The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and its agencies are responsible for managing an extremely diverse range of environmental risks – from flooding to poor water quality, from pesticides to biodiversity loss, and from animal diseases to climate change.
To aid the management of such a diverse risk portfolio, Defra has partnered with Cranfield University’s Risk Centre to update government guidelines on environmental risk assessment and management.
Edgar Black (Defra’s Risk Coordinator), who championed the development of the new guidelines alongside Professor Bob Watson (Defra’s Chief Scientific Advisor), said: “Understanding how to assess and manage environmental risk is central to what Defra does – protecting the environment and developing a sustainable green economy that is resilient to climate change.
We need to approach these risks in a structured, transparent and well-evidenced way. These updated guidelines should help anyone involved in assessing and managing environmental risks - not just in central government, but across industry and in the environmental consultancies - to do just that. The guidelines will ensure our methods are in line with the latest good practice.”
Professor Simon Pollard at Cranfield University noted: “Cranfield has a long-standing relationship with Defra. We have coordinated knowledge from across Cranfield’s multidisciplinary activities on risk and from across government and industry, to provide a document that is rich with useful guidance, the latest risk science, and helpful case studies to show how the theory works in practice.”
The guidelines are now available online at www.defra.gov.uk/environment/quality/risk, and www.cranfield.ac.uk/sas/cerf/riskguidance.html.
Cranfield University is a wholly postgraduate institution with a worldwide reputation for excellence and expertise in aerospace, automotive, defence, engineering, environment and water, health, management and manufacturing. The University is made up of the following Schools: Cranfield Health, School of Management, School of Applied Sciences, School of Engineering, and Cranfield Defence and Security at Shrivenham.
For more information, visit www.cranfield.ac.uk.
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