Ann-Marie Brouder, Principal Advisor - Regions at Forum for the Future, speaking at a workshop on climate change hosted by the West Midlands Regional Observatory in Birmingham on 20 April 2009.
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A low carbon West Midlands
1. A low-carbon West Midlands
Ann-Marie Brouder
Forum for the Future
A presentation given at State of the Region: Implications
of Climate Change event, 20 April 2009.
This presentation forms part of the Observatory’s ongoing
State of the Region dialogue between policy makers and
researchers on the theme of climate change.
2. A Low Carbon West Midlands
Forum for the Future
20 April 2009
3. What I’ll talk about
1. Introduction
2. Thinking about the future
3. A positive future for the West
Midlands?
4. Forum for the Future
• sustainable development charity
• our vision is of business and communities
thriving in a future that’s environmentally
viable
• our mission is to find practical ways
organisations can deliver a sustainable future
8. Thinking in a structured way about
the future…
• Inspires and motivates
• Attracts new people
• Brings sustainable development ‘in
from the cold’
• Speaks to strategists
• Improves decision-making for long-
term success
9. Tourism 2023
To deliver a shared view of the future challenges that the
industry faces and what the industry, and key players
within it, need to do to be future proofed
10.
11. Climate change
• Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change 2007 report:
• Global average 0.4 degrees of
warming 2007 – 2030
• Storms more intense and more
frequent
• Drought
• Heatwaves more intense
• Agriculture – variable impacts
• Biodiversity threat
• Spread of disease
• Sea level rise
IPCC 4th Assessment Report 2007
12. Climate change
• Since 2007: research data
on high side of projections
• Arctic sea ice in rapid
retreat
• Changes ‘in the pipe’
already
Nature Magazine National Snow and Ice Data Center 2008
13. In the West Midlands…
• Winter rainfall could increase by up to 20% and
summer rainfall could decrease by up to 30%
• By the 2020s a flooding event similar to the one
experienced in Autumn 2000 could cost WM
agriculture £20 million
• The cost of disruption to transport could be
between £30 million and £80 million
15. So why a vision of a low-carbon West
Midlands?
• Show that a low-carbon West Midlands is
a successful West Midlands
• Show that action on climate change
doesn’t have to cost the Earth
• Start a debate
16. At the heart of the
vision…
• Prosperous
• Better transport
• Better local environment
The Lunar Society,
• Stronger communities
1765 – 1813
• Healthy
men and women who
forged the industrial
revolution
• Pride and unity
17. At the heart of the vision…
• New and transformed businesses
• Alasco Ltd – low-carbon innovation
• Haven Hotel, Ludlow
• Green motoring
• Smarter, more livable places
Birmingham City Centre
•
Villages
•
Suburbs
•
Regeneration
•
• Happy people!
18. Energy
• 20% reduction in energy consumption on 2004
levels
• 20% of energy from renewable sources
Micro-generation & feed-in tariffs
•
Bio-digesters
•
Wind
•
Combined Heat and Power
•
Carbon Capture and Storage
•
19. Land
• Drier soils, flood
threat
• Easier winters for
livestock, new types
of crop
• Land for adaptation
• Local production
• Urban farming
20. Housing
• New build is ‘zero-carbon’
• Retro-fit is big business
• Use of smart metering
• Housing enables low-carbon lifestyles…
21.
22. Transport
• Cars go electric
• Investment in integrated public transport
• Shift freight to rail
• Roll-out of ‘velib’ model for bikes and cars
• Demand reduction using ICT
23. Work
• More efficient office space
• Seasonal working?
• Working from home
• Manufacturing low-carbon technology, green
motoring
• Leveraging skills base for a new industrial
revolution
24.
25. Using the vision
• A starting point for debate
• A guide for policy and strategy
• What do you think?
27. Contact details
Ann-Marie Brouder
Forum for the Future
E a.brouder@forumforthefuture.org
T +44 (0)773 068 0603
Web www.forumforthefuture.org
John Walker
Senior Research Analyst
West Midlands Regional Observatory
E john.walker@wmro.org
T +44 (0)121 202 3246
Web www.wmro.org
Blog http://wmro.wordpress.com
Editor's Notes
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Sd from cold – by conversations on future bring sd related issues e.g climate change.Quarterly reports – cc not featured. But 20 year c commercially important.Opportunity commercial imperative not a marginal thing
Key questionsWill tourism be inward or outward?
Now looking more serious. More urgent than we thought. Reinforce we can’t do anythingSea ice disappear by 2040/50. Now much earlier. Already seen this.
2002 cc mpacts programme
Change happen where we act or not.Not acting, huge resiliance, disaster relief
Cc action doesn’t have to contradict other policy goals, not panic spending.Things you might want to do anyway.Not based upon what’s most likely for 2020 but what’s achievable and could be most desirable with collective commitment and actionCircumstances of 2020 are seen as part of a trajectory, and not in isolation
Not based upon what’s most likely for 2020 but what’s achievable and could be most desirable with collective commitment and actionCircumstances of 2020 are seen as part of a trajectory, and not in isolation Vision for WM if a committed response occursIdentity is clearerPreferential public funding for low-carbon projectsPolicies rightLess waste, pollution, more trees, Stronger – people work togetherSuccess of first mover advantage – it defines the west midsNew phase of capitalism. Imaginative and world leadingMet on evenings of the full moon. Statues of them in birmingham. Setting future culture of area in brum. Entrpreneurs, industrialists, engineers, Credited with changing the face of Birmingham
People, places and businessesHow is it being achieved, nest areasAlasco – decentralised renewable energy system batteries storing renewable energy at low demand and releasing at peak demandHaven hotel – locally sourced, all organic. Solar powered. Geo-thermal pump self-sufficient in energy needs.. Passively heated and cooled.Wine and cider tasting facilities.
Renewable energy supply structure more networked. Some communities making money from selling power back to the grid.
New flood defences. Produce own fuel. Organic and low-input farming. Many west midlanders buying 40% of food from local sources.Rarer to see livestock, with inefficiency of meat and dairy production but what is produced is better quality.Fruit and veg concentrated in centres of population, popular urban farming scheme.GreenGro co-operative buys produce and then redistributes it to local retailers and restaurants.Schools and hospitals have larger-scale allotments. LA level. Concrete to veg plot. Conversions include disused multi-storey car park in Wolverhampton, first to get ‘vertical farm shop’
Zero carbon buildings a requirement since 2016Homes that benefit from retrofitting also quaify for a rebate on stamp dutySmart-metering allowing households to monitor individual appliancees and ensure kept to a minimumBuilding granst from AWM and elsewhere are all low-carbon dependent
M housig modular. Pre-fabricated rooms. Designed for low carbon lifestyeles in communities. Where people could get one?in a community setting. Part of it is around co-production of energy andste. Coral reef for people. Enough people for chp
Electric most popular. Benefit from reduced parking charges and congestion charging. Able to travel 400 miles on a charge of their battery system. Batteries charged from renewable sources at times of surplus, so power bought when cheap.Coach networks and dedicated coach lanes.Bike and car sharing.Up to date information and journey planning.Only drive to work if car share with some companies.More teleworking
Regional investment in upskilling the workforce to be active in high-value sectorsMore jobs in companies offering low carbon products and services
Hydraulic dance floor in west mids, generates energy