Follow Germany’s green example, cities are urged

The Sustainable Cities report, which has been written by professional services company Grant Thornton, calls for the creation of Infrastructure Investment Boards to implement long-term policies that will make cities more competitive while reducing damage to the environment.

The report states that the city of the future will be an “eclectic mix” of sustainable systems and shorter supply chains. It also highlights Yorkshire-based initiatives which are helping business to become “greener”.

“Collaboration between UK cities in the sustainability arena is limited at present,” the report states.

“Local energy generation is a good example of where more collaboration between cities would seem to make sense – the key aspects of sustainable energy solutions are broadly similar across all UK cities, and there are examples of close municipal collaboration, for example, in Germany.

“While competition between cities is inevitable, the smart cities will know where to collaborate and where to compete, and be capable of doing both.”

The report highlights the success of district heating networks which have evolved over a number of years.

Apart from the creation of Infrastructure Investment Boards, Grant Thornton also calls for the establishment of City Investment Funds which will draw a wide variety of finance into a city-focused vehicle to promote sustainable developments.

Mark Burke, the partner and head of public sector for Grant Thornton in Leeds, helped to write the report along with Nathan Goode, the firm’s head of energy, environment and sustainability.

Mr Burke said: “Despite the popularity of encouraging sustainability, UK cities are faced with tough challenges in its implementation.

“Balancing the efficient use of resources, addressing climate change targets and facilitating sustainable economic growth means many cities are forced to rethink how they invest for the future.

“Implementing isolated initiatives which ‘reinvent the wheel’ and fail to draw on the full spectrum of skills and resources available is wasteful of resources.

“Regions and businesses must collaborate and share best practice or the UK as a whole will fall short of sustainability objectives.

“We have identified a number of regional initiatives that are proving to be very successful and these should be replicated across the UK.

“This report gives local and national teams the opportunities to collaborate and work together. While it’s clear that there is much to do and that planning and executing a programme of sustainable investment is a long-term commitment we have a fantastic opportunity for local authorities and national authorities alike to work much more collaboratively.

“We have seen some great examples of best practice and we will be talking to the authorities in the Yorkshire region to take this further. There are a number of interesting sustainability initiatives, including the vision for Dearne Valley, a former mining area, to become the first ‘eco-park’ in the UK, and a review of the economic inter-relationships between the five main cities in the North of England: Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield.”

The report highlights the work being done at the University of Sheffield Management School’s Centre for Low Carbon Futures, where a pilot project is being carried out to consider ways of creating a balanced green supply chain system.

The report concludes: “The task at hand now is to start to create delivery structures and implement programmes – drawing on the experience and resources of the private sector, as well as finding effective mechanisms for collaboration and partnership between the cities themselves.”

CALL TO CHANGE THE GUIDELINES

The Grant Thornton report claims that the guidelines for judging investments contained in the Treasury Green Book need to be reformed.

The report found that the current Green Book guidelines favour projects that are cheaper in the short term over those with a strong, long-term sustainability focus.

The report calls for these guidelines to be revised.

It says: “The Treasury Green Book is not ‘green’.”

A HM Treasury spokesman said: “Defra and the Treasury are working together on new guidance to ensure that environmental and sustainability considerations are better incorporated into the Green Book, which is expected to be published later this year.”