Making the most of a crisis

2 December 2009

SDC Scotland vice-chair Jan Bebbington on how sustainable development principles will deliver more for less when public finances are under strain.

How to get more for less? This is the central question wherever you turn. The financial crisis has put pressure on all organisations – private and public – to deliver more services, goods or welfare with less staff, money and resources. Applying sustainable development principles to existing problems could well prove helpful in our attempt to get more for less.

The Scottish Government has made progress in establishing a framework for a sustainable Scotland. The world leading Climate Change (Scotland) Act is one example. Few governments have so clearly demonstrated that they are ready to make targets that point us towards a viable long-term future. Some critics may claim that we can’t afford this kind of action in the middle of a recession. We say that sustainable development is the bedrock from which the Scottish Government can move Scotland out of the crisis.

The Sustainable Development Scotland’s 3rd Annual Assessment of Government policy concludes that transport policy and local planning decisions could become obstacles to Scotland developing into a successful low carbon economy. These policy areas are also prime examples of how holistic policy development can deliver more for less.

The Climate Change (Scotland) Act means Government needs to deliver radical cuts in greenhouse gas emissions from transport. The Government’s own analysis show that even if all the current policies are implemented and if they create the greatest predicted emission cuts, transport will still only contribute half what it needs to in order to meet the Act’s target.

Transport policy still focuses on a system that tries to deliver more roads for more cars. This approach leads to health problems, pollution problems and difficult work-life balance. Smarter use of IT and active travel solutions can deliver carbon reductions from transport and bring wider benefits for community and local business.

We suggest using a transport hierarchy for planning and local community development. This will focus policy development on how to deliver lower emissions and benefits in health, well-being and community cohesion. The hierarchy is based on (1) demand reduction for motorised transport, (2) modal shift to more sustainable and space efficient transport, (3) efficiency improvements of existing means of transport and (4) increased capacity for motorised transport as a last resort.

Likewise a focus on preventative healthcare could save us millions. Currently, nearly all the NHS’s budget goes– directly or indirectly – on the treatment and care of illness. In the UK as a whole only 4% of the £92.3 billion NHS gets from the taxpayer is spent on prevention and public health. This is despite the fact that more than half the illnesses treated by the NHS are preventable.

Focusing on treating illness instead of preventing it puts strain on public budgets, causes unnecessary suffering and widens the health gap between rich and poor. An incremental rise in spend on preventative healthcare including diet, lifestyle and housing standards is likely to improve people’s lives as well as reduce the amount of money spent.

Radical change is needed if we are to create a more successful Scotland. Government must be bold and fundamentally shift its approach to the pace of change. It will require far greater integration – linking planning, housing, education, food, transport, social, economic and health policy - to create desired outcomes.

It is a fundamental problem that our economic system is not structured to deliver economic, social and environmental aspects of sustainability at the same time. Indeed economic growth has been the success criteria overshadowing all other measurements.

SDC Scotland’s Annual Assessment of progress on sustainable development is a tool for developing interconnected policies. We have published a list of challenges for the Scottish Government. Over the next year we are committed to working with Government to create practical solutions to some of Scotland’s most deeply rooted problems. In doing so we believe we can help Government turn a crisis into an opportunity to address the scale and the urgency of the challenges we face.  

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