Environmental legislation and risk
This blog post has been produced for the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce as part of the 2023 Sustainable Business Series. The Sustainable Business Series seeks to help local firms understand the role that they play in progressing to net zero, as well as the opportunities and challenges that may arise from the net-zero transition. Through an expansive range of blogs, webinars, events and Q&A’s, the Sustainable Business Series offers useful information to businesses interested in adopting a sustainable business approach. Click here to register for Sustainable Business Series events and webinars.
With COP 28 taking place in the UAE in November, it is an opportune moment to explore the potential environmental legislation and risks England’s second city Birmingham needs to be aware off as it aims to achieve the Net Zero target by 2030, writes Kaleem Hussain. In 2019, the UK government committed to a net zero greenhouse gas target, seeking to achieve a 100% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions relative to the 1990 levels by 2050.
The opening of UK’s largest electric vehicle charging hub at the NEC conference centre this month with the power to charge up to 180 vehicles at a time in as little as 15 minutes is an important milestone to which the chancellor, Jermey Hunt stated it is a “significant step in our rollout of electric vehicle charging infrastructure across the country.”
Intertwined with the above, there are a range of environmental legislation and regulations that impact Birmingham’s quest to meet the Net Zero target by 2030. This includes legislation on air quality, waste management, water pollution, and climate change. Non-compliance with these regulations can result in fines, penalties, and reputational damage. The Environmental Act 2021 introduces changes on waste collection which means that food waste must be collected separately from other household waste at least once a week from 1st April 2023. Whilst councils like Warwick District Council are already leading the way with the collection by BIFFA, it is imperative that Birmingham City Council follow suite as there is an opportunity for significant revenue generation and savings in processing food waste in anaerobic digesters to produce biomethane that has value, as it can be used to supplement the heating gas of buildings as well as selling it to the gas grid.
Key risk areas for Birmingham include, poor air quality, flooding, noise pollution, fit for purpose waste management, cost-of-living crisis, increase in energy prices, environmental legislative compliance and the recent announcement that Birmingham City Council has been declared effectively bankrupt through a Section 114 notice means the council is obliged to stop all but essential spending and take immediate steps to deliver savings to bring the budget back into a balanced position.
To address these risks, it is imperative that businesses and individuals in Birmingham are aware of these environmental and legislative risks and take appropriate actions to mitigate them such as adopting sustainable practices, investing in energy-efficient technologies, exploring the potentials of digital transition through machine learning and AI, regulatory compliance and that Birmingham City Council’s environmental obligations are not set-aside as it seeks to balance the books moving forward at the behest of Birmingham 2026 strategic vision of being the UK’s first sustainable global city.
Kaleem Hussain FRSA
Managing Director, Guidance Consultancy