Download or read book House of Commons Envirionmental Audit Committee Green Finance HC 191 written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Environmental Audit Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2014-03-06 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Environmental Audit Committee points out that there is a large green finance gap. Investments are currently running at less than half of the £200 billion needed in energy infrastructure alone by 2020 to deliver national and international emissions reduction targets. And stock markets could be inflating a 'carbon bubble' by over-valuing companies with fossil fuel assets that will have to be left unburned in order to limit climate change. The Bank of England's Financial Policy Committee should seek advice from the independent Committee on Climate Change to help it monitor the systemic risk to financial stability associated with a carbon bubble. To address the green finance gap, the Government must provide a joined-up, stable and certain policy framework that maintains investor confidence and helps markets price in the cost of carbon. The Green Investment Bank has made a good start but does not currently have the power to borrow in order to leverage and enlarge its investments - limiting its potential to fill the green finance gap. Take up of the Green Deal has been poor and the Government must make it simpler and more attractive to households. The European Commission's (EC) proposed new rules for State Aid in the energy sector could limit the finance available to support community owned energy schemes. The Government must play a central role in agreeing ambitious and binding international commitments on climate change, both in the EU and in the run up to the UN climate talks in Paris 2015.
Download or read book HC 885 A 2010 15 Progress Report written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Environmental Audit Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2015 with total page 53 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book HC 856 Environmental Risks of Fracking written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Environmental Audit Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2015 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Exploratory drilling for shale gas has begun in the UK and the Government is encouraging fracking. It has introduced tax concessions and is seeking through its Infrastructure Bill to ease the process for fracking operations, including through proposals for an automatic right of access to "deep-level land" for exploratory drilling and extraction. Extensive production of unconventional gas through fracking is inconsistent with the UK's obligations under the Climate Change Act and its carbon budgets regime, which encompasses our contribution to efforts to keep global temperature rise below two degrees. Shale gas, like 'conventional gas', is not low carbon, and the objective of government policy should be to reduce the carbon intensity of energy whatever its source. Shale gas cannot be regarded as a 'transitional' or 'bridging' fuel. Any large scale extraction of shale gas in the UK is likely to be at least 10-15 years away, and therefore cannot drive dirtier coal from the energy system because by that time it is likely that unabated coal-fired power generation will have been phased out to meet EU emissions directives. It is also unlikely to be commercially viable unless developed at a significant scale, to be able to compete against a growing renewable energy sector, but large-scale fracking will not be able to be accommodated within still tightening carbon budgets. There is in any case little evidence to suggest that fracking could be undertaken at the scale needed to be commercially viable in the UK or that it will bring gas prices down significantly.
Download or read book HC 215 An Environmental Scorecard written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Environmental Audit Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2014-09-16 with total page 68 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Emissions of a number of airborne pollutants increased in 2013, after being steady between 2010 and 2012 and in a longer term decline before that. The UK failed to meet targets for nitrogen dioxide pollution in 34 of the 43 zones specified in the EU Ambient Air Quality Directive in 2012, resulting in the European Commission launching infraction proceedings against the UK in February 2014 in regard to 16 zones that would not be compliant by 2015. The Committee's report recommends an overarching Environmental Strategy be implemented, to set out strategic principles and good practices; facilitate discussion between central and local government and identify how they can work together and with the wider community; encompass clear environmental assessments; identify work required to fill data gaps in assessments; map appropriate policy levers to environmental areas; and set out how environmental and equality considerations will be addressed in policy areas across Government. The report concludes that the Government should set up an independent body-an 'Office for Environmental Responsibility'-to (i) review the Environment Strategy we advocate; (ii) advise Government on appropriate targets; (iii) advise Government on policies, both those in Government programmes and new ones that could be brought forward to support the environment; (iv) advise Government about the adequacy of the resources (in both central and local government) made available for delivering the Strategy; and (v) monitor and publish performance against the Strategy and its targets.
Download or read book The Economic Crisis in Social and Institutional Context written by Sebastiano Fadda and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-02-20 with total page 245 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores the foundations of the current economic crisis. Offering a heterodox approach to interpretation it examines the policies implemented before and during the crisis, and the main institutions that shaped the model of advanced economies, particularly in the last two decades. The first part of the book provides a theoretical analysis of the crisis. The roots of the ‘great recession’ are divided into fundamentals with origins in financial liberalisation, financial innovation and income distribution, and complementary or contributory factors such as the international imbalances, the monetary policy,and the role of credit rating agencies. Part II suggests various paths to recovery while emphasising that it will be necessary to develop alternative strategies for sustainable economic recovery and growth. These strategies will require genuine political support and a new 'great European vision' to address major issues concerning the EU such as unemployment, structural regional differences and federalism. Drawing on various schools of thought, this book explains the complexities of the crisis through a wider evolutionary-institutional and heterodox framework.
Download or read book HC 221 Marine Protected Areas written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Environmental Audit Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2014-06-21 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Marine Conservation Zones can protect our seas from over-fishing and give species and habitats space to recover, ultimately benefiting people whose livelihoods depend on healthy seas. But the Government has been too slow in creating these Zones, and it has failed to get coastal communities and fishermen on board. It is now well over four years since the launch of the programme, yet only 27 of the 127 sites recommended by independent project groups have been designated. Budget reductions at DEFRA mean the Government is currently unable to demonstrate that the Marine Management Organisation - the public body charged with managing the zones - will have the resources needed to manage and enforce the MCZs. The Government must set out a strategy for the management of the 27 MCZs and management plans for individual Zones to demonstrate that they can be enforced. MPs are calling on the Government to bring forward the MCZ programme, so that more Zones are designated in the next phase, due in 2015. Ministers should follow a precautionary principle approach to designating new Zones, according to the Committee, and use the 'best available' data rather than applying the more stringent evidence standards recently introduced by the Government - which require data that is much harder and more expensive to obtain
Download or read book HC 59 Well Being HC 59 written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Environmental Audit Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2014-06-05 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Government's ’Natural Capital Committee', set up to check how far the Government bases its policies on the cost the benefits the UK derives from its natural environment - such as clean air, water, food and recreation - should be put on a permanent statutory footing, the Environmental Audit Committee recommends. The NCC was set up in May 2012 with a three-year remit that ends just before the General Election. It has produced 2 progress reports so far, highlighting gaps in the available data on these factors and calling for a 25-year plan to plug the gaps and start using the information in Government decisions. But the Government has yet to respond in detail to those NCC reports. The environment is just one strand of a wider view of people's well-being, which also addresses people's economic and social circumstances, as well as their view of the satisfaction they get from their lives. In November 2010, the Prime Minister launched a programme to measure well-being to complement economic statistics like ’GDP' in - "measuring our progress as a country". However, more than three years since then, the Committee note, our quality of life is not yet receiving the same attention as those economic metrics. The Committee highlight the links being uncovered in the statistics between people's view of their well-being and their background and circumstances - for example the link between well-being and people's health, marital status or religion. But the MPs warn that the data are not yet sufficiently robust to support a single metric that could encompass well-being and which could be set alongside GDP.
Download or read book HC 770 Government Support for Business written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Business, Innovation and Skills Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2015 with total page 60 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Helping British businesses to thrive and grow is vital to the UK's long-term economic prosperity. The Government's ambition is for the UK to be one of the best places in Europe to start, finance and grow a business. In order to facilitate this, the Government offers support to business in accessing finance, promoting exports, developing manufacturing and encouraging growth at a local level. The Committee's inquiry considered the wide range of support that is on offer, and in particular those support programmes run by the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills. Access to finance is fundamental to the success of business of all sizes. However, the Committee heard varying evidence about the availability of finance, in particular for SMEs. Too many business still report that they find it difficult to get the financial support they need. By drawing on the British Business Bank's expertise, the Government should be able to develop a better understanding of the blockages in the system, why they occur, and whether changes in regulation or funding are needed to address them. The British Business bank also has a clear role to play in enhancing SME access to finance though clearly signposting the services available from alternative finance providers. In particular, it should develop a menu of alternative finance providers for each different area of financial support.
Download or read book Invasive Non Native Species HC 913 written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Environmental Audit Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2014-04-16 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Invasive species, such as Japanese Knotweed, the Oak Processionary Moth, the Ruddy Duck and Zebra Mussels, can have detrimental effects on the native species they supplant, as well as on human health and business. The Environmental Audit Committee is calling on the Government to revamp the system for controlling invasive species in England and Wales. Current Wildlife legislation has never been used to prosecute anyone and is unlikely to provide the level of protection now needed. Better prevention, surveillance, monitoring, eradication and long-term control measures are all needed in the fight against invasive species. The Government currently has no formal surveillance system in place to trigger action to ensure early eradication. Defra needs to develop a surveillance system that integrates voluntary wildlife recording with professional monitoring and identification. The current system of "listing" species to be monitored and controlled is too slow. The Government must implement legal changes recommended by the Law Commission and replicate the Scottish system of species control orders to provide a mechanism for eradicating invasive species before they become established. Species on the existing national lists that are already well established here should be reviewed, according to the Committee. Where habitats cannot be restored or biodiversity protected, the invasive species should be removed from the list and control measures re-evaluated.
Download or read book HS2 and the Environment HC 1076 written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Environmental Audit Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2014 with total page 56 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Government needs to show real commitment to dealing with the impact that HS2 will have on our countryside and wildlife. It is imperative that an infrastructure project on such a large scale implements proper environmental safeguards and ensures that impacts are minimised. That won't happen if HS2 Ltd can avoid implementing safeguards if they consider them to be 'impracticable' or 'unreasonable'. There needs to be a separate ring-fenced budget for these safeguards and for compensation, separate from the rest of the HS2 budget, to prevent the environment being squeezed if HS2 costs grow. The Government's aim of 'no net biodiversity loss' on HS2 is not good enough - it should aim for environmental gains that the Government promised in its white paper on the Natural Environment. In any case, the Government can't demonstrate it will cause no net harm because it has still not surveyed 40% of the land to be used. Ancient woodland should be treated with particular care. HS2 will damage some woodlands, and where that happens, compensation measures should be much higher than the level indicated in the calculation that HS2 Ltd will use. The HS2 Hybrid Bill will be given its second reading on 28 April, after which it will be referred to a dedicated select committee to examine 'petitions' against it. The Committee criticises the procedure's failure to fully address the requirements of EU and national directives on environmental assessments, which it wants to be at least partly rectified in the forthcoming Parliamentary proceedings
Download or read book HC 858 Local Nature Partnerships written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Environmental Audit Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2015 with total page 17 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Where LNPs have been successful, they have demonstrated the benefits of local engagement, harnessing enthusiasm in finding solutions to local priorities. Where they have not been successful, the solution is not to impose additional tasks but to re-energise the unfocussed local commitment. Many LNPs are starved of funding and resources, meaning much of the good work in getting them up and running, is being undone. The whole country-urban as well as rural-need the natural environment protections that LNPs can provide. Rather than leave under-performing LNPs to wither away, the next Government should urgently review LNPs and their funding, and re-energise the initiative.
Download or read book House of Commons Environmental Audit Office Progress on Carbon Budgets HC 60 written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Environmental Audit Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2013-10-08 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The UK's existing carbon budgets represent the minimum level of emissions reduction required to avoid a global 2 degrees temperature rise - regarded as a dangerous threshold - and the UK's leading climate scientists do not believe loosening the budgets is warranted. The current (2008-2012) and second (2013-2017) carbon budgets will be easily met because of the recession. But the UK is not on track to meet the third (2018-22) and fourth budgets (2023-2027), because not enough progress is being made in decarbonising transport, buildings and heat production. The Government's Carbon Plan - which set milestones for five key Government Departments to cut carbon - is out of date without any quarterly progress reports published yet. The Green Deal has also had low take-up rates so far. The Government should set a 2030 decarbonisation target for the power sector now, rather than in 2016 as the Energy Bill sets out. The Government should also reconsider placing a statutory duty on local authorities to produce low-carbon plans for their area. The current low-carbon price in the EU ETS - the result of the economic downturn of recent years and over-allocation of emissions permits - also means that that scheme will not deliver the emissions reductions envisaged when the fourth carbon budget was set. Without any tightening of the EU ETS increased pressure will therefore be placed on the non-traded sector, which will have to produce further emissions reductions to cover the emerging gap left by the traded sector
Download or read book Environmental Audit Select Committee A Sustainable Energy Strategy Renewables and the PIU Review Fifth Report 2 Parts with Proceedings Evidence previously HC 582 I vi and Appendices written by and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 107 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee the Sustainable Development Strategy Illusion Or Reality written by and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Environmental Audit Select Committee Export Credits Guarantee Department and Sustainable Development Environmental Audit Select Committee Seventh Report with Proceedings and Evidence HC 689 I ii Not Printed Separately written by and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 129 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Environmental Taxation Law written by Mr Jeremy de Souza and published by Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.. This book was released on 2013-01-28 with total page 682 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This excellent volume examines the legal implications of introducing environmental taxes and other economic instruments into the regulatory framework of UK law. In doing so, it analyzes and explains the difficulties of grafting environmental taxes onto the complexities of existing regulatory structures, not all of which, of course, were originally devised with environmental considerations in mind.
Download or read book Environmental Audit Select Committee Sustainable Development Strategy Minutes of Evidence 25 May 1999 Vote written by and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 17 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: