Scottish Sustainable Development Strategy - how it was developed
(* - denotes additional information below)
Following the joint 'Taking it on' consultation* during 2004, the Scottish Executive joined the UK Government, the Welsh Assembly Government and the Northern Ireland Administration in signing up to a UK strategic framework for sustainable development, to work together towards a shared purpose, principles and priorities. The framework was launched by the then First Minister in Edinburgh on March 7 2005.
To put the framework into practice in Scotland, the Executive developed a new Scottish sustainable development strategy during 2005. The aim was that this should be a short document focused on key priorities, covering not just what the Executive would do but also the contributions of others.
Reflecting the shared priorities of the framework, the intention was for the Scottish strategy to focus on six areas in particular:
- Sustainable consumption and production - achieving more with less, reducing environmental impacts, improving business competitiveness and breaking the link between economic growth and environmental damage.
- Climate change and energy - making changes to how we generate and use energy and other activities which release greenhouse gases and drive climate change
- Natural resource protection and environmental enhancement - protecting and enhancing the environment to ensure a decent environment for everyone
- Sustainable communities - creating communities which embody the principles of sustainable development at the local level
- Learning to live differently - developing awareness, understanding and engagement and seeking to help and encourage people and organisations to make more sustainable choices
- Delivery - targets and indicators, accountability and governance
The commitment to environmental justice - with its emphasis on tackling environmental inequalities and enabling people and communities to influence the decisions which affect their environments - was woven through the strategy, especially under 'Natural resource protection…', 'Sustainable communities' and 'Delivery'.
In developing the strategy, the Executive took account of the responses to 'Taking it on' *; more specific consultations and reviews, such as the Scottish Climate Change Programme Review* and the Green Jobs Strategy consultation*; and performance to date in taking forward current policies on sustainable development and environmental justice. A review of the current environmental justice programme was completed to help inform thinking on this dimension of the strategy.
The strategy's development was led by the then Minister for Environment and Rural Development, with the support of the Cabinet Sub-Committee for Sustainable Scotland and an inter-departmental Advisory Group.
The Executive worked closely with key stakeholders from the public, business, community and voluntary sectors to develop the strategy and joined with the Scottish Sustainable Development Forum, the Scottish Civic Forum, the Sustainable Development Commission and others in seeking to promote engagement and debate with the wider public and communities.
This was taken forward in two phases. The first phase, up to around the end of June 2005, focused on three main questions:
- What are the critical things that need to happen in Scotland to deliver a sustainable future?
- What contributions can you make?
- What help do you need from others?
The second phase ran from July up to the publication of the Strategy.
Part of the strategy work was to carry out the commitment to review the set of Sustainable Development Indicators for Scotland*, taking account of the priorities being developed for the Scottish strategy and the new set of UK-wide indicators contained in the Framework. In doing so, the Executive explored the scope for developing aggregate indicators on social justice, environmental equality, well being and environmental impact.
Additional sources of information
The 2004 'Taking it on' consultation
The shared UK Framework for sustainable development
Our previous policies and performance
Other relevant policies and background information
Key partners