planned sell-off of Regional Development Agency and other public assets will fund the green investment behicle for clean energy and low carbon projects. George Osborne confirmed (23 March 2011) a £3 billion fund for the Green Investment Bank, adding an additional £2 billion to the funding announced as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review in october. He announced that the additional funding will come from the Coalition Governments sweeping sale of public sector assets such as those held by the RDA's.
The focus of the controversy is how to proceed with the GIB - as an investment bank or fund?
If the GIB were classified as a bank by the National Statistics Office it would have the ability to raise additional capital and borrow money. If the GIB were to take on the form of a fund it would not be granted the borrowing rights and would therefore be expected to fall far short of government climate change targets due to a lack of funds.
Some are arguing the GIB should adopt the form of a public sector investment bank as a government backed bank would have a higher rating than an independent one. The major obstacle to this lies in the reluctance of the treasury to back the GIB as this would mean the government would have to accept all future liability, which in turn could threaten to undermine plans to reduce the deficit. If the GIB were to alternatively become a fund, the UK could miss out on the opportunity to attract billions of pounds worth of green investment to assist economic growth. If climate change targets are to be reached with additional potential for economic growth there is a strong case to designate the GIB a public bank. However, considering the current economic climate, uncertainty, and resulting caution this is a sibject that will continue to be debated. Plans concerning the future role fo the GIB are due to be released at the end of May.
