INFORM
Policy Tracker
The latest reports and developments in environmental SB More Info Inside this Issue
policy, regulation, legislation and voluntary initiatives
C Current Consultations
FINANCE POLLUTION CONTROL
ENVIRONMENTAL INDUSTRY ANALYSIS ENVIRONMENTAL LIABILITY
Details: DBERR has published Low Carbon and Details: The Environmental Damage (Prevention and
Environmental Goods and Services: An Industry Remediation) Regulations 2009 are now in force.
Analysis, which concludes that the global market The regulations implement the Environmental
value of the low-carbon and environmental goods Liability Directive and make operators liable for pre-
and services sector was around £3 trillion in 2007/8. venting and remediating environmental damage to
Asia accounts for 38% of this total, Europe 27%, and land, water, protected species or conservation sites.
the Americas 30%. Globally, traditional environmen- Timeline: Enforced 1 March
tal activities account for £657B (21.6% of the global Information:
www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2009/uksi_20090153_en_1
total), renewable energy for £940B (30.9%) and the DEFRA’S FORTHCOMING LEGISLATION
emerging low-carbon activities for £1,449B, or Details: Defra has published its Statement of Forthcoming
47.5%. Legislation 2009 and 2010, which sets out
Information:
www.berr.gov.uk/files/file50253.pdf legislation that is due to come into force between
GREEN ECONOMIC STIMULUS 2009 and 2010.
Details: The Environmental Audit Committee has pub- Information:
www.defra.gov.uk
lished Pre-Budget Report 2008: Green Fiscal Policy LAPPC RISK METHOD
in a Recession which looks at the environmental Details: Defra has published the LAPPC Risk Method,
aspects of last year’s Pre Budget Report and its which is intended for use by local authorities in
proposals for ‘greening’ the UK’s economic recov- determining the relative level of risk associated with
ery. The report criticises the Pre Budget Report for activities regulated under the Local Air Pollution
failing to provide enough of a stimulus to tackle Prevention and Control regimes. The method
economic and environmental problems simultane- assigns a level of proposed regulatory effort to
ously. Among its conclusions, the report states that individual processes (high, medium or low)
“the fiscal stimulus measures intended to pull the according to their relative risks.
economy out of recession represent an invaluable Timeline: From April 2009, the Part B risk based inspection
opportunity decisively to transform the UK into a methodology will be extended to include reduced
low carbon economy”. fee activities, mobile plant and gas odorisers
Information:
www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/ Information:
www.defra.gov.uk
cmselect/cmenvaud/202/202.pdf
ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF A LOW CARBON ECONOMY IN
RESOURCE EFFICIENCY
LONDON WATER RESOURCES STRATEGY
Details: The Mayor of London has published Prospectus Details: The Environment Agency has published its Water
for London: The Low Carbon Economy, which Resources Strategy for England and Wales, which
concludes that the transition to a low carbon sets out measures that should be implemented to
economy in London could create 10 to 15,000 jobs help protect water resources to 2050. The report
and contribute £600M. highlights that climate change will reduce the
Information:
www.london.gov.uk/news/docs/london-low-carbon- amount of water available in rivers in England and
report-09.pdf Wales by 10-15% by 2050, and up to as much as
ECONOMICS OF RENEWABLE ENERGY 80% during summer months.
Details: The government has published its response to Information:
publications.environment-agency.gov.uk/pdf/
the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee GEH00309BPKX-E-E.pdf
report on The Economics of Renewable Energy.
The committee’s original report concluded that
BUILT ENVIRONMENT
the cost of electricity from onshore wind farms at IDENTIFYING CONTAMINATED LAND
good locations would only be comparable with Details: The Environment Agency has published Dealing
that from fossil fuel generators when the prices of With Contaminated Land in England and Wales: A
oil, gas and coal are very high or allowance is Review of Progress from 2000-2007 with Part IIA of
made for the price imposed for carbon emissions the Environmental Protection Act. It concludes that
permits – it also highlights that the cost is higher councils have inspected less than 10% of their areas
than nuclear generated power. The government’s for contaminated sites. The EA believes that there
response states that it “accepts that most renew- could be 325,000 contaminated sites across England
able electricity technologies currently need finan- and Wales. It also says that 781 sites have been
cial support to make them cost competitive with determined by councils as contaminated under the
conventional fossil fuel generation”. Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act.
Information:
www.publications.parliament.uk Information:
www.environment-agency.gov.uk
14 May 2009 ❘ Sustainable Business
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