Preface by Derek Osborn (Chairman)
This has been a year of endings and fresh beginnings for the Round Table.
At the of March 1999, Sir Richard Southwood stood down as Chairman, after giving outstanding service to the Round Table since its inception in 1995. Several other of the original members stepped down at about that time and new members were appointed. I was appointed as the new Chairman in May 1999.
I take this opportunity of recording the admiration of all the present members for the work of Sir Richard and his original colleagues in establishing the Round Table as an effective means for bringing together leading figures from different parts of society to hammer out consensus on some of the most difficult and problematic areas of sustainability. The Round Table has also been exceptionally well served by its successive secretaries - John Adams and Philip Dale - and their small staff who have combined penetrating intellect and well-honed organising skills to give the Round Table a very smooth and high quality service.
The establishment of the Round Table in January 1995 stemmed from the Earth Summit of 1992, at which world leaders pledged themselves to an ambitious programme for promoting sustainable development throughout the world, and the concept of drawing on all parts of society in promoting the cause. In April this year I represented the UK Round Table at an international forum of national councils for sustainable development, organised under the auspices of the United Nations and the Earth Council. This demonstrated that, in more and more countries, issues of sustainable development are now being addressed in multi-stakeholder fora such as ours. Together we were able to look forward to the proposed Earth Summit in 2002, which we hope will give a fresh impetus to this approach and to the progress of sustainable development generally.
On the day of my first meeting with the Round Table the Government published its strategy White Paper on sustainable development A better quality of life. As well as setting out a fresh strategic framework for policy in this area, it announced the Government's intention to create a new and more powerful Sustainable Development Commission, into which the Round Table and our sister organisation, the British Government Panel on Sustainable Development are to be subsumed. The new body was initially expected to be established at the beginning of 2000, but this was subsequently delayed and is now expected later in Summer 2000.
This announcement, and the uncertainty over timing, has had a major impact on the work of the Round Table this year. However, the prospect of imminent demise concentrates the mind wonderfully. We decided that though we were only to be granted a short extension of life, we would endeavour to make it a highly productive one. We stepped up our rate of work so as to deliver results in a matter of months that might previously have taken one or two years. This has put considerable pressure on our members and staff, but I believe the increased pace of work has actually been quite good for the nature and quality of our work. We have had to seize on issues that have been in active debate this year, get up to speed quickly on them and make our mark immediately. We have gained in topicality and relevance, and have avoided becoming ensnared in detail.
Some of the reports of the Round Table from earlier years appear to the present members to have had less influence than they deserved. They were well thought through and debated within the Round Table, and produced valuable recommendations showing the way in which consensus between different sectors of society could be established on some of the most difficult issues of sustainability. Many of the recommendations the Round Table made over the past five years appear to have had valuable indirect influence in helping to shape the climate of opinion and have been reflected in one way or another in subsequent initiatives by Government and others. But Government and others have not interacted very directly with the Round Table on their reports. Published Government responses have been long in coming and formal in tone. Neither Government nor other bodies appear to have given as much weight as it deserved to the essential idea of the Round Table - that a consensus worked out between experienced members drawn from different sectors of society should have a balance and an authority that is particularly deserving of support.
The members of the Round Table have concluded this year that they must themselves do more to engage with Government, with regional and local bodies, with business, and with other bodies, both in the selection and study of topics and in the follow up. It is not sufficient to produce well-argued and well-balanced reports on subjects of interest. There needs to be engagement, influence and advocacy to produce results. In spite of our own uncertain prospects we have therefore sought to work more interactively this year, especially with respect to devolved, regional and local issues. We have therefore relied less on the normal pattern of study, report and response, and more on formal and informal meetings and seminars, and personal contact and persuasion. This has enabled the Round Table to make timely contributions to issues as they have developed, and we believe has given us more profile and effectiveness this year.
We decided to focus our attention on five key topics of particular and topical importance:
- Scope and role of the new Commission. We conducted a seminar with Government and others, had meetings with UK Government Ministers, and with Ministers of The Scottish Executive and Welsh Assembly Members, and helped to shape the scope and terms of reference of the new body.
- Indicators of sustainable development. We held a seminar and discussions with many of those who are developing and using indicators to monitor and advance sustainable development nationally, regionally and locally. We have had some influence in the choice of indicators, and in stimulating the debate about how to use these to make a difference in policies and action, all of which are reflected in our report on indicators.
- The role of economic instruments. We commissioned two important reports on the use of economic instruments to achieve a more sustainable economy, have held a private seminar with Treasury Ministers and officials, and in our report Not too difficult! have shown how economic instruments can best be used to advance sustainability, how areas for priority action can be identified, and how some of the supposed problems to their use can be overcome.
- Sustainable development at regional and local level. We have held three seminars on the way in which sustainable development can be advanced by the various bodies operating at regional level in England. Together with others we have had some influence in building sustainability more securely into the Regional Development Agencies' strategies and action plans. We have also been able to lobby Ministers and Parliament effectively to ensure that this year's Local Government Bill gives all local authorities in England and Wales a duty to create community strategies giving effect to sustainable development in their areas, and have advised central and local government on the implementation of this duty.
- Planning. We have had discussions with the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution and have submitted to them a suggested outline of how the planning system might be reshaped to give the pursuit of sustainable development a more central role.
On all these matters we have clearly already had significant influence this year. But on all of them policy and action is still developing rapidly. If we had continued in existence we should have been endeavouring to influence these changes actively. It is clear that the battle for a more sustainable approach is by no means completely won yet in these as in many other areas. We commend these areas for particular attention by the new Commission at an early stage so as to maintain the momentum of what we have been doing this year.
More generally we also commend the method of proactive engagement with leading figures in government and other bodies to help drive the debate forward. In order for the Commission to play this role effectively, and to achieve a larger influence for its crucial task of monitoring and consensus building on sustainable development issues, we believe that it will need a higher public profile and better access to leaders of government and other sectors in all parts of the United Kingdom. It will also need sufficient funding to enable it to undertake deeper study in some areas and to support a wider outreach and advocacy process.
We are very glad that the Government has accepted many of our arguments on these points in establishing the new Commission. The Commission will report both to the UK Government and to the devolved administrations, which will ensure that it contributes to the progress of sustainable development in all parts of the United Kingdom, and to the whole. In the UK its reporting line will run direct to the Prime Minister, which should give it the access and authority it needs to interact effectively with the top levels of government and other organisations. It will have a significantly larger budget than we have had available, which will enable it to do significantly more in the field of monitoring and outreach, though the budget is not yet in our view large enough for all the tasks that are likely to fall to it.
UK Round Table members have been keen to pass on our work, as a going concern, to the Sustainable Development Commission. In addition to the above points, we pass on to the Commission the close working relationship we have established with the devolved administrations, with regional bodies in England, and with local government, with business organisations and with non-governmental organisations of many kinds, and with comparable bodies in other countries. The Commission will have a vital role in taking forward sustainable development in this country. We wish it well.
Then loudly cried the bold Sir Bedevere:
" . . . Now the whole Round Table is dissolved
Which was an image of the mighty world . . .
And the days darken round me, and the years,
Among new men, strange faces, other minds."And slowly answer'd Arthur from the barge:
"The old order changeth, yielding place to new,
And God fulfils himself in many ways,
Lest one good custom should corrupt the world."The Passing of Arthur
Idylls of the King
Alfred, Lord TennysonResponses
This report is addressed to Government and other organisations and to all with an interest in, or a responsibility for, the issues it raises. It is the final report of the Round Table, which is being subsumed into the Sustainable Development Commission. Comments on this report are welcome; they should be sent to:
Sustainable Development Commission
5th Floor
Romney House
Tufton Street
London
SW1P 3RA
Telephone: 020 7944 4964 Fax: 020 7944 4959 sd_commission@detr.gov.uk Website http://www.open.uk/roundtbl/hometb.htm
Published 14 September 2000
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