More green investment, less spending on polluting practices

Green space, health and economic development are proved to be linked – this is where the money should be spent
John Vidal
The Guardian, Wednesday 30 September 2009

Switching public spending from "grey" projects such as roads and airports, to "green" schemes such as parks, tree planting and allotments, would not just save the government billions of pounds, improve health, and cut climate emissions, but it would create jobs and make British cities more attractive.
The analysis comes from two groups of government advisers, Natural England and the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, and is supported by evidence from other countries. It shows that where cuts are made in those areas that add to pollution, waste and ill health, and money is invested instead in projects that save energy, improve health and reduce waste, the benefits are seen quickly.
For instance, the £10.2bn budgeted by central government for road building in Britain this year will increase traffic and emissions and leave the public purse to clean up the pollution and waste. Just half of that money would pay for a new park in every local authority. Equally, the £1.28bn set aside for widening the M25 by a single lane would benefit drivers by perhaps a few seconds a journey, but it would buy and maintain more than 3m new street trees.
Councils have bid more than £4bn this year for local road schemes, most of which will have marginal social benefits. That money could be invested in commuity gardens and urban farming, which have been shown to improve health and encourage exercise.
There is now a proven relationship between green space, health and economic development. Yet local authorities spend less than £20 a year per person on trees, parks, gardens, allotments, woodlands, rivers and waterways, which together provide clean air and water and enrich their citizens' quality of life.
The NHS is responsible for more than 18m tonnes of CO2 a year. If it invests in energy saving, it will not just save itself great sums in future as costs inevitably rise, it will help to avoid a catastrophe as diseases spread further and droughts, floods and heatwaves increase. Every year that addressing climate change is delayed, the public costs rise.
Government figures show that road traffic has increased 25% in the past 15 years, at the same time as obesity and public health costs have soared. Research also shows that where people have direct contact with the environment via animals, plants or landscapes, they more likely to be mentally and physically healthy. Hospital patients with views of trees rather than of brick walls stay in hospitals for far less time.
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