The age of austerity is a godsend to the environment | 4th Aug 2011

"The age of austerity is a godsend to the environment." Said Terry A'Hearn, Head of Regulatory Innovation at WSP and ex-Australian regulator. This may sound odd to many but Terry argues that now is the time for the old-fashioned command-and-control approach to go and make way for smarter regulation. This would cut costs, simpligy compliance and spark genuine business sustainability innovation.

Terry talks about concepts such as company-wide rather than site-wide permits, akin to an environmental driving license. And he references an example back at his time within the Victorian Environmental Protection Agency in Australian where an innovative approach in one scheme cut Victoria's greenhouse gas emissions by 1.23 million tonnes a year, but also saved Aus $38.2m, worth around £15m at 2007 exchange rates.

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Reproduced by permission of The ENDS Report, the UK's No 1 source of environmental intelligence for professionals

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