Executive Summary

The UK Round Table on Sustainable Development is a new high level body, set up to seek consensus on major issues of sustainable development. Its members are drawn widely from different sectors of society. This report describes the work of its first year.

Sustainable development is a huge subject and inevitably the Round Table has had to be selective in choosing areas to study. For the first year, its priorities have been:

• transport

• energy

• environmental mechanisms.

Topics have been discussed initially in subgroups, whose members have included outside experts and Government officials as advisers. Plenary meetings have considered reports from subgroups as well as other issues of importance to sustainable development in the short and longer term.

In January 1996, the Round Table published initial reports on aspects of each of the three main topics:

• freight transport
  the report highlights practical measures that could be taken quickly to reduce some impacts of freight transport, in particular through better enforcement and strengthening of existing regulations, and the wider adoption of good practice;

• the domestic energy market: 1998 and beyond
  the report concludes that increased competition in domestic energy markets after 1998 should lead to increased efficiency in production and supply, but that the Government and the regulators will need to ensure that key economic, environmental and social objectives are met;

• environmental management and audit
  the report identifies specific initiatives which should be taken to promote the introduction of sound environmental management systems more widely.

This report includes in full these three initial reports (at Section II). It also summarises other work that has been completed or is under way including:

• landfill tax and environmental trusts
  the annual report identifies some considerations to be borne in mind in the interests of sustainable development when environmental trusts are formed;

• sustainable transport
  a report will be published later this year on key principles for sustainable transport;

• City-Region project
  a study in Northampton is examining opportunities and obstacles to achieving more sustainable transport patterns.

The Round Table is keen to achieve a high public profile and to encourage two-way communication. For example, over five hundred organisations receive regular news of the Round Table through copies of its Update newsletter. Comments were invited and received on the three initial reports and would be welcome on this annual report.