By Lucy Phillips
14 January
A former environment minister has urged the Treasury to ‘get its act together’ on climate change by including natural resources in the UK’s economic assets.
The call came from Barry Gardiner, MP for Brent North in London. He wants ministers to ensure environmental features, such as freshwater and peat-bog stocks, are ‘at the heart of government’s accounting processes’ and are a major influence on public policy decisions.
Gardiner raised the issue in a parliamentary debate last week, warning that it was not possible for the government to ‘bail out’ ecosystems as it has done the banks.
‘Without good, natural capital accounts, the importance of natural resources to economies will continue to be under-appreciated and sub-optimal use made of these assets, economically, environmentally and socially,’ he said.
But Gardiner subsequently told Public Finance that the government’s response to his speech was ‘pitiful’ and that the issue remained ‘very low on the UK government agenda’.
Treasury minister Sarah McCarthy-Fry said that the UK wanted ‘to remain at the forefront in developing best practice in relation to public accounting’. But she did not commit to specific action on natural capital.
All government departments would be required to include their environmental sustainability in their annual reports and accounts from 2011, she added.
John Maddocks, CIPFA’s technical manager for sustainability and the third sector, told PF that natural resources accounting was in its early days. He said it would be difficult to bring in ‘because there isn’t agreement about how you go about measuring its value’.
He added: ‘It’s worth exploring but is fraught with difficulties. How do you put a price on a beautiful view for example?’
14 January
A former environment minister has urged the Treasury to ‘get its act together’ on climate change by including natural resources in the UK’s economic assets.
The call came from Barry Gardiner, MP for Brent North in London. He wants ministers to ensure environmental features, such as freshwater and peat-bog stocks, are ‘at the heart of government’s accounting processes’ and are a major influence on public policy decisions.
Gardiner raised the issue in a parliamentary debate last week, warning that it was not possible for the government to ‘bail out’ ecosystems as it has done the banks.
‘Without good, natural capital accounts, the importance of natural resources to economies will continue to be under-appreciated and sub-optimal use made of these assets, economically, environmentally and socially,’ he said.
But Gardiner subsequently told Public Finance that the government’s response to his speech was ‘pitiful’ and that the issue remained ‘very low on the UK government agenda’.
Treasury minister Sarah McCarthy-Fry said that the UK wanted ‘to remain at the forefront in developing best practice in relation to public accounting’. But she did not commit to specific action on natural capital.
All government departments would be required to include their environmental sustainability in their annual reports and accounts from 2011, she added.
John Maddocks, CIPFA’s technical manager for sustainability and the third sector, told PF that natural resources accounting was in its early days. He said it would be difficult to bring in ‘because there isn’t agreement about how you go about measuring its value’.
He added: ‘It’s worth exploring but is fraught with difficulties. How do you put a price on a beautiful view for example?’
