This report reviews the potential for the development of a low carbon economy in the local authorities* that constitute the West Midlands' City Region.
It follows on from a 2009 study which identified eight key sectors that could play key roles in delivering a low carbon economy across the West Midlands.
The report identifies:
- Key sectors of employment in each of the local authority areas.
- Key opportunities for each area to protect or increase employment levels.
- Any barriers relevant to a particular area and what actions the local authorities can or must take to overcome them.
Also, the report aims to identify action and initiatives which could be taken jointly by the local authorities, as collaboration is inevitable for some initiatives to be successful.
Reaction to the research
John Polychronakis, Chief Executive of Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council, gives his reaction in this video:
Watch on viddler.com | Transcript
Key findings
Key opportunities across the City Region are:
- Low carbon design for construction.
- Low carbon renovation of local authority council stock and wider city housing.
- Manufacturing of low carbon transport.
- Low carbon vehicle design.
- Development and use of alternative fuels.
- Procurement of low carbon services and products for the public sector.
- Low carbon education.
- Use of planning to support development of the low carbon economy.
Reports
Published 18 May 2010
City Region: opportunities in the low carbon economy (main report) (pdf, 968kb)
City Region: opportunities in the low carbon economy (technical report) (pdf, 2.8mb)
Local authority profiles
Published 18 May 2010
The local profiles offer specific opportunities for each local authority:
Barriers
The report also identifies barriers to businesses taking up these opportunities. Again, some of these opportunities are locally focussed and are identified in the local profiles, but some cut across the City Region. In particular, there are barriers around appropriate skills and access to startup finance.
Opportunities
There are significant opportunities for the City Region as a whole, which are being driven by UK policy and regulation, and have the potential to improve employment levels in key sectors across the City Region.
The report finds that there is potential for increased employment of an estimated 10% in the following sectors:
- Environmental goods and services.
- Farming, food and drink.
- Manufacture of motor vehicles and transport.
A potential 10% increase or no change is predicted for:
- Manufacture of metals, fabricated metal products and electrical equipment.
No change is predicted for:
- Manufacture of non-metallic mineral goods.
- Public services.
- Transport, storage and communication.
In this context no change is seen as a positive, as these are sectors which could lose jobs without diversification into the low carbon sector.
Along with the main report (pdf, 968kb) for the City Region, there's a detailed technical report (pdf, 2.8mb) highlighting methodology used and the datasets involved, as well as detailed reviews of the local consultations.
*NB: This report was commissioned by the existing six local authority members of the City Region (Birmingham, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton) plus Coventry and Telford & Wrekin.