CMS News Archive
Many people will have been lucky enough to hear Professor Mike Young (University of Adelaide) during his visiting Fellowship to the UCL Environment Institute . His recently published report draws upon global experience in the development of abstraction licensing regimes in Australia, Canada and New Zealand. The Fellowship was made possible by a DEFRA decision to help fund a ten week Fellowship in partnership with University College London and the University of Adelaide. The aim of the fellowship was to identify elements of a framework that could be used to manage the abstraction and utilisation of water in England and Wales. The Framework is indicative of the nature of the abstraction licence reforms that experience in Australia and elsewhere suggests is worthy of serious consideration. Free copies of the report will be available to all attending; a PDF copy can be downloaded here:
The CIWEM Living Wetlands Award recognises multi-functional projects that demonstrate the sustainable use of wetland habitats. The award was co-founded with RSPB in 2002/3. The competition closes on 25th January 2013.
The CIWEM Young Members Award recognises the outstanding contribution to environmental understanding made by a young member of CIWEM. The competition closes on 1st February 2013.
Check these out on the CIWEM website:
http://www.ciwem.org/competition-and-awards/living-wetlands.aspx
UKTAG has now published its draft reports on river phosphorus and biological standards (including 21 annexes) for lakes, rivers and transitional and coastal waters. The review opens on the 10th December 2012 and finishes on the 28th February 2013. Please submit your comments to UK TAG by email: janet@sniffer.org.uk or to: WFD c/o Sniffer, 25 Greenside Place, Edinburgh, EH1 3AA.
http://www.wfduk.org/stakeholders/stakeholder-review-phosphorus-and-biological-standards
The January edition of Susdrain has just come out with access to a range of new resources including videos, a factsheet on the maintenance of SUDs, a job highlight, new projects from CIRIA, blogs, event etc. Check it out on:
The REA welcomes the news today that The Crown Estate may be willing to invest up to £20 million in the UK's first wave and tidal stream array projects [1]. REA Head of Marine Renewables Dr Stephanie Merry comments: “This is yet another very welcome intervention from The Crown Estate. The early-stage risks and long payback periods for investment in wave and tidal energy can make it difficult for budding and innovative developers to attract finance for projects. Recent political uncertainty – not least over how the Energy Bill will be made to work for renewable energy – have only exacerbated the situation.“The Crown Estate is a well established and well respected body in the sector, and by putting its own money where its mouth is, we expect this to boost the confidence of other prospective investors. There’s still a long way to go for marine renewables in the UK, but interventions like this will be recorded by future technology historians as key milestones in the development of marine renewables, and indeed the broader manufacturing renaissance in which renewable energy can – and we hope will – play a major part.” The Crown Estate will be accepting applications to the fund until 15th February 2013, and we wholeheartedly encourage REA members to apply.
Wanfei Qiu n, PeterJ.S.Jones - ‘This paper provides an overview of the emerging policy landscape for marine spatial planning in the European Union, which consists of four main categories of policy drivers: environmental legislation, legislation on marine renewable energy, fisheries regulations and the Integrated Maritime Policy. The weak links between these categories of policy drivers, underpinned by a lack of clarity regarding the vision for sustainability, pose major challenges for the emergence of ecosystem-based and integrated marine spatial planning in Europe. In addition, there is still uncertainty arising from on-going reform of the Common Fisheries Policy, and discussions on the need for a new marine spatial planning directive. This paper concludes with the view that better integration of environmental concerns into the Common Fisheries Policy is needed to strengthen the link between environmental legislation and fisheries regulations, and that the existing policy landscape, particularly the Marine Strategic Framework Directive, already provides a legal framework for ecosystem-based marine spatial planning. Such a framework is consistent with the recognition that ecosystem conservation underpins other pillars of sustainable development and provides the foundation for cross-sectoral marine planning and management.’
As someone who did his first two marine field courses,PhD field work and then lead over 20 diving field courses to Millport you'd expect me to extol its virtues. This is a particularly important marine science and education facility which because of its sheltered aspect enables all weather and all year round access to the sea for divers in particular. The loss of this marine station to marine education would be huge. Please sign this petition!
‘UMBS Millport is a unique and irreplaceable marine and coastal biology facility based on the Isle of Cumbrae in the Firth of Clyde (see http://www.gla.ac.uk/centres/marinestation/). For over 100 years the Millport Marine Station has been a crucial part of a network of research stations round the UK and European coasts. In the last 30 years it has also become a leading teaching facility, with over a thousand students visiting each year to experience first hand marine and coastal science: experiences that they take on into their lives and work as researchers and opinion formers. UMBS Millport not only has a remarkable past - it also has a very positive role to play in the future as a teaching institution, as a key research facility, as a part of a network of marine monitoring sites, and as a major employer on Cumbrae. The future of the Millport Marine Station is at risk because of shortfalls in funding, and we thus ask the Scottish Government to work with others in education, industry and statutory bodies to ensure the Millport Marine Station remains open.’
‘A 60-person Federal Advisory Committee (The "National Climate Assessment and Development Advisory Committee" or NCADAC) has overseen the development of this draft climate report.
The NCADAC, whose members are available here (and in the report), was established under the Department of Commerce in December 2010 and is supported through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It is a federal advisory committee established as per the Federal Advisory Committee Act of 1972. The Committee serves to oversee the activities of the National Climate Assessment. Its members are diverse in background, expertise, geography and sector of employment. A formal record of the committee can be found at the NOAA NCADAC website. The NCADAC has engaged more than 240 authors in the creation of the report. The authors are acknowledged at the beginning of the chapters they co-authored. Following extensive review by the National Academies of Sciences and by the public, this report will be revised by the NCADAC and, after additional review, will then be submitted to the Federal Government for consideration in the Third National Climate Assessment (NCA) Report. For more information on the NCA process and background, previous assessments and other NCA information, please explore the NCA web-pages. The NCA is being conducted under the auspices of the Global Change Research Act of 1990 and is being organized and administered by the Global Change Research Program.’
‘In this New Year edition of SD Scene we look back at key themes in sustainable development over the last 12 months and select some of the articles that particularly caught your attention.’ The authors have compiled 20+ articles on the major events – reports influencing thinking over 2012 – it is a really useful resume of key articles many of which were highlighted in CMS News. A useful link to keep!
Jon Owen ‘In April next year (2013) Natural Resources Wales, with 2000 staff, will assume the functions of three very different organisations: one entirely Welsh body, the Countryside Council for Wales; a largely Welsh body with some shared Britain-wide functions, Forestry Commission Wales; and a completely integrated Wales and England body, the Environment Agency. The amalgamation has depended on a business case which forecast savings of £158 million over ten years. Even before the new body has opened its doors this forecast is falling apart. So why is Natural Resources Wales being created? The policy began to develop two and a half years ago within the Environment Department of the previous Assembly administration. Its Minister, Jane Davidson, and her senior civil servant, Mathew Quinn, had enjoyed a high reputation amongst environment movements largely on the strength of their aspirations and the ambition of their targets. However, delivery was proving more difficult than declaration and our biodiversity target had not been met. Our wind energy program was becalmed and our ambitious target to reduce Wales’s carbon emissions by 3 per cent per annum had no prospect of being met. On top of that there lurked a looming crisis, with the department trying to avoid taking responsibility either for or against a £1 billion gas power station in Pembrokeshire.’ To read more:
http://www.clickonwales.org/2012/12/false-prospectus-underpins-natural-resources-wales/
The Government published it’s mid-term review on the 7th January and there are two sections which are particularly relevant on energy and climate change (p18-19) and Environment and Rural Affairs (39-40). Both still highlight the goal of being the Greenest Government Ever. At least these succinct summaries set out the basics with controversial commitments to fracking and the badger cull. A number of the big commitments (MCZ’s, the Green Investment Bank) made at the outset of the Government are still there but clearly the scale of ambition is being cut back by the realities of austerity and a widely differing views among the Coalition Partners.
The BBC launched the story of the of the European’s Commission’s concern over the development of the Pembrokeshire power station development. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-20660152) The new £1bn Pembroke power station may be forced to change its cooling system because of fears its technology may breach conservation laws. A leaked document seen by BBC Wales says the European Commission is so concerned it has sent a formal notice of infringement to the UK government. Infringements to the Habitats Directive, EIA Directive, IPCC Directive and Nitrates Directive have been highlighted in a recent letter from the European Commission a copy of which is now on the ENDs website. It lists 18 violations of four separate environment laws.
The ongoing programme with the MSFD is marked by the Government’s response to the consultation conducted in 2012. ‘A joint consultation between Defra, the Northern Ireland Executive, the Scottish Government and the Welsh Government was held between 27 March and 18 June 2012. The consultation sought views on the implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). The consultation focused on the initial stages of implementation and included a draft initial assessment of the state of the UK’s seas; proposals for UK characteristics of GES; proposals for detailed UK targets and indicators of GES; and an impact assessment setting out potential implications of the proposed GES targets and indicators. Later consultations will cover proposals for the UK monitoring programmes for GES and the UK programmes of measures for achieving GES.’ To read more go to
http://www.defra.gov.uk/consult/2012/03/27/marine-strategy-framework-1203/
This news item links to Professor Kevin Anderson’s Cabot lecture on the implications of a 4C rise in mean surface temperature. Many scientists and policy-makers continue to claim it is possible, albeit challenging, to contain the global increase in mean surface temperature at or below 2°C relative to preindustrial levels. However, despite the increasingly vociferous rhetoric around ‘transitioning to a low carbon economy’, current emissions growth is much more aligned with temperature rises of 4°C or higher, and possibly within just a few decades. Disturbingly, against the backdrop of unprecedented emissions growth, even a 4°C future now demands significant levels of mitigation.
This framing of climate change represents a radical departure from the more incremental mitigation proposed by many policy makers and scientific reports. Whilst orthodox expertise maintains “2°C is not only possible but achievable without sacrificing the benefits of economic growth and rising prosperity”, this paper argues “it is difficult to envisage anything other than a planned economic recession being compatible with 2°C, 3°C and increasingly 4°C futures”.
On 12 December 2012, Environment Secretary Owen Patterson announced the start of the Triennial Review of the Environment Agency and Natural England. This follows a period of informal engagement with stakeholders, which started in July. Preliminary conclusions will be available in spring 2013.
They are particularly keen to know: Do the functions and/or form of the Environment Agency and Natural England continue to be appropriate, in terms of delivering the Government’s ambition on the environment and flood and coastal risk management? What changes could be made to provide better quality outcomes for the environment, economy and society? Of the range of options for reform proposed to the current delivery arrangements, which do you think are the most appropriate – if any – to achieve better quality outcomes for the environment, economy and society on a sustainable basis and why? Do you have any further suggestions for alternative delivery options which would achieve better quality outcomes for the environment, economy and society on a sustainable basis, and if so, how would they operate? Responses should be supported by strong, relevant evidence.
Anyone with an interest in the Environment Agency and Natural England is invited to respond to our discussion document by 4 February 2013.
Defra have launched their eagerly awaited MCZ consultation. ‘This consultation seeks views on proposals for the designation of Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs) in English inshore and English and Welsh offshore waters. This consultation seeks to engage with everyone who has an interest in the marine environment and coastal communities. It’s the primary opportunity for people to have their say and influence the decisions on how many MCZs are designated, where they are designated and for what features. Information and comments submitted will be used to inform the decision on which sites will be designated in the first tranche in 2013. Information gathered at this stage will also be used as part of the decision-making process for designation of sites in later tranches.’ To see much more go to
http://www.defra.gov.uk/consult/2012/12/13/marine-conservation-zones-1212/
The UK Technical Advisory Group (UKTAG) is responsible for providing coordinated advice on technical aspects of the Water Framework Directive. UKTAG has now developed proposals for phosphorus standards for rivers. The UKTAG phosphorus proposals have now been published and can be accessed at the link below We now invite your comments on our proposals. The stakeholder review will be open from the 10th December 2012 and finishes on the 28th February 2013. Please note that UKTAG will also be going out to stakeholder review on biological standards for all water categories. These should be published on the website by 20th December 2012.
http://www.wfduk.org/stakeholders/stakeholder-review-phosphorus-and-biological-standards
Commissioned by Scottish Environment LINK’s Marine Taskforce, this report attempts, for the first time, to estimate the benefits provided by designating a network of Marine Protected Areas for nature conservation in Scottish waters. Why? Because, by understanding the economic benefits provided by the goods and services that a network of MPAs can help support, decision-making can be improved. This independent report was produced by the Institute of Natural Resources and Spatial Planning at the University of Oviedo and peer reviewed by Dr Salman Hussain at SRUC. It finds that protecting Scottish seas not only safeguards our marine environment; it makes economic sense too.
Defra has been working with a range of stakeholders, including local authorities, to develop a grant scheme to support innovative community-led demonstration projects. Up to £5 million will be available in the period up to March 2015. The scheme is designed to enable and stimulate communities at significant risk of flooding to develop local solutions that: enhance flood risk management and preparedness in ways which quantifiably improve the community’s overall resilience; demonstrably improve the community’s financial resilience in relation to flooding and have the potential to be applied in other areas. Defra has launched the scheme and to see the details go to:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/publications/2012/12/06/pb13841-frcp-prospectus/
NOAA Researchers say that climate changes in the Arctic could be influencing the weather in Europe, resulting in more extreme weather events, such as heat waves or heavy rainfall. An analysis of recent weather since 2007 shows that changes to summer wind patterns in the Arctic could be influencing the weather in North America and Europe. This is just one of a number of interesting articles highlighted by MCCIP News. See
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