A new action plan for green Government
Following David Cameron’s announcement in May that this would be the “greenest government ever”, Defra has published a new Action plan for driving sustainable operations and procurement across Government.
The action plan details the Government’s approach to reforming its operations and procurement, showing leadership to the wider public sector, business and citizens. Meeting priorities of leadership, transparency and accountability, efficiency and reform, and effective governance, the action plan will:
- improve transparency through the release of departmental and supplier data;
- build stronger relationships with suppliers to improve the sustainability of the Government’s supply base and allow risk and costs to be managed effectively;
- deliver greater efficiency, allowing Defra to lead across Government and beyond.
The Green Government pages of Defra’s Sustainable Development in Government website provide full details of the action and its milestones. The action plan is available to download as a pdf.
Milestones to the greenest Government
Specific actions towards greener Government include reviewing waste, water and carbon targets, publishing the first high-level carbon footprint of the Government’s supply chain, encouraging staff behaviour change across Government, and undertaking a feasibility study for a closed loop paper recycling system.
The action plan sets out milestones that it will meet as it fulfils its commitment to become the greenest Government ever, with departments already working to reduce their carbon emissions by 10% over the year to May 2011, and new goals due to be published in December 2010.
Sustainable Operations on the Government Estate
Government departments will continue to report their performance against the existing Sustainable Operations on the Government Estate (SOGE) targets for 2009/10 and 2010/11.
New goals, to replace the SOGE targets, will be published in December 2010, when the Government completes its review of the greening Government targets for operations and estate, including waste.
Further reading
- Green Government: full details of the Action plan for driving sustainable operations and procurement across Government, including milestones and pdf download.
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As a sustainable school co-ordinator in the primary sector, I would like to know what the new government’s plans are for supporting the development of sustainable schools.
Surely a government that says it will be ‘the greenest government ever’ will be doing all it can to keep up the momentum around sustainability in schools.
Sue Egan
Sue – the Department for Education has recently updated its webpage on sustainable development, which sets out their approach. The department is also working with the developing Sustainable Schools Alliance, due to be launched in the coming months. We are planning to feature an article on the Sustainable Schools Alliance nearer their launch. Nick