East Midlands EXPO 2009 - Greening the Economy

The sessions will take place during the afternoon of the East Midlands EXPO and will be introduced and managed by a facilitator, who will provide feedback and provoke discussion to the audience throughout the afternoon.

Each talk will take place at a table seating around 10-12 delegates, with 4 sessions throughout the afternoon. If a presenter is only taking part in one session then anyone who wants to hear from that presenter will have to make that their priority.

For more information about the ‘15 Minutes of Fame’ sessions please visit the 15 Minutes of Fame webpage. This page includes information on how to reserve your place for the sessions.

Low-carbon: making it a high priority for East of England businesses

Resource Efficiency - Bizmapeast

A programme from the East of England Development Agency (EEDA) will help businesses across the region to make bottom line savings by introducing ‘quick wins’ such as the re-use of materials and checking water leaks.

A £2.1 million business support scheme, Resource Efficiency East (REE), will provide small and medium-sized businesses with free advice on making financial savings through more efficient management of water, energy and materials.

The agency has granted £1.5 million to REE, with £600,000 from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) which is managed in the region by EEDA.

Kate Haigh, Senior Executive on Sustainable Development at EEDA said:

“A typical business can save £1,000 a year for every employee by introducing ‘quick wins’ such as the re-use of waste materials and regular checking for water leaks.

“Not only does resource efficiency make excellent financial sense, but it also has knock-on environmental benefits, reducing the use of our natural resources and carbon emissions.

“It is also good for business as customers are placing a greater emphasis on suppliers to reduce their environmental impact and prove their green credentials, as well as offering value for money.” 

Specialist advisors from the REE team will work with businesses to offer commercially-orientated advice on how to implement appropriate changes.  An on-site review can identify areas for resource savings by systematically examining the use of energy, water and materials. This will identify opportunities to reduce their use in key areas such as electricity consumption, power usage, heating and cooling, waste reduction and water conservation. Importantly, REE will also offer support on implementing the measures that can save businesses money.

Simon Chiva, of REE, said that businesses accounted for 18% of the region’s CO2 emissions: “The Resource Efficiency East project can help businesses use resources more effectively and efficiently, driving down costs and improving profitability. By encouraging businesses to reduce resource use and save money, we can also have a positive impact on reducing the region’s carbon emissions.”

For more information visit www.resourceefficiencyeast.org.uk

Other information about improving and growing your business through resource efficiency can be found on the environment line of EEDA’s Business Map - www.bizmapeast.co.uk.

Taken from: http://www.eeda.org.uk/4202.asp

Climate Change, Sustainable Development and the New Economy

Green Light Trust has arranged a very special event bringing together thought leaders in this important field, with guest speakers including Dr Alan Knight, OBE, Single Planet Living.

Dr Alan Knight, OBE, will talk about the strategically implications of climate change and other sustainable development challenges; shaping the opportunities that arise from embracing these issues into the core of the business.

He will be joined by an esteemed panel consisting of:

Simon Fineman, chief executive, Timbmet
Dr Michael Gells, managing director, Xanfeon
Dr David Hall, chief executive, Quotient Bioresearch
Steve Love, head of culture, Virgin Money
All are active participants of the new economy agenda and great supporters of Green Light Trust.

You will go away with:

• wider knowledge and understanding of the situation and how it affects you and your business
• skills, knowledge and the ability to make a significant difference
• better prepared to reach your C02 reduction commitments
• pledges on your engagement in transforming your businesses and support in fulfilling them.

Date and time

3.00pm, 13 July 2009

Location

Green Light Trust
The Foundry
Lawshall
IP29 4PJ

Register now

To register please contact Nigel Hughes, chief executive, Green Light Trust on 01284 830829 or at the following address:

Green Light Trust
The Foundry
Bury Road
Lawshall
Suffolk
IP29 4PJ

Fax: 01284 830845

Please note there are only 25 spaces available at £45 per person so you are recommended you book your place now.

Report identifies long-term opportunities in UK environmental consultancy market

A new report from Environment Analyst concludes that the UK environmental consultancy sector grew by 9% in 2008 to reach a turnover of £1.46 billion. This marks a deceleration on the average 13% per annum growth of the previous four years (2004-07).

Consultancy is inherently a lagging indicator of economic cycles due to work signed off in the pipeline months in advance, so it was not until the last few months of 2008 when the tide turned and environmental consultancies were suddenly struggling to keep all of their staff busy. It was during this period of uncertainty that Environment Analyst conducted its first annual benchmark survey of firms active in the sector.

The final report – Market Assessment of the UK Environmental Consulting Sector 2009 – forecasts that the overall market will be flat this year, growing by low single digits at best, but still outperforming the economy as a whole and related areas such as management consulting.

Environmental consultancy disciplines with strong underlying regulatory and political drivers – such as climate change & energy and waste management – are expected to be most resilient. Demand from both the traditional energy sector (oil, gas and nuclear) and renewables industry are also still growing strongly for the environmental consultancy market as a whole. There is also healthy growth in government-funded projects, with the public sector accounting for just under a third of total market revenues in 2008.

Export commodity

Another positive finding is that UK environmental consultancy expertise is very much in demand globally, with overseas work and projects for international clients accounting around a quarter of our survey sample’s total UK revenues. Extrapolating these figures to the market as a whole would mean international work brings in revenues of some £350 million on top of UK-sourced contracts.

The report’s author, Environment Analyst Editor Liz Trew comments: “British environmental consultancies have developed world-leading expertise in areas such as climate change and carbon management and are successfully exporting their services. Our survey shows that most are hoping to win more overseas work over the coming months to help offset the softening domestic market – with the Middle East emerging as having the best growth prospects for these firms globally in spite of the region’s recent problems.”

Recession impacts

Of the twelve disciplines which Environment Analyst considers to form the core of the environmental consultancy market, the strongest performers in 2008 were climate change & energy and ecological/landscape services – both growing in excess of 20%. Growth in revenues from environmental impact assessment (EIA) and related services also increased above the overall market rate last year, but will be inevitably curtailed in 2009 due to a slowdown in the pipeline of development support work.

The survey findings confirm that contaminated land, the biggest single income stream for environmental consultancies (at 16% of total market revenues), has taken the biggest hit from the economic downturn of all the major service areas. Around half of the consultancies surveyed were experiencing contracting revenues from this field of work at the time of the survey, while revenues were flat for a further 20%.

Liz Trew comments: “Overall, the contaminated land segment continued to grow by a respectable 7% in 2008 – largely thanks to projects completed in the first half of the year – but is set to fall sharply this year as brownfield development in the commercial sector has effectively ground to a halt in many areas.”

A cutback in discretionary spend among specific client sectors is also evident from the survey responses. Two thirds of consultancies reported a reduction in revenues from the construction/property sector – with one in ten suffering a drop of 15% or more. Half of consultancies also saw a decline in project spend coming from financial & professional organisations as the banking sector crisis accelerated from the middle of 2008. Revenues from the manufacturing industry were also down or flat for 75% of consultancies.

Further information is available at http://environment-analyst.com/intelligence

Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research receives £4.5m boost

The Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research has received a £4.5m of new investment to further groundbreaking and independent research.

The funding which, is a combination of UK Research Council and University of East Anglia (UEA) investment, will ensure the long-term continued development of the Tyndall Centre - an influential partnership of seven leading universities researching sustainable responses to the changing climate.

The increasingly urgent dimension of climate change demands interdisciplinary and systems-orientated research. With this new investment the Tyndall Centre and its UEA headquarters are now further equipped to respond to these challenges.

“In a very short time the Tyndall Centre has developed an outstanding international reputation and the UEA is working together with the Tyndall partnership to ensure that its intellectual contribution continues to analyse what is needed for humankind to respond to climate change”, said Professor Trevor Davies, Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research at UEA.

UEA’s ongoing support will aid the further internationalisation of the Tyndall Centre’s distinctive research and partnerships through new developments across science, the social and economic sciences and engineering.

The funding from the Research Councils is for a re-orientated research programme in three cross-cutting themes critical to responding to climate change: transitions to a low carbon society; food, water and human security; and resilience for vulnerable people and places. This new research programme maps to the recently launched Living with Environmental Change partnership of the Research Councils and Government and public bodies.

“The UK and EU cannot tackle the issue of climate change alone”, said Professor Robert Watson, Tyndall’s Director of Strategy and Chief Scientist, at the UK’s Department for Environmental and Rural Affairs. Engaging the wider international community, particularly the emerging industrial nations of China, India and Latin America, is central to tackling climate change mitigation and adaption. The Tyndall Centre and UEA are uniquely placed to contribute to this international agenda though its cutting-edge interdisciplinary research.”  

From: http://www.uea.ac.uk

Government backs EERA’s £25 million housing renewal and regeneration programme

The East of England Regional Assembly’s Housing and Sustainable Communities Panel put forward sixteen local-authority led projects to the Government.

This includes over £6.6 million for domestic carbon reduction and refurbishment schemes in Essex and Hertfordshire; over £5.3 million for refurbishing properties and restoring long-term empty properties in Great Yarmouth; over £2.2 million towards energy efficiency measures and refurbishment work in Cambridgeshire homes; £1 million to produce a reduction in fuel poverty areas around Luton and Bedford; and £0.5 million to restoring properties in rural Suffolk.

The recommended projects were accepted in full by Housing Minister, Margaret Beckett, in an announcement to EERA last week.

“These improvements will not only benefit individual households, but the region as a whole” said Cllr Susan Barker, Chairman of EERA’s Housing and Sustainable Communities Panel. “Making houses warmer and cheaper to heat will help reduce fuel bills and contribute to improved health and wellbeing. Also, more energy efficient homes mean fewer damaging carbon emissions, which is good for the environment.”

“Reducing the amount of homes that are in disrepair will lead to communities where people are proud to live, making them more likely to there and contribute to the local economy. EERA will monitor the success of these projects, including their outputs and outcomes.”

Clean technology venture investment reaches record $8.4 billion in 2008 despite credit crisis and broadening recession

Even with diminished 4Q08 results, clean technology investment fundamentals remain strong.

WANTED: The Next Generation of ‘Green’ Entrepreneurs

Climate change has been identified as one of the biggest global threats of our time. Scientists agree that global warming and extreme climate phenomena can be increasingly attributed to human activity - in particular, heavy emission of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, resulting from industrial processes.

Solutions to those pressing problems could lie in the rapidly growing ‘green economy’: environmentally sustainable enterprises, technological innovations (new sources of clean, renewable energy), energy efficiency measures, economic incentives for low-carbon choices, etc. How can youth contribute?

The Essay Competition 2009 invites youth to share ideas on:

How does climate change affect you?
How can you tackle climate change through youth-led solutions?

Please answer both questions:

1. How does climate change affect you, your country, town or local community? How do you think it will affect you in the future? Think about the consequences for employment, health, security and other areas of your life.

2. What can you do, working together with your peers, to address the problem of climate change in your country, town or local community? Think specifically about the role of youth-led initiatives in the ‘green economy’.The International Essay Competition is open to all young people, students and non-students alike, between the ages of 18 and 25, from all countries of the world.

If you are at least 18 and not older than 25 on June 15, 2009, you are eligible to participate.

For more information go to: www.essaycompetition.org