EEDA - East of England Development Agency

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Sustainable Economy

A sustainable economy can be defined as economic development and growth that:

• is achieved within the limits of the environment
• ensures a strong, healthy and just society
• is through good governance and the responsible use of science.

Relevance to the East of England

With its low-lying coastal and agricultural areas, the East of England is particularly vulnerable to the impact of climate change.

EEDA is leading the drive to reduce carbon, use resources more efficiently and develop renewable energy sources.

Why is the Sustainable Economy programme needed?

As a region, we need to:

• rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and accelerate climate change adaptation in the East of England
• meet ambitious targets for energy generation from renewable sources and remain the UK's leading renewable energy region
• support the region's environmental technologies and service companies to continue to grow
• maintain the East of England as the UK's leading region for food and farming, and help the sector to continue to improve its competitiveness and sustainability
• assist rural and coastal communities to diversify, raise productivity and improve access to key markets.

How will the Sustainable Economy programme be achieved?

EEDA's Sustainable Economy programme leads the move towards a low carbon, low resource economy to mitigate the impact of climate change. It does this by:

• setting reduction targets - for example, carbon reduction is a key goal for the regional economic strategy (RES)
• innovative campaigning such as our Cut your Carbon campaign
• supporting the region's growing environmental and energy technology sector - through Renewables East and other relevant enterprise hubs
• helping businesses and individuals in the region improve their efficient use of resources through Business Link
• providing access to EU and regional development funding with low carbon and resource efficiency themes
• leading projects for rural and coastal areas to adapt to climate change through projects such as Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) projects to safeguard and enhance the region's rural environment.

EEDA's Sustainable Economy drive is a standalone programme but also cuts across all our other activities.

EEDA's commitment

EEDA is reducing its own environmental impact by:

• reducing carbon emissions by increasing the energy efficiency of EEDA's buildings, with a commitment to becoming carbon neutral by 2010
• developing an awareness raising and training programme for staff to increase EEDA's capacity to deliver environmental sustainability
• implementing a sustainability appraisal and strategic environmental assessment as part of the RES review
• gaining Environmental Management System (EMS) certification
• working towards a zero waste policy
• developing green travel plans.
  

Latest news

• Communities win funding for low carbon dreams 9 July 2008 Six communities from across the region have won funding from the East of England Development Agency's Cut your Carbon competition to make their low carbon plans a reality.
• Communities battle for low carbon funding 1 July 2008 Nine communities from across the East of England have been shortlisted to battle it out for a share of £500,000 in the first round of Cut your Carbon, a regional competition to find innovative and inspiring ways of cutting carbon emissions.
• East of England's carbon heroes step forward 17 June 2008 The £500,000 first round of a competition to encourage communities in the East of England to cut their carbon emissions has closed attracting 24 entries requesting just over £2 million in funding.
• Economic summits to be held to drive successful growth 5 June 2008 Businesses, the public sector and those involved and interested in the economic success of the region are invited to a series of 'economic summits'.
• £1 million for 'green' solutions to fight fuel poverty 4 June 2008 The East of England Development Agency (EEDA) is to manage a £1 million funding pot to help fight fuel poverty across the East of England.

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