Chief Executive Dr Paul Leinster today unveiled the Environment
Agency’s 2010-2015 corporate strategy at its annual conference in
London and outlined plans to:
- Protect an extra 200,000 homes and businesses in England and Wales from
flooding
- Improve 9,000 miles of waterways – the equivalent of the distance
between the UK and Australia
- Continue to reduce serious pollution incidents by five per cent every
year
- Prevent inappropriate development in areas at risk of flooding
- Support low-carbon technologies, including renewables such as wind,
tidal and solar, carbon capture and storage, and nuclear power
- Make it cheaper and easier for businesses to comply with environmental
standards
- Continue to reduce the Environment Agency’s own carbon footprint
by over 30 per cent.
The plan is the organisation’s commitment to protect and improve the
environment for communities across England and Wales, and sets out how it
will play its part in tackling the threat of climate change.
The government’s environmental watchdog today also highlighted
numerous environmental improvements across England and Wales in the past
decade, in a detailed analysis of the current state of the environment:
- The amount of waste produced by companies regulated by the Environment
Agency has reduced by 14 per cent since 2005
- 156,000 properties have been protected against flood since 2004
- Emissions of sulphur oxides (which cause health problems and acid rain)
have reduced by 76 per cent and particulate emissions (which cause health
problems) have reduced by 37 per cent since 1998
- Otters and salmon have returned to many rivers for first time for over
100 years, thanks in part to a halving of serious pollution incidents since
2000.
Speaking at the conference, Dr Paul Leinster said: “We have delivered
significant achievements over the past five years. Less waste is going to
landfill, more properties are protected against flooding, pollution
incidents have halved since 2000, and there are more fish and wildlife in
lakes and rivers.
“However, climate change is already affecting the UK and the
challenges we face as a result are only going to get tougher and more
properties could be at increased flood risk. We expect the country’s
population to grow by 16 million by 2050, adding further pressure on
limited water supplies and waste treatment facilities.
“Our new plans set out our approach to protect more people from
flooding, clean up their local rivers, and help businesses reduce the
resources they use. We all have our part to play to help protect the
environment for future generations.”
In its detailed analysis of the state of the environment to support its new
strategy, the Environment Agency also revealed that the number of
properties in England and Wales at the highest risk of flooding could
increase by over 60 per cent from 560,000 today to over 900,000 by 2035 if
investment in flood defences does not increase annually. Over the next five
years, the Environment Agency has pledged to build new and maintain
existing defences, continue to restrict development in flood plains and
create new wetlands and coastal habitats to prevent flooding.
More than 330 million tonnes of waste is currently produced by the UK each
year and more than half comes from businesses and the construction sector.
The Environment Agency estimates that UK companies could save up to
£1 billion, divert 17 million tonnes of waste from landfill, save 14
million tonnes of raw material and avoid greenhouse gas emissions
equivalent to two million tonnes of carbon dioxide over the next decade.
New figures from the Environment Agency show that the number of cases of
serious pollution in England and Wales dropped 13 per cent from 827 in 2007
to 723 in 2008 – down 44 per cent from 1,854 major incidents recorded
in 2001. Incidents of serious pollution are now at their lowest for seven
years.
Last year, almost 97 per cent of bathing waters in England and Wales passed
quality standards, compared to just three-quarters in 1990. The
government’s environmental watchdog is also continuing its efforts to
improve bathing water, rivers, lakes and groundwater to meet challenging EU
standards for water quality.
The Environment Agency is also continuing to reduce its own carbon
footprint. It has already reduced staff mileage by 8.9 million miles in the
two years to March 2008. The organisation is also aiming to install
approximately 80 wind turbines on its land, saving around 224,000 tonnes of
carbon dioxide per year, generating enough energy to power around 88,000
homes, in addition to providing income to the taxpayer.
