Speech: What we talk about when we talk about green cities

‘What we talk about when we talk about green cities’

Emma Howard Boyd, Chair of the Environment Agency

Manchester Green Summit, 21 March 2018

In an article for the New Statesman in January, the editor of the Today Programme, Sarah Sands, wrote about the type of language that works in newspapers and words that work on the radio.

She shared an anecdote about working with Prince Harry, who guest edited the show over Christmas.

During an on air discussion about supermarkets and plastic, the Prince wanted the presenter to ask:

“Do we need to create a circular rather than a linear economy?”

An important question that I’m sure many people will want to discuss today.

But instead of asking that, the editor pressed the button and said to the presenter:

“Say, should there be more pressure from the government?”

–

This is an important lesson for those of us who care about green issues.

If we are to persuade people of our cause we should note that even Prince Harry can’t get the “circular economy” on the radio.

–

Of course – there are good reasons for using nerdy terms like “the circular economy”, “natural capital” and “climate resilience”.

But, the seemingly impossible scale of these issues is bigger than our day to day activities.
So, the words we use as shorthand, aren’t part of everyday language.

–

I want to thank the Mayor for inviting me to join you today.

Manchester is the perfect place to talk about these things.

As the cradle of the industrial revolution – and a place that has reinvented itself more than once – these huge global challenges are alive in your city.

In Manchester:

  • the circular economy is emptying your recycling bin;
  • natural capital is flowing into the Manchester Ship Canal;
  • And, climate resilience is walking through your sewers.

(I know this because I have walked in your sewers with the Environment Agency’s confined spaces team – who work to reduce flood risk from the rivers beneath Manchester’s streets.)

The challenges facing the world in the next century will be felt most by people living in cities.

The Committee on Climate Change has identified increased flooding as the biggest climate risk facing the UK.

And, in November 2017, Moody’s rating agency warned cities to address climate risk or face credit downgrades.
Climate change will bring heavier storms than the one you saw here on Boxing Day 2015.

We must ensure Manchester’s investments and ambitions are not undermined by the weather.

We need to stop force majeure from becoming run-of-the-mill.

–

So, what to do?

Well, the short answer is you need to attract enough industry and development to invest in resilient infrastructure, so that you can keep your power, water, communications and transport running smoothly in all conditions – while ensuring that you don’t lose the natural environment and culture that made people want to live in Manchester in the first place.

–

I said it was the short answer, not that it was an easy answer.

But, Manchester has faithfully reinvented itself before, so let’s roll our sleeves up and do it again.

–

There are many people who are here today to help – and as Chair of the Environment Agency, I want us to be your partner of choice in your ambition to become one of Europe’s leading green cities.

As an emergency responder, our first priority is your safety in severe weather.

Our broader role is to protect and enhance the environment while ensuring sustainable growth and development.

We’re working with Business in the Community to bring companies in Manchester together with local communities and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority to deliver sustainable drainage in schools and for the NHS.

For four years, we’ve been working in the GMCA – and its predecessors – allowing us to enhance the contribution of natural assets like clean air, water and green space while protecting major investments.

For instance, the £1 billion redevelopment of the old Royal Mail Depot near Piccadilly.

We are supporting GMCA’s involvement with the Rockefeller Foundation’s 100 Resilient Cities programme, helping Manchester prepare to meet the challenges of 21st century life.

Through your selection as the Government’s Urban Pioneer, we are exploring the potential for taking a natural capital approach to development decisions.

We are working to improve water quality in the city’s rivers and we have restocked the River Irwell with 10,000 course fish for local anglers.

–

Most of all, we are part of Manchester.

Our work, ably led by area director Lee Rawlinson, creates new jobs and local skills among colleagues and partners who are proud to call Manchester home.

The Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan puts natural capital at the heart of the industrial strategy.

It also says we will make sure “that all policies, programmes and investment decisions take into account the possible extent of climate change this century.”

We currently have 1659 kilometres of flood assets in Greater Manchester, including the recent £10 million Salford Flood Improvements Scheme, delivered with Salford City Council, which protects nearly 2,000 properties.

As well as protecting existing development, it enables over 90 hectares of regeneration in Lower Broughton and delivered 5.5 hectares of new wetland habitat, 10 hectares of wildflower meadow and 2.5 kilometres of new footpath and cycleway.

By giving people safe lanes to cycle on, we can also reduce emissions from the roads – helping everyone breathe cleaner air.

While looking at the potential for that scheme, we discovered 344 kilometres of Greater Manchester’s flood assets are within 10 metres of a cycle path.

So, I am announcing today that we will work with Chris Boardman, the walking and cycling commissioner, to make our flood assets part of the city’s cycle lanes.

This is a fantastic example of how to combine natural capital, with climate resilience, wildlife protection and the creation of green spaces.

–

But I realise that such projects usually require a lot of private sector investment to get off the ground.

We’re working on it.

I’ve got 25 years’ experience in the financial services industry and I’m a member of the government’s Green Finance Taskforce, which reports in to Claire Perry, who we just heard from, and the Treasury.

We’re pushing for the development of natural capital thinking in the UK to create more opportunities to generate revenue from projects that improve the natural environment.

Measuring the benefits of these will sharpen the business case for investment and help to unlock private finance for environmental projects, thereby supporting the resilience of UK infrastructure.

An understanding of natural capital will certainly help climate resilience, but how does the circular economy fit in?

–

At the end of 2017, Blue Planet 2 focussed minds on the impacts of plastic pollution.

That television programme – called “public service broadcasting at its finest” by the Prime Minister, has already made a difference to our lives, with the extension of the plastic bag charge.

But it seems tackling plastic pollution is a bit like spring cleaning: as soon as you start, you find more dirt.
Just last week, researchers from The University of Manchester told us they had found the highest levels of microplastics anywhere in the world in the River Tame, in Denton.

–

We’re working with the water industry and leading academics to investigate microplastics entering the environment.

This work will inform plans to tackle the pollution at the source, before it reaches local rivers.

In January, I was in Cornwall announcing £750,000 for a scheme to fight plastic washing up on beaches – a pilot scheme that we hope will inform further action around the country.

I am hopeful, but I don’t underestimate the challenge.

Councils are already feeling the Chinese government’s decision to ban imports of plastic waste, as this adds millions of tonnes of waste to our current systems.

Waste management businesses are the unsung heroes of the environmental movement.

Their work to ensure that the Right Waste goes to the Right Place, is an essential service.

Unfortunately, good waste businesses are too often undermined.

The economic impact of waste crime in England in 2015 was estimated to be at least £604 million – not to mention the incalculable misery and ill health it brings to people all over the country.

The Environment Agency stands with Greater Manchester police and authorities all over the country in our commitment to stamp out environmental crime.

In January, new powers were introduced for my colleagues to lock gates and block access to problem waste sites.
Last year, we were closing over 2 illegal waste sites every day and we will always push for prosecution.

–

For example, last year:

  • Barry Kilroe was sentenced in Manchester Crown Court to 15 months after breaching permit conditions at two waste sites that caught fire – closing the M60 motorway and the Manchester to Liverpool railway line.

  • David Shrigley (not the artist) was sentenced to 40 days for refusing to remove waste from a site in Cornwall that posed a serious fire risk and environmental harm.

  • Martin McDonagh ran away to Ireland to avoid 20 months for removing household waste in Plymouth and dumping it randomly out the back of a blue transit van. We’re pursuing him with a European arrest warrant.

  • Lee Hazel in Wiltshire was given a confiscation order of £1.97million, with an 8 year custodial sentence should he fail to pay, following the disposal of waste on a farm and the illegal importation and treatment of unpermitted waste.

  • And, on October 30, 6 former corporate officers of waste companies in Nottinghamshire got a mixture of immediate prison sentences, suspended prison sentences and community orders following illegal waste operations in the Midlands.

These are just a few examples of our action.

I am proud of my colleagues in the Environment Agency for their bravery in bringing these criminals to justice and I am pleased that following sentencing guidelines in 2014, courts began imposing higher fines for environmental offences.

However, for the damage these crimes do to the environment and to communities’ health and wellbeing; for their flagrant disregard for public safety; for the money taken out of pockets of responsible local businesses, and – in some cases – into the pockets of organised crime: I still don’t think the deterrent is strong enough.

–

Today, I am calling for higher fines and custodial sentences for waste criminals.

How we deal with the rising tide of waste is a global challenge, but no one should have to live next door to this disgusting criminality:

Not by the sea; not in the countryside; and not in Manchester.

Of course, I realise we won’t solve all of our waste problems with jail time.

Waste criminals are exploiting the weaknesses of a linear economy.

In this role, I’ve visited illegal waste sites, and I can tell you that packaging from even the most responsible businesses ends up there.

All companies need to consider their duty of care in fully understanding where their waste products go.
I look forward to hearing from Marks & Spencer’s Mike Barry – speaking next – about this area of their business.

–

Everyone should be challenging themselves to do more.

A circular economy is a useful target to aim for.

Ultimately, the circular economy, natural capital and climate resilience are simply useful pointers to a better way of organising ourselves.

And they apply in Manchester as much as anywhere else in the world.

If they sound complicated – that’s because life is pretty complicated.

Maybe we should take the advice of the American writer Nora Ephron who said:

“It will be a little messy, but embrace the mess. It will be complicated, but rejoice in the complications.”

–

As we try to understand these vast, complicated challenges today at the Green Summit, I want to leave you with one very simple thought:

The Environment Agency is here to help.

Thank you.



Speech: What we talk about when we talk about green cities

‘What we talk about when we talk about green cities’

Emma Howard Boyd, Chair of the Environment Agency

Manchester Green Summit, 21 March 2018

In an article for the New Statesman in January, the editor of the Today Programme, Sarah Sands, wrote about the type of language that works in newspapers and words that work on the radio.

She shared an anecdote about working with Prince Harry, who guest edited the show over Christmas.

During an on air discussion about supermarkets and plastic, the Prince wanted the presenter to ask:

“Do we need to create a circular rather than a linear economy?”

An important question that I’m sure many people will want to discuss today.

But instead of asking that, the editor pressed the button and said to the presenter:

“Say, should there be more pressure from the government?”

–

This is an important lesson for those of us who care about green issues.

If we are to persuade people of our cause we should note that even Prince Harry can’t get the “circular economy” on the radio.

–

Of course – there are good reasons for using nerdy terms like “the circular economy”, “natural capital” and “climate resilience”.

But, the seemingly impossible scale of these issues is bigger than our day to day activities. So, the words we use as shorthand, aren’t part of everyday language.

–

I want to thank the Mayor for inviting me to join you today.

Manchester is the perfect place to talk about these things.

As the cradle of the industrial revolution – and a place that has reinvented itself more than once – these huge global challenges are alive in your city.

In Manchester:

  • the circular economy is emptying your recycling bin;
  • natural capital is flowing into the Manchester Ship Canal;
  • And, climate resilience is walking through your sewers.

(I know this because I have walked in your sewers with the Environment Agency’s confined spaces team – who work to reduce flood risk from the rivers beneath Manchester’s streets.)

The challenges facing the world in the next century will be felt most by people living in cities.

The Committee on Climate Change has identified increased flooding as the biggest climate risk facing the UK.

And, in November 2017, Moody’s rating agency warned cities to address climate risk or face credit downgrades. Climate change will bring heavier storms than the one you saw here on Boxing Day 2015.

We must ensure Manchester’s investments and ambitions are not undermined by the weather.

We need to stop force majeure from becoming run-of-the-mill.

–

So, what to do?

Well, the short answer is you need to attract enough industry and development to invest in resilient infrastructure, so that you can keep your power, water, communications and transport running smoothly in all conditions – while ensuring that you don’t lose the natural environment and culture that made people want to live in Manchester in the first place.

–

I said it was the short answer, not that it was an easy answer.

But, Manchester has faithfully reinvented itself before, so let’s roll our sleeves up and do it again.

–

There are many people who are here today to help – and as Chair of the Environment Agency, I want us to be your partner of choice in your ambition to become one of Europe’s leading green cities.

As an emergency responder, our first priority is your safety in severe weather.

Our broader role is to protect and enhance the environment while ensuring sustainable growth and development.

We’re working with Business in the Community to bring companies in Manchester together with local communities and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority to deliver sustainable drainage in schools and for the NHS.

For four years, we’ve been working in the GMCA – and its predecessors – allowing us to enhance the contribution of natural assets like clean air, water and green space while protecting major investments.

For instance, the £1 billion redevelopment of the old Royal Mail Depot near Piccadilly.

We are supporting GMCA’s involvement with the Rockefeller Foundation’s 100 Resilient Cities programme, helping Manchester prepare to meet the challenges of 21st century life.

Through your selection as the Government’s Urban Pioneer, we are exploring the potential for taking a natural capital approach to development decisions.

We are working to improve water quality in the city’s rivers and we have restocked the River Irwell with 10,000 course fish for local anglers.

–

Most of all, we are part of Manchester.

Our work, ably led by area director Lee Rawlinson, creates new jobs and local skills among colleagues and partners who are proud to call Manchester home.

The Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan puts natural capital at the heart of the industrial strategy.

It also says we will make sure “that all policies, programmes and investment decisions take into account the possible extent of climate change this century.”

We currently have 1659 kilometres of flood assets in Greater Manchester, including the recent £10 million Salford Flood Improvements Scheme, delivered with Salford City Council, which protects nearly 2,000 properties.

As well as protecting existing development, it enables over 90 hectares of regeneration in Lower Broughton and delivered 5.5 hectares of new wetland habitat, 10 hectares of wildflower meadow and 2.5 kilometres of new footpath and cycleway.

By giving people safe lanes to cycle on, we can also reduce emissions from the roads – helping everyone breathe cleaner air.

While looking at the potential for that scheme, we discovered 344 kilometres of Greater Manchester’s flood assets are within 10 metres of a cycle path.

So, I am announcing today that we will work with Chris Boardman, the walking and cycling commissioner, to make our flood assets part of the city’s cycle lanes.

This is a fantastic example of how to combine natural capital, with climate resilience, wildlife protection and the creation of green spaces.

–

But I realise that such projects usually require a lot of private sector investment to get off the ground.

We’re working on it.

I’ve got 25 years’ experience in the financial services industry and I’m a member of the government’s Green Finance Taskforce, which reports in to Claire Perry, who we just heard from, and the Treasury.

We’re pushing for the development of natural capital thinking in the UK to create more opportunities to generate revenue from projects that improve the natural environment.

Measuring the benefits of these will sharpen the business case for investment and help to unlock private finance for environmental projects, thereby supporting the resilience of UK infrastructure.

An understanding of natural capital will certainly help climate resilience, but how does the circular economy fit in?

–

At the end of 2017, Blue Planet 2 focussed minds on the impacts of plastic pollution.

That television programme – called “public service broadcasting at its finest” by the Prime Minister, has already made a difference to our lives, with the extension of the plastic bag charge.

But it seems tackling plastic pollution is a bit like spring cleaning: as soon as you start, you find more dirt. Just last week, researchers from The University of Manchester told us they had found the highest levels of microplastics anywhere in the world in the River Tame, in Denton.

–

We’re working with the water industry and leading academics to investigate microplastics entering the environment.

This work will inform plans to tackle the pollution at the source, before it reaches local rivers.

In January, I was in Cornwall announcing £750,000 for a scheme to fight plastic washing up on beaches – a pilot scheme that we hope will inform further action around the country.

I am hopeful, but I don’t underestimate the challenge.

Councils are already feeling the Chinese government’s decision to ban imports of plastic waste, as this adds millions of tonnes of waste to our current systems.

Waste management businesses are the unsung heroes of the environmental movement.

Their work to ensure that the Right Waste goes to the Right Place, is an essential service.

Unfortunately, good waste businesses are too often undermined.

The economic impact of waste crime in England in 2015 was estimated to be at least £604 million – not to mention the incalculable misery and ill health it brings to people all over the country.

The Environment Agency stands with Greater Manchester police and authorities all over the country in our commitment to stamp out environmental crime.

In January, new powers were introduced for my colleagues to lock gates and block access to problem waste sites. Last year, we were closing over 2 illegal waste sites every day and we will always push for prosecution.

–

For example, last year:

  • Barry Kilroe was sentenced in Manchester Crown Court to 15 months after breaching permit conditions at two waste sites that caught fire – closing the M60 motorway and the Manchester to Liverpool railway line.

  • David Shrigley (not the artist) was sentenced to 40 days for refusing to remove waste from a site in Cornwall that posed a serious fire risk and environmental harm.

  • Martin McDonagh ran away to Ireland to avoid 20 months for removing household waste in Plymouth and dumping it randomly out the back of a blue transit van. We’re pursuing him with a European arrest warrant.

  • Lee Hazel in Wiltshire was given a confiscation order of £1.97million, with an 8 year custodial sentence should he fail to pay, following the disposal of waste on a farm and the illegal importation and treatment of unpermitted waste.

  • And, on October 30, 6 former corporate officers of waste companies in Nottinghamshire got a mixture of immediate prison sentences, suspended prison sentences and community orders following illegal waste operations in the Midlands.

These are just a few examples of our action.

I am proud of my colleagues in the Environment Agency for their bravery in bringing these criminals to justice and I am pleased that following sentencing guidelines in 2014, courts began imposing higher fines for environmental offences.

However, for the damage these crimes do to the environment and to communities’ health and wellbeing; for their flagrant disregard for public safety; for the money taken out of pockets of responsible local businesses, and – in some cases – into the pockets of organised crime: I still don’t think the deterrent is strong enough.

–

Today, I am calling for higher fines and custodial sentences for waste criminals.

How we deal with the rising tide of waste is a global challenge, but no one should have to live next door to this disgusting criminality:

Not by the sea; not in the countryside; and not in Manchester.

Of course, I realise we won’t solve all of our waste problems with jail time.

Waste criminals are exploiting the weaknesses of a linear economy.

In this role, I’ve visited illegal waste sites, and I can tell you that packaging from even the most responsible businesses ends up there.

All companies need to consider their duty of care in fully understanding where their waste products go. I look forward to hearing from Marks & Spencer’s Mike Barry – speaking next – about this area of their business.

–

Everyone should be challenging themselves to do more.

A circular economy is a useful target to aim for.

Ultimately, the circular economy, natural capital and climate resilience are simply useful pointers to a better way of organising ourselves.

And they apply in Manchester as much as anywhere else in the world.

If they sound complicated – that’s because life is pretty complicated.

Maybe we should take the advice of the American writer Nora Ephron who said:

“It will be a little messy, but embrace the mess. It will be complicated, but rejoice in the complications.”

–

As we try to understand these vast, complicated challenges today at the Green Summit, I want to leave you with one very simple thought:

The Environment Agency is here to help.

Thank you.



News story: Supporting agricultural innovation in Colombia: apply for funding

Coffee plantation near Manizales, Colombia Coffee plantation near Manizales, Colombia.

Innovate UK, through the Colombian Prosperity Fund Programme, is to invest up to £3 million in collaborative business projects that address agricultural challenges in regions affected by conflict in Colombia.

A focus on female farmers

The aim of this competition is to help farmers in Colombia, particularly female smallholders, to improve their farming methods and adopt innovations faster.

It should help the country meet its international development objectives in agriculture. This includes to:

  • improve the health and welfare of farmers, particularly women
  • create more sustainable intensification
  • promote diversity in diet and nutrition
  • improve rural income and food security
  • make it easier to trade agricultural products

UK businesses can apply with early or late-stage innovation projects that support the uptake of new technologies and innovations. These should have the potential to advance sustainable intensification in Colombia and deliver economic impact across the agri-tech industry.

Projects may take ideas from any sector or discipline. They will need to meet the Official Development Assistance criteria and the International Development (Gender Equality) Act.

Competition information

  • the competition opens on 26 March 2018, and the deadline for registration is at midday on 18 July 2018
  • you can work in collaboration with other businesses, academic organisations, charities, public sector organisations and research organisations. You must work with a Colombian partner
  • you must carry out your project work in the UK, Colombia or both
  • we expect early-stage awards to have costs between £150,000 and £500,000 and last up to 18 months. Late-stage awards can have costs between £200,000 and £800,000 and last up to 18 months
  • businesses can attract up to 70% of their project costs
  • there will be briefing and brokerage events on 5 April 2018

Published 21 March 2018



News story: New GP contract agreed for 2018 to 2019

New GP contract agreed for 2018 to 2019 – GOV.UK

The new contract will see a £256 million investment in general practice.

placeholder

The contract was agreed by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), NHS Employers on behalf of NHS England and the British Medical Association’s General Practitioners Committee (GPC).

The deal includes a pay uplift, together with a 3% increase to expense claims, totalling £102.9 million.

The investment also includes £60 million to cover increased indemnity costs incurred in the past financial year.

The contract will come into effect on 1 April 2018.

The contract also includes:

  • an agreement that will pave the way to GPs using the NHS electronic prescription service instead of issuing paper prescriptions

  • an agreement that GPC, NHS England and DHSC will work together to reduce the administrative burden in general practice so that GPs can spend more time with patients

  • a renewed focus on the analysis of appointment data to improve GP workflows

  • supporting the further roll out of the NHS e-referral service into general practice

  • an agreement with the GPC to work with DHSC and NHS England to establish the extent and reasons behind locum use and cost

  • a commitment to end advertising of private services by GP practices which should be provided free of charge by the NHS

Published 21 March 2018



News story: New UK mission opens in Chad

The UK opened a new diplomatic office in N’Djamena, Chad on 21 March. It is the first UK mission in the country and will support the work of Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Department for International Development staff. This new platform will enable the UK to work more closely with an important regional partner in the Sahel and North Africa.

The Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said:

Promoting British interests around the world is at the very heart of Global Britain, forging new trading relationships and building new ties with old friends. Our new office in Chad will strengthen our diplomatic, defence and development engagement in the Lake Chad Basin and Sahel region and shows the importance we place on our already strong relationship with the country.

Chad is one of our key partners in the fight against terrorism and together we are determined to root out extremism and build a more secure and stable region.

The International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt said:

Earlier this year, we committed to bringing our world class development expertise to work in partnership with the French across the Sahel region.

With this office we have increased the UK’s footprint in the region so we can do even more to address some of the toughest development challenges in Chad. We are improving health and education, and building resilience to climate shocks. Our work will support the delivery of stability, security and prosperity in Chad, which will benefit us all.

Chad hosts the headquarters for the military force tackling Boko Haram, the Multinational Joint Task Force in the Lake Chad region, which the UK supports with funding and military personnel. Chad is also a key player fighting terrorism in Mali and the Sahel.

This announcement complements the Prime Minister’s announcement in January 2018 of a closer partnership with France to stabilise the Sahel. This partnership includes support to Operation Barkhane and for the G5 Sahel Joint Force.

  • The joint FCO-DFID UK office is co-located with the EU Delegation in Chad. It is a subordinate post to the British High Commission Yaoundé, and will continue to have a non-resident Ambassador in Cameroon. British nationals requiring consular assistance should contact the British High Commission in Yaoundé.

  • DFID’s ‘ Providing Humanitarian Assistance in Sahel Emergencies’ programme has supported over 1.5 million people in the Sahel with life-saving humanitarian aid; since 2015 and over 1.8 million with the effect of climate change and other major shocks. In addition to humanitarian support, UK Aid in Chad is supporting populations to build events in some of the most climate-vulnerable regions of Chad alongside providing support to build adaptive social protection systems for those communities who are most at risk.

  • Since October 2015, four UK military personnel have deployed to Chad in support of counter-extremist activity in the region.

  • Last year, the UK gave £5 million to support the Multinational Joint Task Force, the regional military force (headquartered in Chad) tackling Boko Haram

Further information