The CLA calls for ‘Green Stock Exchange’ to boost environment

The rural economy experts said that the state of the environment and rural development could be both boosted by an exchange where environmental credits are traded.

The scheme was unveiled today at a launch of the CLA paper Private Solutions To Public Problems: Developing Environmental Markets at a CLA seminar at the offices of Smith and Williamson in the City of London.

CLA President Henry Aubrey-Fletcher said: "The CLA is proposing a revolutionary way of using private markets to provide the environmental protection and maintenance that society increasingly demands.

"In the paper that the CLA launched at the seminar, we describe a wide range of different mechanisms by which this could be achieved. We are calling for the Government to convene a Biodiversity Business Partnership to develop and create environmental markets in the UK."

Dr Derrick Wilkinson, a former CLA Chief Economist and the author of the report, said: "We know this could work in the UK. In Australia, bio-banking has been shown to work to address the loss of biodiversity, and in the US there are no fewer than 122 mitigation banks and a market worth a billion dollars.

"Creating these environmental markets would be a triple victory – a win for the environment, a win for rural business and also a win for environmental regulators who would find themselves working with fewer but more professional environmental producers."

Dr Wilkinson, Henry Aubrey-Fletcher and the event's keynote speaker, leading economist, author and Financial Times columnist Tim Harford are all available for interview.

A simple example of one of the ways in which an environmental market could work:

A landowner or farmer creates a pond on his land increasing habitats for wildlife and plants. As part of the planning process the project would be awarded a number of environmental credits which the landowner can either hold, or sell into the environmental market.

Meanwhile, a farmer in another part of the UK wants to build some affordable housing. This development will affect the environment, and the planning system insists he offsets this damage by buying a specified number of credits from the environmental market. By this means, managed development in rural communities can go ahead and land managers are encouraged to improve everyone's environment

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Out of hours: 020 7201 9511.

Emeritus Professor Allan Buckwell – Policy Director

Has overall responsibility for the co-ordination and delivery of all policy affecting land use. Ensures that the CLA promotes policies that are distinctive and benefit members. Is responsible for strategic thinking on major land use issues and promoting CLA profile across relevant UK and EU institutions. He chairs the European Landowners Organisation (ELO) Policy Group and co-ordinates CLA relations with ELO.

Phone: 020 7235 0511
FAX: 020 7235 4696
Email allan.buckwell@cla.org.uk