The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) has published research undertaken by the UK environmental economics consultancy, eftec and marine consultancy ABPmer into how the MMO can improve the implementation of the ecosystem approach in marine planning. In undertaking marine planning, the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) is required by the Marine Policy Statement to use the ecosystem approach, […]

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Brussels, Belgium – Today WWF launches a new report – “From crisis to opportunity: Five steps to sustainable European economies” – showing that resource efficiency alone could generate per year the equivalent of the Juncker Investment Plan of over 300 billion euros for the EU economy. http://wwf.panda.org/?uNewsID=241071 WWF launches this report at the moment when […]

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Two useful reports: The economic case for investment in natural capital. This covers a wide variety of water and marine issues https://nebula.wsimg.com/8755553ec25d9cd0dc9407fa5e4aa408?AccessKeyId=68F83A8E994328D64D3D&disposition=0&alloworigin=1 The economic case for investment in Natural Capital – marine appendix – fish and shellfisheries. This is a particularly useful economic assessment of the fisheries and shellfisheries sector https://nebula.wsimg.com/2fd9d1a8a42128eb4c8f7cd3f8c8c2c8?AccessKeyId=68F83A8E994328D64D3D&disposition=0&alloworigin=1  

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Sustainability and resilience are not the same thing but both require a clear assessment of the long term direction of travel. With water companies now having legal duties to deliver both sustainability and resilience this is a helpful set of ideas. Athough it’s American these ideas based on five years of research highlight key areas […]

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ABPmer:  ‘The Natural Capital Committee published its third State of Natural Capital report on 27 January 2015.  It recommends that Government, working closely with the private sector and NGOs should develop a comprehensive strategy to protect and improve natural capital. The report, prepared by eftec, presents a series of potential environmental investments that offer good economic […]

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Steve Hull   ‘The Productive Seas Evidence Group (PSEG – one of the four evidence groups reporting to the Marine Science Coordination Committee) has published a report http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/marine/science/MSCC/PSEG/socecenviron exploring current requirements and guidance on socio-economic assessment for marine development projects. It highlights that while UK marine policy increasingly demands that regulators integrate environmental, social and economic […]

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Open government is the simple yet powerful idea that institutions work better for citizens when they are transparent, engaging and accountable. If you’re interested in opening up government budgets, contracts, datasets, decision-making, information, policymaking or public services, we invite you to join the UK Open Government Forum. Click here: http://forum.opengovernment.org.uk/ At the centre of open government […]

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Running for five weeks, this is the first stage in the Sustainability Appraisal (SA) process, where the South marine plans are independently assessed to understand how they will help deliver sustainable development. The scoping report looks at sustainability issues such as communities, health and wellbeing, marine ecology and cultural heritage. MMO’s Sustainability Manager, Chris Maxwell, […]

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