House of Commons - Environmental Audit

Select Committee on Environmental Audit Twelfth Report

IMPLEMENTING WSSD COMMITMENTS IN THE UK

50. Margaret Beckett invited Jonathon Porritt, Chairman of the Sustainable Development Commission, and a group of 12 leading figures from the business, local and regional government and civil society to discuss follow-up action with her and the then, Minister for the Environment and Agri-Environment, The Rt Hon. Michael Meacher MP in early October 2002.

51. In the Queen's Speech of November 2002, the UK government committed itself to "work for rapid and effective implementation" of the agreements reached at WSSD and to "focus on tackling climate change and finding new ways to meet [UK] energy needs".[59] This involves pursing action at an EU and international level as well as domestically.[60]

52. The Government set out its plans for implementing its Summit commitments in its annual report on its progress towards sustainable development in February 2003.[61] This repeated the commitment made in the Queen's Speech and identified a need for the public sector to take an active lead in "producing concrete results." The Government also stated that it was looking to a "step-change" in the delivery of domestic policies and to focus on the partnerships formed before the Summit and arising from it.[62]

MAINSTREAMING THE SUMMIT COMMITMENTS

53. No distinct process for following-up WSSD has been established. The Government intends to mainstream follow-up actions into departments' existing work programmes and use existing implementation mechanisms such as delivery planning for Public Service Agreements (PSA) targets. The most recent annual report on UK progress towards sustainable development states that "Government departments will look for additional opportunities to develop joint targets and delivery plans where responsibilities fall to more than one department, for example on corporate social responsibility, sustainable production and consumption, and the Doha Development Agenda".[63]

54. DEFRA is the lead co-ordinating Department for initiating follow-up action and maintains lead responsibility within Whitehall for promoting sustainable development.[64] DEFRA will also be responsible for reporting UK progress on the Johannesburg commitments back to the UN Commission on Sustainable Development. However, the department has been keen to emphasise that a range of departments is now expected to take the lead on specific commitments. After the summit, the Department prepared a helpful set of tables which set out the Johannesburg commitments, the lead departments responsible for taking them forward and a summary of action to-date. These are working documents and versions current to December 2002 are reproduced at Ev 10-26.[65]

55. The key follow-up responsibilities fall to DEFRA, DfID, DTI and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and are set out in Table 1.

Table 1: Departmental Leads on key WSSD Commitments

LEAD DEPARTMENT	RELATED WSSD COMMITMENTS
DEFRA	Agriculture, oceans, fisheries, biodiversity, sustainable consumption and production, and chemicals.
DfID	Water and sanitation, access to energy, integrating environmental issues into poverty reduction processes.
DTI	Corporate social responsibility and trade
FCO	Human rights, renewable energy and energy efficiency
SHARED LEAD	Finance, international sustainable development governance and co-ordinated UN follow-up to Johannesburg and Monterrey

Source: DEFRA

56. Encouragingly, Jonathon Porritt felt that a greater sense of ownership of the sustainable development agenda had already developed among most Government departments, other than DEFRA, over the last year largely generated by the preparations for the Summit and the event itself. [66]

57. We strongly support DEFRA's efforts to ensure that the Johannesburg commitments are incorporated into the mainstream of existing departmental work programmes. It is important that the commitments are swiftly embedded.

Implementation Mechanisms

SERVICE DELIVERY AGREEMENTS

58. DEFRA has been working with a range of other departments to help them translate WSSD commitments into their delivery plans for Public Service Agreements (PSAs).[67] However, there is no cross departmental deadline for this process.[68] Our former Chairman, Mr John Horam MP, therefore put a written Parliamentary Question to all Government departments in May 2003 to ascertain how this process was progressing.[69] The responses are set out in Table 2 overleaf.

59. FCO, DfID, HMT, and DTI state that certain commitments are already reflected in either their PSAs, or in SDAs. Others such as DCMS, DfES effectively state that the WSSD outcomes are not directly relevant to their work programmes. Many departments have said they will consider the incorporation of any commitments, where relevant, in terms of Spending Review 2004 (SR 2004). DEFRA hoped to have completed the process for its own targets by summer 2003 but so far has only incorporated its agriculture commitments into its existing delivery planning.

60. In the absence of a separate implementation mechanism, it is essential that the Government ensures that the key Johannesburg commitments are fully reflected in Spending Round 2004 as specific targets and objectives in Public Service Agreements and Service Delivery Agreements.

61. As part of their bids for Spending Round 2004, departments will be required to submit a sustainable development strategy. We recommend that HM Treasury ensures that these strategies set out how each department is intending to implement any identified Johannesburg commitments even if these are not reflected in formal targets.

UK SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY

62. The Government is currently reviewing the UK Sustainable Development Strategy and its associated indicators in line with a long standing commitment to complete a review by 2005. This will be a key mechanism for embedding any new strategic direction resulting from WSSD. The review provides an important opportunity for stakeholders to follow-up their Summit work especially as the initial, Government-hosted, stakeholder meeting held after the Summit was limited to a relatively small group (see para 50). DEFRA is committed to developing a strategy for stakeholder consultation and engagement in relation to the review process.[70]

Table 2: Departmental responses concerning the incorporation of Johannesburg commitments into departmental Service Delivery Agreements (SDAs)[71]

DEPARTMENT	Incorporation of Johannesburg Commitments into Service Delivery Agreements (SDAs)
CABINET OFFICE	The Cabinet Office does not have lead responsibility for any of the UK commitments arising from WSSD. The Cabinet Office fully supports plans to incorporate UK commitments into Departments' delivery plans and related targets. We have dedicated resources to ensure that, where appropriate and relevant, UK commitments are fully taken into account in our policies and operations.
DEPARTMENT OF CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT	The Department has not incorporated any United Kingdom commitments arising from WSSD into its current delivery plans for their Service Delivery Agreements and does not foresee including any commitments in future delivery plans for Service Delivery Agreements.
DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION AND SKILLS	The inter-departmentally cleared Annex to the Memorandum submitted to the Environmental Audit Committee, in response to their inquiry on WSSD follow-up, showed no outcomes for which this department has responsibility. Therefore, we see no need to change our existing delivery plan for Service Delivery Agreements, now or in the future, in advance of the 2004 Spending Review.
DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)	DEFRA has lead responsibility for six of the main commitments arising from the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD): oceans issues, fisheries, agriculture, international biodiversity, chemicals and sustainable consumption and production patterns (SCP). My officials are currently ensuring that the commitments on agriculture are integrated into the existing delivery plan for our PSA5 target. The remaining commitments are not yet reflected in the delivery planning system. The outcomes of the 2004 spending review cannot be pre-empted but, in consultation with HM treasury, I intend to take the opportunity to incorporate these commitments into the system through amending and adding targets and delivery plans where relevant. To this end, my officials are currently working on draft proposals which will be considered in the spending review.
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH	The Government has made clear its commitment to implementing what was agreed at WSSD. Details of those departments with lead responsibility for taking this forward are available in the Library. The Department of Health does not have a lead responsibility in relation to WSSD. Although there is no major direct health interest, poor water quality and sanitation, for example are recognised causes of ill health and disease. Therefore, we are continuing to work with other Government departments to ensure that, where appropriate, health and health care issues are included in the effective delivery of the UK commitments made in Johannesburg. The Department is represented on the Government's new Sustainable Development Task Force announced by my Right.Hon friend, the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in Feburary 2003. The task force will play an important part in the review of the Government's Sustainable Development Strategy, which will take into account World Summit outcomes.
DEPARTMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT	DFID's current delivery plans relate to the 2003-06 PSA and SDA targets that were agreed upon as part of the 2002 Spending Review. These targets pre-date the WSSD, so not all of the WSSD commitments are covered, Our delivery plans will evolve and they will incorporate WSSD commitments when they are appropriate to the delivery of our PSA and SDA targets. Our PSD and SDA targets will be reconsidered during the next Spending review. The WSSD reaffirmed commitment to the Millennium Development Goals-the achievement of which lies at the heart of our PSA and SDA targets - and many of our WSSD commitments are covered in existing plans: for example climate change, finance for development, support to Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers, and trade are all covered.
DEPARTMENT FOR TRADE AND INDUSTRY	My department's contributions to progress on the commitments agreed at WSSD range across a number of areas as set out in the Annex to the Government's Memorandum to the Environmental Audit Committee on WSSD follow-up (12 February 2003). They are reflected in the department's current business plans and will be further incorporated and refined in the light of future developments, for example on the Doha Development Round, work on a UK Sustainable Consumption and Production Strategy and an independent report commissioned by the department on options for action at the international level to follow up the WSSD outcomes on Corporate Social Responsibility. Where appropriate and relevant the commitments will be taken into account in setting my department's next Public Service Agreement as part of the 2004 Spending Review.
DEPARTMENT FOR TRANSPORT	My Department will take account of all the Government's international commitments on sustainable development in its delivery and business planning processes.
DEPARTMENT FOR WORK AND PENSIONS	The Department is fully committed to delivering the objectives of sustainable development (SD) both through its core business polices and operations. A Departmental Strategy is under development, and progress against cross-Government and DWP specific targets is published annually. A Ministerial SD Task Force has been established to consider WSSD outcomes and review the UK Strategy for SD, at which I [Malcolm Wicks MP] will represent DWP.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE	Commitments from the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) Plan of Implementation, such as action on illegal logging and sustainable tourism, have been incorporated into the delivery of the FCO's Public Service Agreement (PSA) for the period 2003-2006. in particular, FCO PSA target 7 seeks to "Make globalisation work for sustainable development in the UK and internationally (particularly in Africa) by promoting democracy and the rule of law, good economic and environmental governance and security of long term energy supply, measured by specific underlying targets". FCO programme funds, including the new Global Opportunities Fund, will be used to support work in pursuit of this target. Guidance on Public Service Agreements and delivery plans for the period covered by the 2004 Spending Review (2005-08) will be issued later this year. Decisions on incorporating WSSD Plan of Implementation Commitments into those will be taken in light of that guidance.
HM TREASURY	The Chancellor and I welcome the outcome and commitments made at WSSD last year, and will work with other government departments and in the international community to meet them. In relation to the 203-2006 Spending review period, the Treasury has adopted a specific Service Delivery Agreement (SDA 10.1) to work with other departments and with other EU partners to appraise the sustainable development implications of policy proposals. Although the Treasury's current Public Service Agreement (PSA) targets do not specifically refer to WSSD commitments, as they were agreed before the Summit, PSA 4 is relevant to WSSD commitments. It reads "[To] promote UK economic prospects by pursuing increased productivity and efficiency in the EU, international financial stability and increased global prosperity, including especially protecting the most vulnerable." Fulfilling this objective includes promoting increased global prosperity and social justice, through working to increase the number of countries, including the poorest, successfully integrated into the global econonmy, making progress on debt relief throught the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative and progress towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. Decisions as to what may be incorporated into delivery plans in advance of the 2004 Spending review have not yet been reached.
HOME OFFICE	The Home Office does not have a lead or contributory responsibility for any of the main United Kingdom commitments arising from WSSD. We will continue to monitor developments and be prepared to contribute should it become appropriate to do so. The Department does contribute towards sustainable development through the objectives and targets set by the Framework fro the Sustainable Development on the Government Estate. The Framework considers issues such as the implementation of environmental management systems, transport, emission reductions, water consumption, energy management, waste minimisation, sustainable procurement, biodiversity and estate management. In common with the Department's other support activities, these are not incorporated in the Service Delivery Agreement (Cm 5754) which addresses activities to deliver the Department's Public Service agreement targets, which were published in July 2002.
LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT.	The current delivery plans for my Department do not incorporate specific commitments from the WSSD. The department is not one of the government departments identified as having direct responsibility for delivery of the commitments as set out in the interdepartmentally-agreed Annex to the Memorandum submitted to the Environmental Audit Committee in response to the enquiry on WSSD follow-up. Nevertheless, my Department will work to support Government policy on sustainability wherever the opportunity arises.
OFFICE OF THE DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is committed to promoting the achievement of sustainable development in the UK, in support of the WSSD commitments through a range of policies and programmes. We have published the Sustainable Communities Plan, held an "Urban Summit" and will be holding a "Better Buildings" Summit later this year. All of these have sustainable development at their core. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's Delivery Agreements relating to sustainable communities, sustainable regional economic growth, the provision of decent housing and action to promote neighbourhood renewal and reduce social exclusion are all in support of excessive sustainable development aims and commitments. In addition, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister supports the Government's aim of sustainable development in specific areas, for example promoting energy efficiency buildings as part of the Government's Energy White Paper and in areas set out in the Memorandum submitted to the Environmental Audit Committee. We cannot at this stage pre-empt the arrangements for the 2004 Spending Review, though we will continue to ensure that sustainable development is at the heart of the work of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.
WALES OFFICE	As part of the 2002 Spending Review it was decided that my department would no longer have a Service Delivery Agreement. Rather it will report its achievements through its annual Departmental Reports, the most recent of which was published in May 2003 as Cm 5928

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT TASK FORCE

63. DEFRA established a Sustainable Development Task Force in February 2003, chaired by Margaret Beckett and supported by an interdepartmental working group of officials. The Secretariat for the working group is based in the Sustainable Development Unit in DEFRA. The Task Force is made up of representatives from each major Government department, nine representatives from business, local government and the not-for-profit sector. Other stakeholders are invited as relevant to the agenda under discussion but it is not intended to be a fully representative body.

64. Part of the Task Force's purpose is to provide a forum for dialogue between key stakeholders and Ministers on how, in the light of WSSD outcomes, the delivery of sustainable development can best be achieved. It will also consider issues relating to the review of the UK Strategy on Sustainable Development but will not make binding decisions or recommendations.

65. The Task Force is expected to meet several times a year until the publication of the revised sustainable development strategy scheduled for 2005.[72] It has already met twice and minutes of the proceedings along with supporting papers are available on the Government's sustainable development website.[73]

UK PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENTS

66. The UK has instigated or is involved in 20 Partnerships for Sustainable Development (PSDs), developed as part of the WSSD preparations.[74] At the request of the Committee, DEFRA provided estimates of the UK Government's financial commitment to these partnerships.[75] DEFRA estimates this to be almost £3 million in terms of UN registered partnerships and approximately £69 million in non-UN registered partnerships.

67. DEFRA includes the £50m fund made available by the Export Credits Guarantee Department (EGCD) for renewable energy projects, announced by Tony Blair at the Summit. However, this is not new money and it is not a sum which has been particularly put aside. EGCD told us they just wanted to "proactively indicate" that they were particularly open to projects of that kind coming forward, that the £50 million could only be allocated if appropriate projects came forward and that £50 million was not a ceiling.[76] We welcomed ECGD's initiative in our recent report on ECGD and Sustainable Development but are concerned that DEFRA should count what is in effect a loan facility within the Government's "commitments" to partnerships for sustainable development.[77]

68. One of the most high profile UK-led Partnerships is the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEP). This has been billed by DEFRA as " a global and inclusive coalition of progressive Governments, businesses and organisations that are committed to accelerating the development and deployment of renewable energy and energy efficient systems."[78] There are also partnerships related to sustainable construction, and the management of forests and ocean ecosystems. Further details of the partnerships which the UK is involved in are set out in Appendix 3.

69. We recommend that the Government establishes a systematic means for following-up progress on these partnerships and any others that may be established.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND DEVOLVED ADMINISTRATIONS

70. The Johannesburg commitments will need to be cascaded from national policy planning to inform action at local and regional level including Regional Development Agencies, Regional Assemblies and Government Offices for the Regions. DEFRA assured us that it is working closely with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister to achieve delivery across these organisations and highlighted that the Regional Co-ordination Unit corporate plan gives Government Offices in particular a role in facilitating this.[79]

71. The Local Government Association is represented on the Government's Sustainable Development Task force and in November 2002 a new team was created at the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA) to assist local authorities with the challenge of demonstrating continuous progress towards sustainability. The Scottish Executive, the National Assembly for Wales and the Northern Ireland Assembly were represented at the Summit by their First Ministers. DEFRA reports that officials from the devolved administrations are "actively pursuing action" on the Summit commitments and continue to liaise with DEFRA and other Government Departments to ensure a coherent national approach.[80] An update of WSSD follow-up in the devolved administrations was included in the Government's recent annual review of its progress towards sustainable development.[81]

SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION STRATEGY

72. On 6 February 2003, Margaret Beckett outlined plans to develop a UK Strategy for Sustainable Production and Consumption to meet the WSSD commitment to "promote a ten year framework of programmes in support of more sustainable patterns of production and consumption." The Government regards this as the most important domestic commitment made at WSSD and acknowledges that it is a potentially "massive" and "ambitious" agenda. We recognised the enormous scale of the task in our report on the Pre-Budget 2002.[82] However, it is the key to achieving a shift towards more sustainable living. The commitment has a potential impact on a diverse range of UK policy areas such as: energy, waste, education, advertising, consumer choice and information, and tourism.

73. Work on the strategy is being led by DEFRA and DTI in conjunction with HM Treasury.[83] The strategy, originally due in early summer 2003, was published as a "policy framework document" on 25 September 2003.[84] This incorporates resource productivity, setting out the economic and environmental rationale for long-term policy planning to decouple economic growth from environmental degradation and resource use and considers the case for further indicators for resource use as a means to drive long-term improvements. It sets out existing Government work in this area, and identifies what more needs to be done, taking into account relevant EU and international work.

74. Energy and waste policy are to form the core of the sustainable consumption and production programme and DEFRA assured us that key policy developments since the Summit in these areas - the Energy White Paper and Government action in response to the Strategy Unit's report on waste[85]—had been influenced by the outcomes of Johannesburg. We have already commended the Government for setting a clear goal domestic goal in its Energy White Paper of a 60% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050.[86] In doing so the Government has led the way internationally. However, equally we have expressed concern that the White Paper fails to address adequately the huge challenges we face to meet this goal. For example in the case of aviation where the forecast for growth would "totally destroy" chances of meeting the 60% target.[87]

75. The Government first stated its commitment to identifying ways to improve resource productivity and develop suitable indicators in 1999.[88] As we commented in our Pre-Budget report 2002, progress has been slow. Although the Government has confirmed that it is still working on developing a new overall resource productivity indicator with a view to inclusion in the Government's existing sustainable development indicators.[89] The Government did not respond to the Strategy Unit's 2001 report on resource productivity before WSSD and the new framework document effectively constitutes the follow-up to this report. In the EU, the Environment Council has also called for a resource productivity indicator to back up the EU Sustainable Development Strategy.[90]

76. The Government believes that a number of existing programmes already contribute to the overall policy direction of the strategy; for example, the Sustainable Technologies Initiative, the Envirowise programme, Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP)and the work of the Carbon Trust and Energy Saving Trust. Current work by the Treasury on green taxation and the review of policy and practice on sustainable procurement across Government are also relevant in terms of ensuring market drivers to support the strategy.

77. If the UK takes an enthusiastic approach to the development of a sustainable consumption and production strategy, it could pave the way for a radical review of the use of resources in the UK. The preparation of such a strategy offers a key opportunity to weave together strands of existing energy, waste and procurement policy and ensure that each reinforces sustainable resource use. We look to the Government to produce a clear vision for sustainable resource use which avoids merely cobbling together existing policies into a strategy for business as usual.

78. The Government has been promising resource productivity indicators since 1999. We recommend that their development is made a priority and that the UK pushes for their development at EU level to support the EU Sustainable Development Strategy as called for by the EU Environment Council.

Auditing Progress

We will not achieve what we promised in Johannesburg, unless there is some means by which we can review and monitor progress towards meeting our commitments. Governments need to be held to account."

The Rt Hon. Margaret Beckett, Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Commission for Sustainable Development, New York, April 2003

79. The Plan of Implementation only provides a framework for action for nations, it is not sufficiently robust in terms of targets and delivery goals to provide a blue print for domestic action against which progress can be effectively audited. As Lord Holme commented, the targets which the plan does contain are distant and long-term and need to be translated into intermediate, measurable targets if progress is to be effectively reviewed and monitored. [91]

80. The Canadian Commissioner for the Environment and Sustainable Development has called for Governments to "develop a concrete, prioritised and resourced action plan for implementing Johannesburg" and has already stated her intention to track the federal Government's performance against selected Johannesburg commitments.[92]

81. The wording of the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation is too vague and the commitments too indirect to enable effective auditing. We recommend that the Government develops and publishes a specific action plan for the implementation of its Johannesburg commitments which would form the basis of subsequent audits.

82. The International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) has already turned its attention to how audit institutions around the world might audit the progress of their nation against the commitments made at WSSD INTOSAI's working group on environmental auditing, currently chaired by the Auditor General of Canada, has initiated work on sustainability auditing. The UK National Audit Office (a member of INTOSAI) authored a draft paper[93] on sustainable development for the working group which was last discussed in June 2003 in Warsaw. This paper may form the basis of guidance for audit institutions to help them identify criteria against which performance against the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation might be assessed. Margaret Beckett confirmed that her officials were aware of this work and would keep in touch with the NAO as the project developed.[94]

83. DEFRA officials assured us that the Government's annual report procedure for reviewing progress towards sustainable development would "properly reflect" the Johannesburg outcomes.[95] DEFRA has already prepared a progress report "WSSD one year on" for the Government's sustainable development website. However, we note that this appeared in August without fanfare or press release and is not a systematic review of progress against all the Government's WSSD commitments.[96]

84. The UK Sustainable Development Commission is responsible for advocating sustainable development across all sectors in the UK, reviewing progress towards it, and building consensus on the actions needed if further progress is to be achieved. It therefore has a crucial role to play in monitoring the implementation of the Johannesburg commitments. DEFRA is currently working with the Commission to identify ways in which the advisory body could develop its work programme to take account of WSSD.[97] We urge the Commission to give high priority to this area in shaping its work programme and in particular its contribution to the review of the UK Strategy for Sustainable Development.

85. We welcome INTOSAI's initiative to seek to develop guidance for audit institutions world wide on the effective audit of national performance against the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation. We also congratulate the UK National Audit Office for taking a lead in this work.

86. We recommend that the National Audit Office initiates discussions with DEFRA and the Sustainable Development Commission to explore how they could work together to report UK progress against the Johannesburg commitments. Any such arrangements should take account of the need to keep Parliament informed, preferably through regular reporting to the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee.

59 HC Deb, col 5, 13 November 2002. Back

60 Q17. Back

61 Achieving a better quality of life: Review of progress towards sustainable development: Government annual report 2002, DEFRA, February 2003. Back

62 Ibid, para 1.5. Back

63 Ibid, para 1.6. A joint target has already been agreed between the Department of Trade and Industry, the Department for International Development and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in relation to the Doha Development Agenda. Back

64 One of the Department's Service Delivery Agreement targets also includes a commitment to take action to follow up on WSSD. Back

65 Updated versions are available at www.sustainable-development.gov.uk. Back

66 Q153. Back

67 Government departments produce delivery plans for Public Service Agreement targets as a delivery management tool. The Treasury and Prime Minister's Delivery Unit (PMDU) work assist with these plans and each department reports specifically on its progress against these targets in its Autumn Performance Report, as well as its Departmental Report. Back

68 Ev 131; Q1; Q252. Back

69 Mr John Horam MP tabled a Parliamentary Question to all Government departments which was answered on 22 May 2003. It asked each department "which United Kingdom commitments resulting from the World Summit on Sustainable Development (a) have been incorporated into the Department's existing delivery plan for Service Delivery Agreements and (b) will be incorporated it its delivery plan for Service Delivery Agreements in advance of the 2004 Spending Review." Back

70 Ev 118 paras 45-46. Back