Available resources are finite and shrinking. We already use more than we can replace and this is true in terms of both money and our environment. The last couple of decades have made apparent how fragile our ecosystems are and how large our impact can be without us even noticing. We still face many considerable challenges, including tackling fuel poverty, significantly reducing our carbon footprint and improving our air quality.
If we aspire to maintain the flexibility and comfort of our contemporary lifestyles our city is going to have to consider new economic models that determines more carefully and transparently the use of public money. It will need to demonstrate how we offer services with fewer resources and better connect between the various sectors that deliver them and to benefit from their co-operation. One of the ways in which we can do this, is with the creation of the Biosphere Reserve, which will aid in strengthening the quality of our local environment and enable better partnership working. This will, in turn, help to maintain and improve the environmental quality of our city
while budgets are reducing.
As we all think seriously about all the resources we use to maintain the lifestyles we have become familiar with, we can develop an economy that sustains us without damaging the planet.