Jonny Mulligan, Executive Director of the Environmental Industries Commission writes about green growth in the UK economy. Jonny has recently joined the EIC (www.eic-uk.co.uk) and in February gave oral evidence to the Commons Environmental Audit Committee about the proposed Green Investment Bank.
Economic growth and the Environment: it’s not either/or.
In 2009, George Osborne highlighted the need to “bring to an end the stale argument that we have to choose between economic growth and the environment.”
He was right. But in order to achieve this, we now need joined-up thinking and a united voice. Green growth depends on a partnership effort between government and industry, ensuring that all their departments work together in a common cause for the greater good. It is important that the chancellor remembers this as he prepares for his 2011 budget.
We urgently need a fully integrated environmental policy-making framework that pulls together innovative finance and pollution taxation, job creation and R&D, where the over-arching objective is significant behavioural change.
Data is now emerging that indicates that environmental climate change policies are working.
Lord Adair Turner, Chairman of the Committee on Climate Change, has also noted how the economic downturn is already playing its part. “This [the downturn] is obviously good for the environment but also gives us a false sense of achievement if this is not backed up by real policy change and action by Government”.
I agree with Lord Turner. I believe government must continue to put in place progressive new policies and regulations which protect and improve the environment. We need grown-up policies and realistic regulations designed to encourage and reward innovation.
We need to build greater trust between government and industry. Government should allow industry to improve its environmental stewardship and resource-efficiency in peace. If this trust is abused, government should act quickly and decisively in imposing penalties in order to drive change.
Execution of such a strategy will inevitably induce positive changes in production and in society’s behaviour. To stimulate change in industrial practices, we must honour the principle that the ‘polluter must pay’. Experience has shown that, without regulation, short-term profit enjoys a higher priority than the future of the planet!
The success of the 1996 landfill tax, the EU:ETS and the London Low Emissions Zone are all examples of how regulation does bring positive change. Policymakers need to clearly learn and understand the integration of economic and environmental policy. They need to dust down their copies of 'Blueprint for a Green Economy (1989)’, also known as "The Pearce Report" and apply it to the challenges that we face today.
Government and policymakers must encourage industry to focus on the minimal use of natural resources, including fossil fuel, and to invest in the R&D that will make business ‘greener’. If business refuses to take action then they must simply be regulated.
Knowledge and skills developed from recent experiences must be captured and passed on to new generations of employees.
The highest quality leadership, both individual and corporate, capable must be identified and incentivised to drive the ‘new green economy’ forward, supported by strategic investment and responsible risk-taking.
Policy Priorities
The top strategic priority for government and industry must be to put in a place a strong and transparent regulatory framework, designed to support the development of a world-leading environmental policy. This will drive change in our industrial practices and build the confidence necessary to attract fresh investment in the sector.
The second practical priority must be to enforce the legislation which is already on the statute books, using the existing Environmental Agency and Local Authorities.
The third major issue on our wish-list must be this: For the Government itself to use its unique opportunity to lead by example.
The Government is the UK’s largest landlord and holds the biggest institutional property portfolio in the UK – just think of the schools, of schools and hospitals for start. As a result, it is also currently the biggest carbon emitter and is the single most guilty perpetrator of resource-mismanagement and waste.
If the Government genuinely wants change then it must to lead from the front.
Talk is cheap. Actions must match words. Ministerial speeches must be accountable, not just for effect.
It can start doing this immediately by ensuring that:
• all government departments, local authorities and government funded organisations operate in ‘green energy efficient’ buildings
• manage their upstream and downstream waste and resources
• implement full sustainable procurement programmes across its operational and supply chains.
The Government must take these steps now. Only by doing so can it maintain its credibility on the international stage and punch way above its weight in global climate change negotiations. It is only by doing this that this government will be the ‘greenest government ever'.
