Dr Chris Sherrington from Eunomia defines Green Infrastructure and explains the major benefits that Green Infrastructure brings to our environment and our communities in terms of temperature regulation, air quality, health and well-being.

1. Green Infrastructure
Who benefits? Who pays?
Dr Chris Sherrington
Principal Consultant – Environmental
Economics & Ecosystem Services
21st April 2015

2. Journey to Work #1

3. Journey to Work #2

4. ‘Green Infrastructure’

5. ‘Green Infrastructure’
• All green and blue spaces in and around
our towns, cities and rural areas
• Components include:
• parks, private gardens, agricultural fields,
hedges, trees, woodland, green roofs, green
walls, rivers and ponds
• RTPI (2013) Briefing on Green Infrastructure in the
United Kingdom

6. Green Infrastructure
• Multiple Benefits
• Temperature
regulation
• Air quality
• Mental and physical
health
• Biodiversity
• Flood risk reduction

7. Temperature Regulation
• Urban Heat Island Effect
• 2003 heatwave – 9oC difference in night time
temperatures between London and surrounding
areas
• Temperatures in excess of 23oC are associated
with heat related stress and excess summer
deaths
• Department of Health (2008) Heatwave Plan for
England
• The temperatures reached during the heatwave
in 2003 are likely to be a ‘normal’ summer by
2040
• Public Health England & NHS England (2014)
Heatwave Plan for England 2014

8. Temperature Regulation
• Cooling effects of vegetation
• Evaporative cooling and evapotranspiration
• Reflectance
• Shading
• Restricts energy storage and thus subsequent
heating of local environment
• Reduces energy gain in building thus lowers
requirement for air conditioning
• Shelters people from direct exposure to the sun

9. Temperature Regulation?

10. Temperature Regulation
• Heat related stress
• 2003 heatwave led to more than 15,000
additional deaths in the UK and France
• 676 additional deaths in London between 4th
and 13th August as temperatures rose from
22oC to 29oC
• 9.6 extra deaths each day per degree
increase
• Mainly due to respiratory and cardiovascular
diseases

11. Temperature Regulation
• Valuing the effects of
trees and greenspace
• 20% of London’s land
area is under the
canopy of trees and
38% is greenspace
• Forest Research
estimate these prevent
2oC of additional
warming in London

12. Temperature Regulation
• Valuing the effects of
trees and greenspace
• Trees and greenspace
saving 16-22 lives a
day during spells of
hot weather
• Collectively London’s
greenspace valued at
£27m to £38m per day
during heatwaves
• £460 to £630 per
hectare per day during
heatwaves

13. Air quality
• Air pollution in UK
leads to circa 29,000
deaths per year
• Urban canopy of
London estimated to
remove between 852
and 2121 tonnes of
PM10 annually.
• Annual value of £163m
to £406m
• Value of circa £5k to
£13k per hectare per
year.

14. Air Quality - Green Walls

15. Air quality - Green Roofs

16. Mental & Physical Health
• Mental ill health
• 22.8% of the total
burden
• 15.9% - cancer
• 16.2% - cardiovascular
disease
• Economic and social
costs of mental illness
in England are circa
£105 billion, including:
• £21.3 on direct
healthcare costs
• £30 billion in lost output

17. Mental & Physical Health
• The natural environment contributes to
improvements in mental health:
• Directly, through the restorative benefits
provided by exposure to nature;
• Indirectly, by providing a space for positive
social contact; and
• Through providing a space for physical
activity

18. Mental & Physical Health
• Nature:
• Promotes recovery
from stress and
attention fatigue
• Has positive effects
on mood,
concentration, self-
discipline and stress
• Views from windows
of key importance

19. Front Gardens?

20. Who benefits?

21. Who Pays?
• Local Authorities?
• Now have public health responsibilities
• Business Improvement Districts (BIDs)
• Victoria BID in London focused on GI to
enhance appeal of the area and increase
footfall
• Local Enterprise Partnerships
• Enhancing quality of life to boost inward
investment and economic growth

22. Payments for Ecosystem Services

23. PES - Front Gardens

24. www.eunomia.co.uk
@Eunomia_RandC
mail@eunomia.co.uk