Summary
The North East performs strongly on various environmental indicators. However , it is not only important to perform well against other UK regions but also to continue to strive to contain the region’s social and economic activities within environmental limits.
The Environment section of the State of the Region is divided into 3 chapters:
- Climate Change and Energy
- Resource Use and Waste
- Protection and Enhancement of the Natural Environment
NB - These chapters are currently in 'draft' form and are being reviewed by NERIP / Environment Agency for content and accuracy
The North East’s Environment
The UK’s ten warmest years on record have all occurred since 1997. Global warming is a reality and the main human cause is the emission of greenhouse gases created as we burn fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) to generate electricity, for transport and to heat our homes and businesses. As an industrial region, the North East has the highest per capita greenhouse gas emissions in England and has the responsibility to work to reduce them.
As well as climate change, global population growth and improving living standards are placing increasing demands on the Earth’s resource. Key materials that are essential for our ongoing prosperity are already becoming harder to access and market mechanisms will not necessarily deliver solutions in the timescales required to prevent the exhaustion of supplies. In the North East we each require 4.83 global hectares to provide our food and fuel and absorb out waste – which exceeds our fair share by more than two and a half times. Although the North East has a lower ecological footprint than any other English region, it is still much higher than the world average.
The region’s natural environment, the habitats and landscapes of its coast, rivers, lowlands and uplands, give it a unique character and contribute to a high quality of place. Future economic prosperity and social well-being depend on protecting and enhancing the extent and quality of this environmental infrastructure. The North East contains some of Europe’s most important wildlife sites and supports many of the UK’s most important wildlife habitats and associated species. In addition to this the region has good air quality, river water quality and bathing waters compared with the rest of England.
A sustainable future?
When the Government published the national strategy for sustainable development, it recognized how the economy, society and environment are all interconnected.
It is not just that a clean, healthy and diverse environment attracts visitors, businesses and people wanting to live and work in the region. There is a growing understanding that a region’s economic prosperity and social well-being cannot be separated from the natural environment and the “ecological or eco-system services” drawn from it. These services are extensive, diverse and often taken entirely for granted. Examples are:
- purifying our air and water
- generating and preserving soils and renewing their fertility
- pollinating crops and natural vegetation and dispersing seeds
- contributing to climate stability and moderating weather extremes
- reducing the severity of drought and floods
- detoxifying and decomposing wastes
There are also the non-material benefits people obtain from ecosystems and landscapes through spiritual enrichment, reflection and recreation.
Living within “environmental limits” is a guiding principle of sustainable development. An environmental limit can be defined as “the point beyond which an environmental asset ceases to function effectively and provide the services that society considers valuable”. Globally there is evidence that a growing population and increasing personal consumption are causing these limits to be over-stepped – global warming, volatile energy and food prices, destruction of the rain forest.
In the North East, we enjoy a high quality and varied environment. Protecting and enhancing what we have is crucial to the regional economy, our health and quality of life, now and for future generations.
In 2008 the North East Strategy for the Environment was published. It describes the region’s environmental assets and considers the roles they play in our lives. The strategy aims to shape and influence future policy making in the region based on an understanding that social and economic activity must be undertaken within environmental limits in line with the fundamental principles of sustainability.