overview of low carbon economy policy in the west midlands · overview of low carbon economy policy...

Overview of Low Carbon Economy

Policy in the West Midlands

How to develop Green Collar Jobs in Your Area 30th

November 2009

Dr Simon Slater

Executive Director

[email protected]

sustainabilitywestmidlands.org.uk

mailto:[email protected]

Who we are

We are the sustainability adviser for the leaders of the West Midlands.

– Government recognised ‘regional sustainability champion body’

– Our Board is private sector led and cross-sector representative

– We are a not-for-profit company, that works with our members in the business, public and voluntary sectors.

Our role is to act as a catalyst for change through our:

– policy advice to leaders

– developing practical cross-sector solutions with our members, and

– share success through our communications.

Overview

1. The Regional Sustainability Vision and Challenges

2. The UK’s First Low Carbon Regional Economic Strategy

3. Emerging Findings from Regional Growth into the Low Carbon Economy Study

4. Key Lessons when developing your own strategies

The West Midlands at a glance • 5.3 Million people – 9%

of UK total

• Birmingham is 2nd largest

city in UK – population of

more than 1 million.

• 75% of the UK ’s

population is within 5

hours drive.

• Most ethnically diverse

region in the UK outside of

London.

• Highest concentration of

manufacturers in the UK

• 80% of the region is rural

Our Vision

By 2020 businesses and communities are thriving in a West Midlands that is environmentally sustainable and socially just.

By 2012 our leaders are clear on what this looks like, have set milestones and their organisations are making strong progress.

‘Low carbon vision’ begins to set out what is possible now in terms of energy, transport, construction, demographic change to reach 2020…just add leadership and next steps

The Regional Sustainability Challenge

– The Productivity Gap - £10 billion plus – productivity & worklessness

– The Carbon Gap – need to focus on transport, waste, decentralised energy, energy efficiency

– Quality of Life Gap – health inequalities, basket of indicators such Index Sustainable Economic Welfare – vary across region, externalities

– Confidence Gap – poor promotion within and outside region of good practice

– Leadership Gap – varied understanding on sustainability as overall framework for action, business often ahead of public sector, regional governance ‘unfinished & uncertain’

Overview





Why a low-carbon economic strategy?

• The first Regional Economic

Strategy to be produced since the

publication of the Stern Review:

“Low-carbon economy is the pro-

growth strategy for the long-term”

• Opportunity to address both the

regional productivity challenge and

carbon challenge.

• ‘Connecting to Success’ published

in January 2008 and Delivery

Framework in May 2008. Full story

covered in ‘Evidence of success ‘–

Dec 2008

Defining Low Carbon Economy

• There is no official government definition of a low-carbon

economy so the region produced its own, definition :

“ An economy that produces goods and services of increasing

value while reducing the associated greenhouse gases in their

production, use and disposal…”

- Connecting to Success, page 89

• Embraces the region’s strengths in engineering, science and

technology to deliver low-carbon solutions to national and

international markets.

The scale of the output challenge

Gross Value Added – a measure of the net total output or income generated by an economy. Essentially it is the

difference between the value of the goods and services produced in an economy and the cost of raw materials

and other inputs which were used in their production.

The scale of the carbon challenge

CO2

(e) is an abbreviation of 'carbon dioxide equivalent' and is the internationally recognised measure of greenhouse gas emissions. The sources of greenhouse gas

emissions include carbon dioxide (CO2

), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N

2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF

6).

Developing new policies

• Developed policy areas that could be influenced by the new

economic strategy and that would address the productivity and

carbon challenges at the same time.

• Developed a benchmark of what an ‘ideal’ low-carbon

economic strategy could look like.

• Assess the extent which ‘Connecting to Success’ supported

these key policy areas during several stages of development as

a parallel process to the wider sustainability appraisal.

Improving the Strategy

Benchmarking against other regions

Prioritising actions and programmes

The actions against the policy areas were prioritised in terms of:

• Economic benefit

• Potential to reduce carbon

• Ease of implementation

• Alignment with other regional social and environmental policy

Main programmes were around:

• Smarter Working / ICT

• Decentralised energy & waste infrastructure

• Resource Efficiency Support for Business (energy & waste)

• Stimulation and support for diversification into Green Markets e.g.

Procurement & R&D

Delivery - Monitoring Progress

• Delivery of the Strategy is monitored using the following

indicators:

– Tonnes of CO2e per £10,000 GVA – Headline Indicator

– Regional Indicator of Sustainable Economic Wellbeing - Headline

Indicator

– Total Industry and commercial energy consumption (GWh) per

£billion GVA

– Percentage of people usually working from home or travelling to

work using sustainable means of transport

– Growth of companies in the region providing low-carbon products

and services (to be developed)

– Industrial and commercial waste indicator (to be developed)

– Natural environment indicator (under development)

Delivery - Monitoring Progress (cont)

• Underpinning the strategy is the commitment to valuing the

environment while delivering a lower-carbon economy.

• Advantage West Midlands will contribute towards this aim through

creating / safeguarding 50,000 jobs and reducing the CO2e emissions

investments by 500,000 Tonnes per year by 2010/11.

Delivery – progress to date

Delivery – progress to date (cont)

Monitoring of Strategy Actions - Overall good progress

• AWM carbon reduction from investments on target of 150,000 tonnes in

2008/9

• Smarter Working launched to help flexible working / use of ICT

• National Centre for Low Carbon Vehicles, Science City, Power

Academy

• Waste infrastructure programme

• Renewable Energy and Supply Chain and deployment programmes –

but more coordination required

• Business support via good practice networks e.g. Business Futures or

Business link

• BUT – more sub-regional targeting at risks and opportunities required

Overview





Regional Growth into Low Carbon Study

Aims to:

• identify key areas of economic risk and opportunity for economy

• monitor diversification into low carbon economy

• sub-regionalise existing regional low carbon evidence base

• Study Chaired by SWM with AWM, WMRO, Carbon Trust, Regional

Economic Development Officers Group.

• Sub-regional component which can be further tailored by local

authorities at workshop on 15th Jan 2010.

• City Region Leadership Programme also drawing on this work to look

at potential joint actions within wider region.

Initial findings: economic risks and

opportunities

• Low exposure in terms of productivity e.g. sectors that contribute highest GVA often low energy users

• But around 30% of employees within City Region are within sectors that have high exposure to rising energy costs/security and carbon legislation

• City Region identified as biggest driver for wider region in terms of creating new low carbon markets

• Greatest opportunities are in: manufacturing of building products, transport/fuel equipment, energy generation/ efficiency, waste reprocessing, agri-food, ICT, and R&D

Initial Findings: Baseline of where we are

Good practice with local authorities around construction, transport, waste, R&D and businesses improving efficiency of production and growing into new areas.

Not yet replicated to scale or coordinated

Rural areas in region often ahead of agenda

Nationally City Regions of Manchester and Leeds ahead in terms of pooling resources, procurement, joint-climate agency, linking green space maintenance to future jobs fund.

Globally sub-regions in USA, Germany, Scandinavia, South Korea, China, aggressively creating low carbon markets to stimulate investment

Emerging next steps to improve

performance

Improved business support and good practice in improving efficiency of existing business, supported by waste and energy infrastructure, smarter working/travel

Link green space maintenance to future jobs fund to create immediate supported employment, and longer term natural assets

Mass scale housing retrofit programme – stimulate new products and employment

Public Procurement to create new low carbon markets, drive innovation, and efficiency that existing business base well placed to exploit

Pooling of resources – joint agency to improve coordination, attraction of investment

Overview





Key Lessons

• Definition is important – productivity & carbon of overall

economy

• Low Carbon does not guarantee environmental or social

progress – need SD review, including longer term issues.

• Identifying the scale of the challenge & within target of 2020

• Focus on what can be influenced

Key Lessons (cont)

• Prioritise actions on a range of investment / benefit criteria

• Balance of productivity verses jobs safeguarding / creating,

tackling worklessness

• Create new markets in areas local economy has strengths

to exploit

• Skills and investment follow longer-term demand and

certainty created by leadership

Overview of Low Carbon Economy

Policy in the West Midlands

How to develop Green Collar Jobs in Your Area 30th

November 2009

Dr Simon Slater

Executive Director

[email protected]

sustainabilitywestmidlands.org.uk

mailto:[email protected]

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