Our parks and green open spaces can have wide-ranging social, economic and environmental benefits and the provision of high-quality green spaces has an important role to play in helping local authorities to meet their ambitious carbon reduction targets drawn up in response to the climate emergency.

There is an increasing body of evidence that illustrates the environmental value of ecosystem services as well as the social value that green open spaces can bring. With the possibility now of calculating a monetary value for green infrastructure (GI), local authorities must shift their perception of green space from being a maintenance liability to being a valuable asset that can bring significant cost savings through the social, economic and environmental benefits it offers.