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Croatian Renewable Energy Center SOLAR SERDAR (CRECSS)

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DEFRA

About Defra
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is a Government Department in the UK.

We cover – we make policy and legislation, and work with others to deliver our policies in - areas such as:

the natural environment, biodiversity, plants and animals
sustainable development and the green economy
food, farming and fisheries
animal health and welfare
environmental protection and pollution control
rural communities and issues.
Although we only work directly in England, we work closely with the devolved administrations in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and we generally lead on negotiations in the EU and internationally.

Read more about the Department, including key facts and figures
Read more about our priorities and objectives
The Government believes that we need to protect the environment for future generations, make our economy more environmentally sustainable, and improve our quality of life and well-being. We also believe that much more needs to be done to support the farming industry, protect biodiversity and encourage sustainable food production.

The coalition government is committed to being the greenest government ever. It is taking action to cut carbon emissions, create the conditions for green growth, and improve resilience to climate change. All these elements contribute to the development of a sustainable green economy.

In order to deliver this, the one of Defra’s priorities is to “Support a strong and sustainable green economy, resilient to climate change”.

Why is a Green Economy important?
The transition to a Green Economy is essential for delivering sustainable development and long term growth. Defra’s commitment will be met through leading by example in our own operations as well as working with business and consumers. Defra’s policies around waste, valuing the natural environment and adapting to and mitigating climate change all play an important role in delivering a green economy.

Sustainable development
Sustainable public purchasing
Sustainable Business and Resource Efficiency
Sustainable products and consumers
Waste and recycling
Natural environment and biodiversity
Adapting to climate change
Mitigating climate change
By using new technologies, adopting different ways of living and working, and investing in infrastructure, we achieve continued growth and enterprise without undermining the capacity of the environment to support our quality of life in the long term. While these changes may involve some short-term costs and difficult choices, they also create new business opportunities and green jobs, as well as increasing the resilience of our economy. Above all, they will help us avoid potentially much larger costs in the long term and allow sustained economic growth.More info at http://solarserdar.wordpress.com/

Valuing the Natural Environment
Our quality of life depends on natural resources and the environment: they are the foundation of life. If we use and manage them in a sustainable way, they will continue to meet our needs for energy, food, minerals, fresh water, clean air and fertile soils, all of which are essential to enabling us to continue to grow and to prosper.

What do we need to do differently?
Achieving a green economy involves transforming what we produce and how we produce it, responding to changes in both supply and demand. We need a balanced and environmentally sustainable economy to support strong business investment and new opportunities, to ensure we are resilient to long term challenges.

To enable this transition to a green economy business and consumers must take advantage of the benefits of resource efficiencies. All sectors of the economy will need to grow with less environmental impact and greater resilience to future environmental challenges, including adaptation to climate change, material scarcity and emergencies (securing energy supplies and food security).

It is therefore crucial that natural assets are managed sustainably and used efficiently across all sectors of the economy and that their value is reflected in all production and consumption decisions. This includes the need to take action on developing a green economy domestically, but also working internationally to tackle long term challenges.

Developing, with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Department of Energy and Climate Change, a Roadmap to a Green Economy. This will clearly articulate the business and investment environment the government will provide to make possible the shift to a growing green economy.
By driving the ‘Zero waste’ agenda.
Reducing environmental impact in our sectors, such as through carbon budgets and supporting agricultural research and development.
Reducing environmental impact across the economy (for example through guidance and regulation on product standards, pollution and waste, encouraging sustainable farming and resource efficiency, and making sure the value of the environment is reflected in decision-making). More info at http://solarserdar.blogspot.com/

Ensuring environmental resilience (for example through flood management and defences, making sure farmers adopt resilient land management practices, adapting to climate change, and ensuring natural resources are not depleted or over-used).
Working internationally and through the EU to make sure of a ‘level playing field’ across the global economy and reduce the competitiveness effects of green policies on UK businesses. Also to coordinate international support for environmental sectors and innovation
Driving sustainable public sector practices across government.

Defra is the rural department in government. Most of what we do, for example in relation to farming, food, environmental protection, landscape management, water, flooding, and climate change adaptation, has a direct bearing on rural England, and it also has a wider role in promoting the interests of rural people, communities and businesses across government as a whole.

We also deal with statutory designations protecting our natural environment – such as Common Land, Local Nature Reserves, Areas of Outstanding Natural beauty or Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) – and with policy on National Parks.More info at http://solarserdar.wordpress.com/

DEFRA priorities are:

Reviewing the governance arrangements of National Parks and publishing proposals to increase their accountability
Creating a new designation to protect green areas of particular importance to local communities, modelled on Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs)
Supporting economic growth in rural areas – investigating options available to help those in remote rural areas with the cost of fuel, and working to deliver universal broadband at speeds of 2mbps

Defra has a Customer Contact Unit which deals with all enquiries about Defra’s policies on behalf of our Ministers. Tim Mordan is the Head of the Unit. You can contact us by telephone, letter or email.

Helpline
If you need a quick response, please contact the telephone Helpline:

08459 33 55 77

From outside the UK: 44 (0) 207 238 6951

Minicom/textphone for the deaf and hard of hearing: 0845 300 1998

Calls can cost up to 5p per minute for BT users. Calls made using other service providers or mobiles may cost more.

The telephone Helpline is open between 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday.

The Quarantine, Whole Farm Approach and Defra Publication options from the Defra helpline are available from 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday.

Helpline staff can answer many of the questions put to them. If they are unable to answer an enquiry themselves, they will connect callers to other Defra staff who can deal with enquiries on specialist issues.

Email or Post
We have a 15 working day target to reply to written correspondence requiring a response, but we aim to reply sooner.

Sometimes enquiries fall under the remit of other government departments so we need to transfer correspondence. This may cause a slight delay in the response.

You can contact us in writing by emailing helpline@defra.gsi.gov.uk or writing to the postal address below;

Defra
Nobel House
17 Smith Square
London
SW1P 3JR

If you wish to write to a Defra Minister, please address the letter to the appropriate Minister and use the above address.

Website contacts
For technical queries or problems related to our website, you can contact us by emailing webmaster@defra.gsi.gov.uk. This address must not be used for general queries about the work of the Department – these will simply be forwarded to the Defra Helpline (see above) and your query may be delayed as a result.

CROATIAN RENEWABLE ENERGY CENTER SOLAR SERDAR (CRECSS)

Željko Serdar

Head of business association

solarserdar@gmail.com

www.solar-serdar.com