DEFRA and its agencies publish sustainable development plans

Defra and its agencies are publishing sustainable development action plans this month, to show how they're putting sustainable development into practice.

In the UK Government sustainable development strategy, Securing the Future, all government departments and their executive agencies committed to produce sustainable development action plans based on the strategy by December 2005.

For the first time, the plans bring together actions for each organisation relating to their policies, their operations and their people - ensuring that sustainable development is considered in the way policy is made, the way the department is run and the way in which Defra acts as an employer.

Defra is responsible for promoting sustainable development across Government and in the UK and internationally, but it cannot achieve this alone. Achieving the department's objectives is dependent on working closely with others.

Actions in the Defra plan, published today, include:

* a sustainability audit of key policies, with the involvement of external stakeholders;

* a full review of energy management of the Defra estate, to identify measures to make carbon savings into the future; and

* an open meeting for Management Board members to be questioned on Defra's progress against this action plan.

Defra's Sustainable Development Minister Ben Bradshaw said:

"Defra needs to set an example. Our action plan is designed to show how we propose to make sustainable development an everyday fact of life in Defra.

"We believe that it will make Defra a better place to work, make us better corporate citizens and make our policies work better. People in Defra, other government departments, our stakeholders and customers will judge whether we have succeeded, and I hope that our plan will inspire other people to take action.

I also welcome the agency plans showing how our agencies share Defra's commitment to sustainable development."