Joint sustainable development statement of the Chancellor of the Exchequer's departments and agencies

The Chancellor of the Exchequer's departments and agencies all contribute to the Government's objectives on sustainable development to ensure:

Social progress for all
Effective protection of the environment and prudent use of natural resources
High and stable levels of economic growth and employment.

Our policies, operational responsibilities and day to day activities have a major impact on society, the economy and the environment. We contribute to the Government's central economic objective to raise the economy's sustainable rate of growth, and achieve rising prosperity, through the creation of economic and employment opportunities. Jointly we employ over 86,000 people and occupy over 1,500 facilities throughout the United Kingdom.

As large employers and key government bodies we intend to increase our understand of sustainability issues and implement strategies to raise awareness, so that together we can strive for a better quality of life for all.

In order to minimise adverse impacts when carrying out our day to day activities, we are committed to:

achieving continuous improvement in our performance through the development and implementation of environmental management systems across our estates, based on a recognised standard, such as ISO 14001 or some other audited approach.
raising awareness amongst staff of sustainable development issues, to enable them to think "sustainably" when carrying out policy and operational functions.

We intend to reduce our main environmental and social impacts through improvements in:

energy and water use;
waste reduction and recycling initiatives;
pollution prevention;
procurement and contract management;
travel plan co-ordination;
employment practices and consideration of the wider social impacts within the communities in which we operate.

In particular we will:

extend the scope and integration of all aspects of sustainable development into our business activities and policy development;
ensure that we comply with legislation;
improve performance against the Sustainable Development in Government Estate Framework objectives and targets covering significant social and environmental impacts, identifying both strengths and weaknesses as part of this process;
reduce and manage our significant impacts through the implementation of auditable environmental management systems across our estates;
work together to set an example to other organisations; and
raise awareness and encourage our people, including our contractors, to support our policy and targets.

We will review and communicate our progress in supporting this policy annually.

John Healey

Green Minister - Chancellor of the Exchequer's Departments
September 2002

Joint sustainable development statement of the Chancellor of the Exchequer's departments and agencies

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