OVERVIEW

The Coalition is committed to making this 'the greenest government ever'. The Big Society agenda aims to stimulate partnerships with local authorities, civil society and businesses to ensure that communities work together towards common environmental goals and solutions. The green economy is also a crucial component of economic growth but how are new green enterprises, products and services going to be best supported?

The carbon emissions targets of 2020 are fast approaching; it is vital that growth continues to be sustainable, communities are engaged and waste is reduced. Public services can take a bold and creative approach to meeting environmental challenges. At our sixth annual Sustainable Development conference, we will aim to promote the efficient use of resources and explore how sustainable initiatives can not only improve our quality of life but also deliver cost savings.

A community-based approach to sustainable development can deliver benefits and, importantly, it could prove be the ideal method in helping to involve people. Tangible improvements to the local environment and neighbourhood as a whole can encourage activity, bring people together and promote civic pride. Local schemes can create jobs, energy-efficiencies and generate significant financial savings through economies of scale. But how will government policies help to remove the barriers that prevent communities from taking action and what role will local authorities have to play? How can we successfully embed sustainable practices into the everyday lives of local people and best reap the future benefits?

Another key theme to consider is the role of innovation. Environmental and green technologies can help reduce waste, conserve energy and generate the clean energies of the future. Sustainable development projects, such as retrofitting and energy-efficient designs, are helping to vastly reduce the carbon emissions in the public sector. The UK has a fantastic opportunity to be at the forefront of new technologies, innovations and energy solutions. The Energy and Climate Change Secretary's decision to allow UK councils to supply energy to the national grid, either in feed-in tariffs or at higher commercial rates, has the potential to boost renewable energy generation as well as income. However, given the austerity measures that local authorities and universities are facing, can we reasonably expect our research base to contribute at the highest level and how will green projects be financed going forward? Will the Big Society concept lead to other innovative methods that can better our environment?

The Chancellor announced in December the aim to fully implement sustainability reporting across Government in line with the Government's aim of increasing transparency and accountability across the public sector. Lower than expected levels of economic growth have resulted in the European Commission considering whether to raise the 2020 carbon emissions reduction target to 30%. At the same time, global warming scepticism has been on the rise – fuelled by the inaction at the Copenhagen Summit and the controversy of the UEA Climate Change Unit's leaked emails – and the climate change message has struggled to resonate across society effectively. Rather than a centralised, target-driven approach, should we be looking to climate change policies to build broad agreements across all segments of society? As public spending is being severely cut, and mitigation and adaptation to climate change are seen as costly, will consensus on environmental action be further fragmented and sustainable schemes shelved?

At our sixth annual Sustainable Development conference, we will debate the key issues and policies that will shape the UK's green agenda.