1 Introduction
1. The last Government's strategy on sustainable
development, Securing the Future, was published in 2005.
It recognised that the current model of development is unsustainable
and that our way of life is placing an increasing burden on the
planet. It described the consequences of this, including unavoidable
climate change, increasing stress on natural resources, increasing
loss of biodiversity and a world 'disfigured by poverty and inequality'.[1]
Securing the Future set out a strategic framework for sustainable
development, agreed by the UK Government and the Devolved Administrations
covering the whole of the UK. It set out four priorities: achieving
sustainable levels of consumption and production, delivering sustainable
energy and tackling climate change, protecting natural resources
and enhancing the environment, and creating sustainable communities.
2. As a model for governing, sustainable development
aims to provide a long-term approach to improving quality of life
by tackling economic, environmental and social issues, whilst
avoiding over-consumption of natural resources and preventing
decisions that will disadvantage future generations. Embedding
sustainable development across Government means providing decision-makers
with the skills and resources to consider fully the consequences
of programmes and policies on the environment, the economy and
wider society, now and in the future.
3. Over many years, compared with many other countries,
the UK has been innovative in designing mechanisms for integrating
sustainable development. An Environment Cabinet Committee was
set up in 1990, following the 1990 Environment White Paper,[2]
and the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) was established
in 2000. Since 2000, the SDC has provided advice to Government
on policy-making and has helped departments develop the skills
and resources they need to make more sustainable decisions. Since
2005 the SDC has been the watchdog reporting on the sustainability
of government operations and policies.[3]
4. The Environmental Audit Committee has played its
part in this sustainable development architecture. The Committee
was established in 1997 to consider the extent to which the policies
and programmes of government departments and non-departmental
public bodies contribute to environmental protection and sustainable
development, and to audit their performance against sustainable
development and environmental protection targets. Since then,
successive Committees have examined sustainable development, including
regular examinations of the performance of government departments
against 'Greening Government' targets. The Committee's work, reflecting
its remit, has covered the activities and programmes of several
departments, reflecting the cross-cutting nature of sustainable
development. Its work has been supported by the SDC, which also
has a Government-wide role, and by the National Audit Office.
5. In July 2010, the Government announced that it
will cease funding the SDC at the end of this financial year (and
although the devolved administrations also part-fund the SDC,
it is unlikely to exist beyond 2010-11). As an important advocate
and capacity-builder for sustainable development in Government,
and as a key part in the system for monitoring Government performance,
the disappearance of the SDC will leave a gap in the structures
for embedding sustainable development across Government.
6. The decision to cease SDC funding has disappointed
many with a close interest in seeing continued progress on sustainable
development. Friends of the Earth, the Town and Country Planning
Association, the Public and Commercial Services union, and many
others have all expressed concern and note the valuable contribution
of the SDC.[4] We too have
concerns about that decision. It provides an opportunity, however,
to reassess the architecture for delivering sustainable development.
This is a chance to revitalise the sustainable development concept
and to provide the leadership and tools needed to embed sustainable
development deeper in all areas of government, and in particular
deliver more sustainable policy making. Our inquiry has sought,
therefore, to focus not on the wisdom or otherwise of the decision
about the SDC's future, but to look forward to assess how sustainable
development can now be further embedded in Government policy decision-making
and operations.
7. We had a private briefing from the SDC, after
which we decided to launch our inquiry. We also had a private
briefing from the National Audit Office on sustainable development,
and they produced a briefing paper on the subject for us.[5]
We took oral evidence from the SDC, Department of Health, Department
for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Centre of
Expertise in Sustainable Procurement, the New Economics Foundation,
GLOBE, WWF-UK, the Foundation for Democracy and Sustainable Development,
Dr Duncan Russel from Exeter University and Dr John Turnpenny
from the University of East Anglia. We also explored the issues
with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
in an introductory session with her.[6]
We are grateful to them, and to all those who submitted written
evidence.
8. This report sets out our findings in three parts:
- Changing the sustainability
architecture: Part 2 describes the implications of the Government's
decision to cut SDC funding.
- Making government sustainable:
Part 3 examines how the work of the SDC can be built on and how
the gaps left by the SDC can best be filled. It considers potential
new governance arrangements and examines processes, tools and
mechanisms that might be adapted to give a higher profile to sustainable
development issues.
- A new sustainable development
strategy: Part 4 considers the need for a new overarching strategy
for establishing sustainable decision-making and what this might
look like.
1 Defra, Securing the future, Cm 6467, 2005
Back
2
Department of Environment, This Common Inheritance, Cm
1200, 1990 Back
3
Defra, Securing the future, Cm 6467, 2005 Back
4
Ev w12, Ev w14, Ev w25 [Note: references to 'Ev wXX' are references
to written evidence published in the volume of additional written
evidence published on the Committee's website] Back
5
NAO, Sustainable Development, July 2010: www.nao.org.uk/publications/1011/sustainable_development.aspx
Back
6
Oral evidence taken before the Environmental Audit Committee on
10 November 2010, HC 576 Back
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