We are the UK Government’s independent adviser on sustainable development. Through advocacy, advice and
appraisal, we help put sustainable development at the heart of Government policy
Tracking Government’s Progress - helping the Assembly Government to lead by example
15 March 2010
How is the Welsh Assembly Government doing on the environmental sustainability of its internal operations, such as on carbon emissions, water and waste? Its Sustainable Development Scheme ‘One Wales:One Planet’ committed to benchmarking its progress in this area using the SDC’s ‘Sustainable Development in Government’ reporting process.
Making Wales truly sustainable involves all of us – and that includes how government keeps its own house in order, for example on waste, water or carbon emissions. The SDC is now working to further develop its role in assessing the environmental performance of the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) Estate, to help government in Wales lead by example.
In December we produced our first Welsh ‘Sustainable Development in Government’ (SDIG) report. This revealed varied progress in WAG’s internal operations. For example, waste has been cut and 85% of electricity contracts are on green tariffs, but emissions from road vehicles used on WAG business have gone up and water consumption is also increasing.
The next step will be a further report based on this data, designed to help the Welsh Assembly Government make improvements. Later in the year work will begin on producing our second Welsh SDiG report, providing us with the first chance to test whether the WAG estate is becoming more environmentally sustainable as we carry out our new annual assessments. The SDC will work closely with government officials on both reports over the coming months.
Our work in Wales builds on our success elsewhere in the UK. At a UK government level we have already seen clear improvements since we began this process, on areas including energy efficiency and biodiversity. We have also proposed a similar approach to the Scottish Government.
This process gives the Welsh Assembly Government an opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to lead by example and make sustainable development its central organising principle, as well as seeing practical social, environmental and economic benefits.