WORLD CLASS ECONOMY MUSTN'T COST THE EARTH

The South East is one of the world's leading economies but needs to improve its environmental performance, new European research reveals.

Research carried out as part of the RAMEA project (Regional Accounting Matrix including Environmental Accounts), compares the South East's environmental and economic performance with three other European regions - Emilia-Romagna in Italy, Malopolska in Poland and Noord-Barbant in the Netherlands.

The South East England Regional Assembly was one of the partners involved in the project and contributed advice and information alongside the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA).

Results show that although the South East has the strongest economy of the four regions, it also has the highest greenhouse gas emissions. Half the region's emissions come from household heating and travel, clearly highlighting that these are areas where the region needs to reduce its impact on the environment.

The findings stress the importance of policies to improve environmental standards set out in the Assembly's South East Plan - its 20 year planning vision - and in the Regional Economic Strategy for the South East. These include improving energy efficiency in buildings and encouraging use of renewable energy.

Assembly Chairman Cllr Keith Mitchell CBE said:

"We want to maintain our world class economy, but we do not want it to cost us the Earth. This project shows the South East is a economic leader but we have not yet managed to break the link between our prosperity and our environmental impact. We have the framework to help us do this in the South East Plan and Regional Economic strategy and now we must make it a top prioirty to deliver a cleaner environment."

Contacts

Steve Baker, Assembly PR Executive - 01483 555234

Heather Bolton, Assembly Communications Director - 01483 555220

Notes to editors:

1. RAMEA is a collaboration between South East England, Emilia-Romagna in Italy, Malopolska in Poland and Noord-Barbant in the Netherlands. It is part of Europe's GROW programme, funded through Interreg 111C, and aims to help balance social, economic and environmental issues in order to achieve sustainable growth.
2. South East household emissions per head are around 3,350 kg, Emilia-Romagna's are around 3,100 kg, Noord Brabant's are around 2,470 kg and there is no data for Malapolska.
3. The Assembly is a partnership of councils and communities in the South East region. It was established in January 1999 to give a representative voice to the region, which covers Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East and West Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire and Surrey.
4. The Assembly is made up of 112 members including elected councillors nominated by the region's local authorities and 37 representatives from other sectors of the community (including business, trades unions, education, housing, health, sports, culture, tourism, faith groups, environmental, community and voluntary organisations) as well as the New Forest National Park Authority.

The Assembly has six roles:

1. Regional Planning
   preparing and delivering the South East Plan
2. Regional Housing
   the Regional Housing Board decides housing investment priorities
3. Regional Transport
   the Regional Transport Board decides transport investment priorities
4. Advocacy
   pressing the South East's interests in London and Brussels
5. Accountability
   scrutinising SEEDA's plans and impact
6. Alignment
   co-ordinating regional policies and decisions.

Our vision is for a distinctive, outward-looking, accessible region of prosperous, sustainable communities, with a high quality of life and environment.

SOUTH EAST PHOTO LIBRARY

The South East England Regional Assembly's photo library MediaStore, gives everyone the chance to access images of issues affecting the region. MediaStore draws on the knowledge of the Assembly to provide you with images from all over the South East.

• regularly updated with photos covering topics from housing to transport to flooding
• easy to access and download
• fully searchable
• a wide variety of high resolution images
• there's no charge for this service, just credit the Assembly when an image is used.

To view images from across the region visit: www.southeast-ra-mediastore.co.uk

Last updated: 04 December 2007