1. Environmental Prosperity: Business and the Environment in the East of England A study by SQW Ltd and Land Use Consultants on behalf of 22 regional partners from the East of England Matt Rayment, Head of Economics, RSPB http://www.eelgc.gov.uk/img/eera110102item10present.ppt

2. “To demonstrate the significance of the relationship between the economy and the environment in the East of England, and the manner in which this relationship can be harnessed to the mutual benefit of both” Terms of reference

3.  Defining the environmental economy, recognising that it varies across the region and is dynamic  Assessing the scale of the environmental industries and their regional significance  Identifying and documenting initiatives being undertaken to promote development of the environmental economy  Identifying opportunities for future development, and recommendations to regional players about support needs Key elements of the study

4. Environmental prosperity: Local examples of win-win relationships between business and the environment Conversion of Felaw Street Maltings in Ipswich has led to the conservation of landmark buildings and the provision of accommodation for high tech companies In Norfolk, mechanisms have been put in place to address the lack of traditional building skills NALMI – farmers, land-owners and local communities working together for environmental, social and economic benefit Quality of the built and natural environment is a key issue in terms of inward investment decisions across the East of England ESTEEM – European project to equip SMEs with technology for environmentally friendly manufacturing: Bedfordshire is a lead partner Schemes such as “Business Travelwise” in Hertfordshire – cultural change leading to new patterns of travel to work Heritage Strategy for Great Yarmouth – role in restoring economic confidence and increasing visitor numbers Southend-on-Sea Foreshore: over-wintering birds – attraction for local people and visitors Norfolk Broads – tourism working with conservation organisations through bike and canoe hire Visitors to the North Norfolk coast spend £122m locally and support 3,000 jobs Cambridgeshire ranks 12 th (out of 64) counties in terms of the distribution of environmental consultancies

5. Towards a Regional Perspective: A framework for our Study Environmentally sustainable Environmentally unsustainable Economic growth Economic decline Preferred trajectory for the environmental industries 1 2 Environmentally unsustainable Environmentally sustainable Economic growth Economic decline Preferred trajectory for the East of England 3 4

6.  “Environmental economy” defined as a wide-ranging group of business activities that depend on the region’s environmental resources  Some aspects of the “environmental economy” are promoting sustainable development in both an economic and environmental sense. Environmental consultancy is one example and the region is very strong in this domain – evidence of excellence already exists  Other aspects have performed less well in environmental terms, but there are signs that this might be changing: within the agricultural industry there is pressure for enhanced environmental performance and waste management is also becoming more sustainable. This needs to be encouraged further  Across much of the sector – especially that concerned with “greening the economy”, there is growth potential: it could become a significant export activity for the East of England Exploring the framework (1) Environmentally unsustainable Environmentally sustainable Economic growth Economic decline Preferred trajectory for the East of England Environmentally sustainable Environmentally unsustainable Economic growth Economic decline Preferred trajectory for the environmental industries 1 2 3 4 Analysis of the ‘environmental industries’ across the East of England in terms of the varying relationship between environmental sustainability and growth potential

7. Exploring the framework (2) Environmentally unsustainable Environmentally sustainable Economic growth Economic decline Preferred trajectory for the East of England Environmentally sustainable Environmentally unsustainable Economic growth Economic decline Preferred trajectory for the environmental industries 1 2 3 4 Assessment of the contribution of the environmental industries to regional economic growth  The “environmental economy” is very difficult to measure – it cuts across all standard industrial classifications  In the study, two methodologies were employed: “top-down” (based on AES and weightings) and “bottom-up” (drawing together existing and new survey-based data)  Combining these approaches suggested that the environmental economy accounts for about 6-9% of regional employment  It is, therefore, an important part of the regional economy: Environmental prosperity and regional prosperity are highly inter-related

8. Estimates of environment-related employment Environment-related employment in the East of England in… No. of jobs …in natural environmental organisations1418 …in local authority environmental activities2856 …in the environment/waste management sector 32-38,000 …in tourism135-250,000 …in “regenerated” farming1,000 Totalc. 180,000

9. Exploring the framework (3) Environmentally unsustainable Environmentally sustainable Economic growth Economic decline Preferred trajectory for the East of England Environmentally sustainable Environmentally unsustainable Economic growth Economic decline Preferred trajectory for the environmental industries 1 2 3 4 The relationship between environmental sustainability and growth potential across the East of England  How well is the East of England’s economy performing in environmental terms? …no simple answer!  Mapping of environmental and economic data suggested no consistent relationship between economic performance and environmental quality at a District level… partly because of poor data but mainly because of the complexity of the inter-relationships. So does this relationship matter?  YES! In the East of England, some of the region’s weak local economies have good environments which suggests that there is a resource to be harnessed and conserved in pursuit of environmental and economic prosperity  There is also a correlation between good environmental performance and good company performance

10. Exploring the framework (4) Environmentally unsustainable Environmentally sustainable Economic growth Economic decline Preferred trajectory for the East of England Environmentally sustainable Environmentally unsustainable Economic growth Economic decline Preferred trajectory for the environmental industries 1 2 3 4 Support that regional actors and agencies could provide to enhance the sustainable development of the environmental industries  Need to recognise and respond to the skills needs of the environmental industries: traditional building skills are a particular concern and there is a mismatch between the level and location of skills training  Need to continue to support initiatives such as ESTEEM that are consistent with “greener” behaviour in other sectors  Need to develop appropriate strategies for sectors/clusters within the environmental economy (e.g. environmental consultancy, waste management, renewable energy, etc.) that recognise and respond to environmental and business development needs

11.  Strategies for economic development should recognise and harness the potential of the environmental economy  The linkages between the East of England’s economy and its environmental assets need to be better understood… implications for dialogue, data and methods  The excellence and potential of the region’s environmental industries should be promoted – both internally and in terms of export potential  Report finds numerous and varied business opportunities and identifies business support and training needs  Environmental Prosperity should be seized as a challenge and an opportunity… and one that is relevant for the East of England as a whole Conclusions and Recommendations: Towards Environmental Prosperity in the East of England