FINAL REPORT Regional Partners in the North East Valuing the Environment of the North East of England June 2001 Environmental Resources Management 8 Cavendish Square, London W1M 0ER Telephone 020 7465 7200 Facsimile 020 7465 7272 Email [email protected] http://www.ermuk.com FINAL REPORT Regional Partners in the North East Valuing the Environment of the North East of England June 2001 Reference 7033 For and on behalf of Environmental Resources Management Approved by: Alistair Fulton Position: Director of Policy & Strategy Date: 26 June 2001 This report has been prepared by Environmental Resources Management the trading name of Environmental Resources Management Limited, with all reasonable skill, care and diligence within the terms of the Contract with the client, incorporating our General Terms and Conditions of Business and taking account of the resources devoted to it by agreement with the client. We disclaim any responsibility to the client and others in respect of any matters outside the scope of the above. This report is confidential to the client and we accept no responsibility of whatsoever nature to third parties to whom this report, or any part thereof, is made known. Any such party relies on the report at their own risk. In line with our company environmental policy we purchase paper for our documents only from ISO 14001 certified or EMAS verified manufacturers. This includes paper with the Nordic Environmental Label. CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY I 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 STUDY AIMS 1 1.2 STRUCTURE OF THE REPORT 1 1.3 STUDY SCOPE 2 2 REGIONAL CONTEXT 6 2.1 OVERVIEW OF THE REGION’S ECONOMY 6 2.2 ENVIRONMENT IN THE NORTH EAST 9 2.3 SUMMARY 11 3 THE ENVIRONMENTAL INDUSTRY 12 3.1 OVERVIEW 12 3.2 BUSINESSES SUPPLYING ENVIRONMENTAL GOODS & SERVICES 12 3.3 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT IN INDUSTRY 22 3.4 ENVIRONMENTAL POSTS IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR 24 3.5 ENVIRONMENTAL ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS 25 3.6 VOLUNTARY SECTOR ORGANISATIONS 26 3.7 INTERMEDIATE LABOUR MARKET PROJECTS 28 3.8 ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION AND ENHANCEMENT 30 3.9 ENVIRONMENTAL REGENERATION 31 3.10 SUMMARY 34 4 LAND BASED INDUSTRIES 35 4.1 OVERVIEW 35 4.2 AGRICULTURE IN THE NORTH EAST 35 4.3 AGRI-ENVIRONMENT SCHEMES 36 4.4 ORGANIC FARMING 39 4.5 REGIONAL PRODUCE 40 4.6 FORESTRY 42 4.7 COUNTRYSIDE SPORT AND LEISURE 46 4.8 SUMMARY 47 5 CAPITALISING ON A HIGH QUALITY ENVIRONMENT 48 5.1 OVERVIEW 48 5.2 TOURISM DEPENDENT ON A HIGH QUALITY ENVIRONMENT 48 5.3 ATTRACTING INWARD INVESTMENT & SKILLS 53 5.4 QUALITY OF LIFE 54 5.5 FILM AND THE MEDIA 55 5.6 SUMMARY 56 6 GROWTH POTENTIAL & RECOMMENDATIONS 57 6.1 SUMMARY OF GROWTH POTENTIAL 57 6.2 THE ENVIRONMENTAL INDUSTRY 58 6.3 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPROVEMENTS IN INDUSTRY 63 6.4 VOLUNTARY SECTOR ENVIRONMENTAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS 64 6.5 LAND BASED INDUSTRIES 65 6.6 ORGANIC AND REGIONAL PRODUCE 67 6.7 ENVIRONMENTALLY BENEFICIAL FORESTRY 68 6.8 CAPITALISING ON A HIGH QUALITY ENVIRONMENT 70 6.9 ATTRACTING INWARD INVESTMENT AND SKILLS 71 6.10 QUALITY OF LIFE 71 6.11 MAKING THINGS HAPPEN 72 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Steering Group: National Trust Environment Agency One North East Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Countryside Agency Also with thanks to: Alnwick District Council Middlesbrough Borough Council British Trust for Conservation Volunteers National Farmer Union Castle Morpeth Borough Council North East Regional Assembly Confederation for British Industry NECESI University of Durham Council for the Protection of Rural England Newcastle City Council Country Land Owners Association NFU North East Region Durham City Council North Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council Durham County Council Northumberland County Council Durham Wildlife Trust Northumberland Estates English Heritage Northumberland National Park English Nature Northumberland Wildlife Trust Environmental Industries Federation Northumbria Tourist Board Farming & Rural Conservation Agency Northumbrian Water Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council Forest Enterprise Sunderland City Council Forestry Commission Tees Forest Partnership Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council The Northern Energy Initiative (TNEI) Government Office for the North East Tynedale District Council Great North Forest Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust Groundwork Trust Wildlife Trusts in the North East GLOSSARY: BTCV - British Trust for Conservation Volunteers CBI - Confederation of British Industry CPRE - Council for the Protection of Rural England CSS - Countryside Stewardship Scheme DETR - Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions DTI - Department of Trade and Industry EA - Environment Agency EFT - Environmental Task Force EIF - Environmental Industries Federation EGS - Environmental Goods and Services EN - English Nature ESA - Environmentally Sensitive Area ETBPP - Environmental Technology Best Practice Programme ETSU - Energy Technology Support Unit FTE - Full time equivalent (employment) FWAG - Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group GDP - Gross Domestic Product GONE - Government Office for the North East IEMA - Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment JEMU - Joint Environmental Markets Unit LA21 - Local Agenda for sustainable development for the 21st century MAFF - Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food MBC - Metropolitan Borough Council NFFO - Non Fossil Fuel Objective NVQ - National Vocational Qualification ONS - Office of National Statistics RDP - Rural Development Programme RES - Regional Economic Strategy RPG - Regional Planning Guidance RSPB - Royal Society for the Protection of Birds VALUING THE ENVIRONMENT OF THE NORTH EAST EXECUTIVE SUMMARY INTRODUCTION Aims: The environment of the North East of England is one of the region’s biggest assets. For the first time, this study quantifies the contribution of the environment to the region’s economy and provides recommendations for increasing this contribution in the future. The study has been made possible by the co-operation and enthusiasm of regional partners including the National Trust, One North East, the Environment Agency, the Countryside Agency, the RSPB, English Heritage and the Government Office for the North East. It has been undertaken by Environmental Resources Management Ltd (ERM) and the Centre of Urban and Regional Development (CURDS) at the University of Newcastle. Scope: The study focuses on the economic significance of the natural and historic built environment in terms of: • activities which aim to protect or improve the environment, such as the manufacture of pollution control equipment; • activities which generate income from environmental good practice; and • activities which depend on a high quality environment, such as many tourism activities. In particular, the study covers: • The Environmental Industry - private, public and voluntary sector organisations involved in environmental improvement. • Land Based Industries - environmental improvement and conservation activities in land based sectors such as agriculture and forestry. • Capitalising on a High Quality Environment - the importance of the environment to activities such as tourism, leisure, films and media, and the role of the environment in helping to attract investment to the region and contributing to quality of life for residents and visitors. HEADLINE FINDINGS THE CURRENT SITUATION: The study shows that at least 51,666 jobs in the North East are directly related to the environment. These jobs represent 6% of total current employment in the North East (920,000) and are clearly significant when compared to employment in other sectors in the North East (see Table 2). Environmental Resources Management & CURDS Regional Partners in the North East I The contribution of the environment to regional employment in the North East is larger than that in other regions, such as the North West and West Midlands, where it generates around 5% of employment. These activities contribute approximately 5% of the North East total GDP (£1,106 million, out of a total of £24,300 million). Table 1 Environmental Employment in the North East Category of environmental employment: Employment GDP £ million The Environmental Industry: Private Sector Environmental Suppliers 14,099 Construction related employment 1,200 Environmental Management jobs in Industry 425 Public sector environmental posts 3,761 Environmental jobs in Academic Institutions 400 Environmental jobs in the Voluntary Sector 454 20,339 £480 Land Based Industries: Environmentally beneficial farming 1,918 Environmentally beneficial forestry 635 Organic farming 46 Regional Produce 900 Fisheries, sports and leisure 570 4,069 £81 Capitalising on a High Quality Environment: Tourism employment based on a high quality environment 27,000 Film & Media based on the high quality environment 258 27,258 £545 Total 51,666 £1,106 Note: Employment shown as Full Time Equivalent jobs (FTE). Table 2 Comparison with employment in selected other sectors in the North East Sector: Sector Employment Environment related employment 51,666 Construction 50,800 Chemicals manufacture 24,000 Motor vehicle manufacture 13,000 IT equipment manufacture 7,500 Transport & communications 42,000 FUTURE OPPORTUNITIES: Analysis of future growth potential shows that employment relating to the environment in the North East could increase by approximately 26,400 by 2010 to 78,000. Growth areas include: Environmental Resources Management & CURDS Regional Partners in the North East II • The Environmental Industry - Significant growth opportunities for the region’s suppliers of environmental goods and services are being driven by factors