Inventing our future Collective action for a sustainable economy

Where do we want to be?
Headline regional ambitions
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lower-quartile earnings to 60 per cent of average earnings over the lifetime
of the strategy and thereby reversing the decline seen in recent years.
A progression in skill levels will be among the key tools for achieving this.
Figure 10
Gross full-time, median and lower-quartile earnings as a share of
Gross earnings as share of regional average (%)
regional average earnings (%)
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
81.5
58.4
80.6
57.6
80.7
Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (2007)
Average
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Median Lower quartile
57.2
Greenhouse gases
Reducing CO 2 emissions to 60 per cent below 1990 levels by 2031 would
put the region at the forefront of tackling climate change and in a prime
position to exploit the global commercial opportunities of the $548 billion
environmental goods and services market.
With its long coastline, low-lying geography and vulnerability to coastal
flooding, the East of England is the UK region most at risk from the effects
of climate change. The twin challenges of adaptation to and mitigation
of these effects, and the academic and commercial expertise within the
region, provide a strong rationale for bold action to put the region at the
forefront of global regions.
The draft Climate Change Bill proposes binding UK targets of at least a
60 per cent reduction of CO 2 emissions below a 1990 baseline by 2050,
with an interim target of between 26 and 32 per cent by 2020. xvii
The Climate Change Bill also seeks to set five-year carbon budgets,
recognising that it is not just a 2020 or 2050 end point that is important,
but the cumulative level of emissions and the need to live within carbon
budgets in getting there. xviii Yet there is increasing evidence that to limit
global warming, average temperatures need to remain within a ‘safe
level’ of 2ºC above pre-industrial levels. This may require industrial
economies to make near to an 80 per cent cut by 2050. xix
xvii. Draft Climate Change Bill, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (2007).
xviii. Akin to a financial budget, a ‘Carbon Budget’ refers to the aggregated quantity of CO 2 emissions.
The draft Climate Change Bill proposes that carbon budget periods be set at least three periods (ie
for 15 years) ahead. This approach provides for both certainty and flexibility in the system: emissions
can vary between years provided the total over a five year period does not exceed the budget.
xix. This is consistent with maintaining atmospheric concentrations of CO 2 at or below 450ppmv, which
recent IPCC evidence suggests would give us a reasonable chance (30 per cent) of not exceeding the
2ºC stabilisation level. The government is currently reviewing the national target of a 60 per cent
reduction in emissions by 2050, and whether this should in fact be closer to 80 per cent by 2050, in
line with the trajectory that underpins the RES headline target.
79.9
56.0
78.8
55.3
79.4
55.3