Natural England

Responding to a changing climate - Integrating the needs of people and nature

Good afternoon, I am Andrew Wood Executive Director of Natural England, the government’s independent advisor on the natural environment.

We were established, nearly two years ago, with a wide-ranging environmental remit, with responsibility for conserving and enhancing England’s wildlife and landscape and our marine environment.

We believe that people are central to the success of our work. One of our most important roles is explaining the economic and social benefits of a thriving environment which people can access, enjoy, and benefit from.

However, this natural environment – the land and sea, our atmosphere and water resources – upon which our economy and society are ultimately based is under threat. We have a growing population, meaning increasing demand on the natural environment to provide food, energy, leisure and space for development.

And the situation is exacerbated by the crisis that is climate change – the most serious problem facing the natural environment and humanity, both directly through changes in temperature, rainfall and sea level rise, and indirectly, as society responds to changing times.

I would like to take a few minutes now to:

• remind ourselves of the vital contribution that the natural environment plays in our economy;
• set out the role that natural environment can play as we make the transition to a low carbon economy;
• and explore how we can develop the relationship between the environmental/conservation sector and the energy sector so the transition to a low carbon economy can be made as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Why do we do it?

I have no intention of standing here today to deliver a nature lecture – I don’t need to remind the energy sector whose very existence is dependant on natural resources of the supreme importance of the natural environment. But before I go on to examine the challenges that moving to a low carbon economy presents, I want to briefly deliver a quick stock take of the health of our environment. And it’s not good news I’m afraid.

Last month saw the publication of the Living Planet Index reporting that biodiversity declined worldwide by 25% in the last 35 years.

Natural England’s State of the Natural Environment report also launched last month found that biodiversity is under increasing threat in England. In the last 50 years England’s natural environment has suffered serious losses, our farmland is significantly less rich in wildlife, many species are now more or less confined to protected sites, and there is particular concern over the state of the marine environment, where overfishing has led to the decline of both fish populations and fragile habitats - more than 40% of commercial fish species in the north-east Atlantic and neighbouring seas are outside sustainable limits (Source: RCEP)

In short the diversity and local distinctiveness of the natural world is under threat from human activity

So what? – does it really matter if there are fewer birds, animals, plants or bugs?

The environment provides vital public services, free at the point of delivery if you like – clean air, clean water and productive soils, flood management and a huge range of benefits to people’s health, well-being and quality of life all depend on a healthy natural environment – we recently commissioned a MORI poll which showed that 94% of people in the UK would be happy to be prescribed outdoor exercise rather than drugs by a GP to treat illnesses such as heart disease, depression, obesity. As a society we seem to instinctively understand the important and varied role that the environment plays in our lives.

The bottom line is that the natural environment is not a luxury add on, a nice to have or an optional extra. It is an essential social and economic asset. It is far too important for us not to take action on when threatened.

What I wonder would be the cost – research, design, development, engineering, construction and maintenance – of replacing these services?

That is why we are calling for concern for the natural environment to be hard wired into all public policy. The natural environment is not an obstacle, it provides the solution to many of the problems confronting us in modern life – it has exciting, unique contributions to make to health, education, housing and planning.

And of course in energy and other policies designed to address the impact of changing climate and deliver the services that allow our society to function.

But it would be, frankly, a little mad if, in our eagerness to save the environment; we end up destroying that which is most valuable.

Example - biofuels

The current concern over biofuels illustrates the complexity of the debate – for some it is a natural low carbon fuel source, to others an environmental disaster.

The trouble is the word biofuel can mean a variety of things - at one end of the scale there is sustainable biofuel production, like that undertaken by British farmers with support from Natural England, growing the right crops in the right place within a short distance of a production facility.

Or at the other end of the scale some crops are grown at the expense of globally important habitats, before being shipped half way across the world. To make matters worse they then exacerbate global food poverty as result.

The consumer has no way of knowing what he or she is putting into his tank. There is no green tractor or certification mark.

The urgent need to adapt

Biofuels illustrates many of the difficult choices we face as we begin to adapt to the lifetime of climate change we are already locked into. We urgently need to secure the essential services I described earlier so adaptation; change; new ways of living; call it what you will must happen so we and our natural environment can flourish.

Renewable energy

The challenges

As I acknowledged earlier climate change represents the most serious long term threat to the natural environment. We need to move to a low carbon economy, as efficiently and quickly as possible.

This will undoubtedly require a significantly more efficient use of energy and a substantial investment in clean energy technologies.

And the UK has some of the best resources for wind, wave and tidal energy in Europe. But these resources are often found where our landscapes are at their most pristine and where nature thrives.

The challenge then is for us to work with the energy industry, and government, to find the right places for the right technologies.

In our recently published Manifesto for the Natural Environment, copies are available at the Natural England stand, we state quite clearly that “Space must be found for renewable energy, even if this means taking difficult decisions in return for long term gain”.

Can I just kill an urban myth - We are not serial objectors to renewable applications – onshore we have gone to Public Inquiry three times in the last three years while off-shore out of the nine applications for wind farms we received, we consented or are about to consent 7, in 1 case the decision isn't due yet, and in another discussions about getting the right mitigation package for the natural environment are ongoing. We received 50 applications for renewable energy in one month this year but the planning system is not teeming with Natural England objections. We acknowledge that we need to get better, we all do. Some of the applications we receive are excellent; some could do with a little more TLC before we receive them. With Round three now upon us the challenge is how we work together to raise standards so that we get even more successful applications through in a timely and environmentally acceptable way.

Small scale community energy production through photovoltaic cells, small scale wind turbines, small hydro plants, small scale combined heat and power and fuel cell technologies all have an important role to play, to make rapid progress toward the UK renewable target while larger scale projects, which need a much longer lead-in time, are developed.

If communities and small business can generate their own energy, and perhaps with a feed-in tariff or other similar market mechanism to allow them to connect national grid, and maybe even make some money, then this resistance to renewable energy near where they live may steadily crumble

If this were combined with low carbon house building, and the provision of green infrastructure, which would help alleviate flash flooding, regulate temperature extremes, provide space for nature, and somewhere for families to enjoy and relax in, we would be a step closer to building carbon neutral communities of the future.

Working with the sector

Why do I share these figures with you? Indeed why are we engaging so strongly with the sector? Because confidence is contagious and we want the industry to be confident that it is submitting its applications to an environmental regulator which is keen, no passionate, about seeing more renewable energy projects succeed. We want you to be confident in the knowledge that we want you to succeed in your plans to deliver more renewable energy and that we will do everything in our power to support you.

Our aim then is for a closer working relationship with the energy sector so that the process of locating renewables can run as efficiently and swiftly as is possible. To support this closer working I am delighted to launch both our climate change policy and our sustainable energy policy here today; copies of which are available from our stand here in the conference and on our website.

The policies cover:

• the imperative that government undertake a strategic assessment of the relative environmental impact of energy technologies. We believe this will help provide greater certainty for investors and inform long term decisions by policymakers.
• A national adaptation framework to ensure that our national response to climate change is co-ordinated, based on agreed principles and, critically, effective.
• Practical action to demonstrate what responding to climate change looks like across a range of habitats so as a society we learn how to react to the changes which will happen.
• A planning system, on land and at sea, which anticipates climate change and delivers adaptation opportunities.
• Land managers, especially in upland peat areas, should be incentivised to manage their land in a way which delivers environmental benefits such as flood management, nature conservation and carbon management.

Just to prove it is not all one way traffic - we have also committed to halving the greenhouse gas pollution which Natural England is responsible for by 2010. A colleague from Whitehall recently described this target as being “both brave and courageous” which is exactly how David Davis’ resignation from the front bench was described last week – we will have to wait to see how successful we are in our respective endeavours!

To support these policies we are producing a guidance document for offshore wind developers to help with the preparation of EIAs (Environmental Impact Assessments). We want an easily understood, standard minimum requirement for all developers.

The London Array showed that the right large scale developments in sensitive locations can and will get our support – and it is a shame that this has run into financial and other problems.

We are also producing onshore guidance with spatial mapping guidance to identify areas where wind turbines are most likely to be acceptable without causing concern to the natural environment.

This summer we are consulting on our wind energy policy – both onshore and offshore – and would encourage anyone with an interest in the sector to get in touch. If you e mail energy@naturalengland.org.uk we will send you information on not only this policy but also on a range of associated Natural England energy work areas.

This will prepare the way to work with industry and government over the Renewable Energy Strategy (RES) and explore what we can do together to progress the 15% renewable energy target in a sustainable fashion.

And surely this is the real challenge – there is little point in meeting a renewable energy target if we do so at a huge, unacceptable cost to the natural environment.

How else can a difficult decision be made about whether to spend as much as £15billion on a development that could destroy around 75% of a globally important estuary. That is the Severn; the second largest tidal range in the world; supporting an amazing variety of birds, fish as well as the stunning landscape that is the Estuary itself.

We agree with the Sustainable Development Commission when they say that if the barrage is to proceed it must comply with European and British environmental legislation. We believe compliance with existing legislation is a critical test of the sustainability of the project. If to succeed the project needs to step outside the usual planning process which protects our most precious areas this is surely an indicator of unsustainable activity: the planning equivalent of the three card trick – at first glance it is appealing but you know in your heart of hearts that no good will come of it.

Can I take you again back to biofuels where just a few short years ago many people, including I must say many from the environment sector, were banging the drum for biofuels and calling for us to “just get on and deliver more biofuel”. Biofuels were the key to fuel security and carbon stability. Now we have a greater understanding of the impacts of biofuels we all understand the need for a full assessment before we can sign off on their environmental credentials.

We must not make the same mistake twice – we cannot push for energy solutions which will further harm our natural environment simply to demonstrate how seriously we take the threat of climate change.

We must build a consensus across government, industry and society that the way we respond to the crisis of climate change will not result in more harm to our environment.

Conclusion

• To recap then the natural environment has a vital role to play in securing a sustainable and low carbon future for people in this country;
• The natural environment is our friend in need. We need it to help us adapt successfully to the lifetime of climate changes that are now unavoidable;
• And Natural England, as the statutory advisor on the natural environment is here to help make space for renewable energy, not to block it.

Many thanks for your time. Please engage with us as we continue to develop our energy polices over the coming months, please do contact us at energy@naturalengland.org.uk to receive more information on our energy policies and please continue to work with us as we try to secure a safe future for our natural environment that will allow us all to flourish.