Natural England - No Charge debate
No Charge debate
14 October 2009
Helen Phillips speaking at the 'No Charge?' report launch.
Over the last eighteen months we have watched what Alan Greenspan has described as a financial tsunami wreck havoc, here and across the globe.
As the crisis unfolded, layers of dubious financial practices - perverse incentives to take outrageous risks, false accounting, and elaborate loopholes were gradually peeled away to reveal that much of the financial system was built on sand.
Seemingly robust and venerable institutions collapsed overnight. Billions of pounds worth of value vanished into thin air.
Unlike a bank however the natural environment will not bust overnight. Change can take many years to manifest itself – and by the time it becomes critical, it will be far too late.
The banks were bailed out over one weekend. Securing the long-term health of the natural environment requires a radical shift in our thinking about environmental economics.
People, I think, have an instinctive sense of the importance of the fundamental services provided by nature – water to drink, food to eat, air to breathe.
These are the basics of life, the very foundations of prosperity and security. People get that.
But it is too often assumed that because they are ‘natural’ processes they will continue to function in perpetuity.
This, despite a rising tide of warning signs – of declining bird numbers, of disappearing bees, or vanishing butterflies.
The cost of global biodiversity decline is estimated to be as much €14 trillion by 2050 (7 per cent of global GDP).
Greenhouse gas emissions could result in costs equivalent to between 5 and 20 per cent of GDP by 2050, whereas stabilising green house gas concentrations would cost as little as 1 per cent of GDP.
A 15% fall in the stock market is huge news – the BBC’s Robert Peston is urgently dispatched to the Exchange. But a 61% fall in the number of snipe...
We have failed – the environment sector has failed – to make clear the links between the plunging graph for snipe – a curious little wading bird that skulks around in the shallows searching for insects with a great long beak – and the worrying and continuing decline in our wetlands - which can protect people’s homes from the devastating impacts of flooding; store and filter drinking water; lock carbon in the ground; and on the coast provide security from sea level rise and storm surges.
The fate of the snipe sends signals that all these vital services are at risk.
The question is how can the market be prompted to value the snipe? Can it? Should it even?
I know that there are many in the environment sector who worry about this eco-systems approach – they worry that drive to put a £ sign on every bird, bug and blade of grass will result in the conclusion that England’s wildlife just isn’t worth saving.
I don’t agree with this – we need to make the case for natural eco-systems, for the huge value that they have, and for huge range of benefits that they provide for everyone. And in so doing, create a common currency for decision making.
Our report No Charge? is launched today. In it we challenge people to transform their thinking about the true value of a healthy natural environment.
For too long it has been seen as burden – for industry, for farmers, for fishermen, for government. We have talked about ‘saving it, protecting it, conserving it’ – additional expenses in a competitive market place.
It’s time to turn the story on its head – you wouldn’t talk of other bits of the nation’s critical infrastructure like that – power stations or roads or railways.
You talk about investing in them, modernising them, maximising their potential. You focus on the cost-benefits of investments, on the difference they make to people’s lives.
This is how we need to think about the natural environment. And we need to revolutionise the economics of land management so that those who do invest time and money into the natural environment are rewarded.
Let me give you two simple examples of natural solutions to modern problems that are cost-effective and deliver multiple benefits.
1. Upland management
England’s uplands are important for the wide range of services they provide, their stunning landscapes and the wealth of wildlife that lives there. We are facing some tough choices about how we best use and manage them.
In recent decades, the focus has been on supporting food production from livestock and moorland management for game and wildlife, sometimes to the detriment of the health of natural environment and other eco system services the uplands provide.
Services that are becoming ever-more important as we begin to confront the reality of a changing climate.
Peatlands found in the uplands when in good condition, store, filter and regulate water. Up to 70 per cent of UK water supply is sourced from upland rivers, lakes and reservoirs. Peatlands that are artificially drained, or intensively grazed and burnt, can add a brown stain to water resulting in costly treatment processes, and can increase downstream flood risk.
They are the largest carbon store in England – holding nearly 300 million tonnes, more than the forests of Germany and France combined. But soil erosion means up to 4 million tonnes of CO2 are being emitted per year from English peatlands – similar to CO2 emissions from domestic aviation.
The success Sustainable Catchment Management Programme project run by United Utilities in the Lake District and the Peak District demonstrates that natural solutions can work in the commercial world.
The project covers 58,000 ha of United Utilities’ land in the gathering grounds for reservoirs, which help supply more than 7 million people with their daily water needs. It is also home to some of the UK's most important wildlife, including the hen harrier and the curlew.
By restoring blanket bogs, water quality is improving.
Reinstating areas of eroded and exposed peat stores carbon.
Early economic analysis suggests that the savings on water treatment costs equates to several million pounds per year.
We are working hard now to find new ways of incentivising landowners to take this wider approach.
2. Green infrastructure in towns and cities
Green spaces, parks and gardens are still seen by some as decorative features – good ammo for estate agents but not part of the critical infrastructure of urban areas.
So for many years we have failed to invest in greening our towns and cities.
The reality is that green spaces transform city life. Parks, gardens and trees reduce noise levels and flood risks, and improve air quality. In heat-waves they can cool neighbouring areas by as much as 4oC.
A wooded park can filter out 85% of air pollutants and a street lined with trees 70%.
And people who live within 500 m of green space are 24% more active. Reducing the sedentary population by just 1 per cent would save lives and up to £1.44 billion.
Into the bargain people get better places to live and work. And wildlife somewhere to thrive.
Conclusion
These examples demonstrate that natural solutions work and are cost effective.
Investing in the natural environment is in investing in the our critical infrastructure. Laying the foundations for future prosperity and security.
It also creates better places for people to live – stunning landscapes rich with wildlife, fuelling vibrant recreation and tourism industries: which in turn draws in greater investment.
So as we seek to rebuild from the financial tsunami do we return to business as usual?
Will this be enough to prepare us for the era of climate change ahead?
Or do we choose a more natural pathway to future prosperity?
