The Welsh Government proposes to bring forward legislation to make sustainable development the central organizing principle of the Welsh Government and Welsh public service organizations. We investigate the motivations behind this move
by Sustainable Development Bill Team Welsh Government
Since the duty in the Government of Wales Act put Sustainable Development at the heart of devolution, Wales has taken a distinctive path to development. In the time since devolution in 1999, sustainable development has grown in strength, with increasingly widespread recognition and growing numbers of successful examples of its application in all sectors.
The Welsh Government’s Program for Government reinforces the importance of sustainable development’s place as the core principle in defining the best development path for Wales. In addition, it commits to ensuring that all the Government’s policies and programs reflect this central commitment to sustainable development. This approach is demonstrated by the Government’s focus on the long term, including the Welsh approach to education through investment in children’s futures with support for early years and university tuition fees. It also underpins the Welsh Government’s commitment to investing in the nation’s health, with free prescription charges and the legislation on single use bags further signaling commitment to the long term, as well as a move away from a ‘throw-away’ society. It can also be seen in the integrated approach to delivery within public service, characterized by collaboration between service providers and a focus on giving people and communities a voice in how their services are provided.
Sustainable governance
The Welsh Government is focused on the development of a fairer society, in which every person is able to make the most of their abilities and contribute to the community in which they live. The Program for Government sets out the Welsh account of sustainable development, namely: ‘an emphasis on social, economic and environmental wellbeing for people and communities, embodying our values of fairness and social justice. We must also look to the longer term in the decisions we make now, to the lives of our children’s children as well as current generations’
Enshrining sustainable development as the central organizing principle, not just of the Welsh Government, but of the wider public service in Wales, will further reinforce this commitment. The aim is to ensure that in pursuit of a better long term future, the best possible decisions are made that achieve the maximum possible long term benefits to the economic, social and environmental wellbeing of Wales, within environmental limits. The aim of the Sustainable Development Bill is to build on the achievements since devolution and strengthen the governance in Wales to achieve this.
United Nations
Sustainable development grew out of the need for a model of development that was not solely focused on economic growth – in order to respond in particular to growing environmental awareness. The term ‘sustainable development’ came to prominence following the publication of the United Nations Brundtland Commission’s report in 1987, which stated that: ‘Humanity has the ability to make development sustainable – to ensure development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.’
In Wales, sustainable development has a statutory footing as the Government of Wales Act contains a duty that requires the Welsh Ministers to make a sustainable development scheme. The scheme must set out how the Welsh Ministers propose, in the exercise of their functions, to promote sustainable development. The current scheme, One Wales: One Planet, sets out the Welsh Government’s definition of sustainable development as follows:
As well as encompassing economic and environmental wellbeing and the wellbeing of future generations, the definition also reflects the vital importance of social justice, equality and Wales’ rich culture. The Welsh Government’s delivery on sustainable development therefore goes hand-in-hand with delivering in its Strategic Equality Plan.
International
Since devolution, Wales has played a part in international discussions and in building international capacity and learning around sustainable development. Wales cannot of course achieve future sustainability in isolation and exchanging knowledge and good practice, benchmarking and working in partnership internationally is an important part of the Welsh Government’s approach. The involvement as a founder member of the international Network of Regional Governments for Sustainable Development (nrg4SD) is an example that reflects this commitment. Further examples include the successful Wales for Africa programme and the commitment to Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship. At Rio+20, the Welsh Government also committed to declarations on working towards a ‘Clean Revolution and the Green Economy’ and a ‘New Paradigm for Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication’. Both declarations demonstrate the leading role that smaller countries like Wales can play.
Public services
Sustainable development aligns with the fundamental purpose of the public service and the organizations providing public services are therefore a critical part of the institutional framework for sustainable development in Wales. The public service also has a major influence, as community leaders, service providers and regulators setting the framework for local and regional development and as key employers. Public service organizations also face a series of challenges. Demographic and technological changes have increased the demand and the cost of providing services. These changes, coupled with the financial challenge now facing public services, mean that there is a need to strengthen the way in which those services are delivered so that they become more effective in improving outcomes for people in Wales. The Welsh Government is already supporting this change through public service reform to strengthen the role that organizations providing public services in Wales can play in achieving their outcomes in a sustainable way.
Whilst there has been clear progress in embedding sustainable development since devolution, the independent effectiveness reviews, international best practice and learning and development since devolution highlight that improvements can be made. The evidence shows that there is a need to ensure consistent application, further improve understanding and more fully embed sustainable development within governance and decision making.
The Welsh Government has consulted extensively on the proposal to legislate for sustainable development through discussion papers seeking views on the approach to the new duty; the role and functions of the new sustainable development body; the barriers to taking more long-term joined-up decisions; evidence of sustainable development in action; and, the need for a definition of sustainable development.
The fundamental elements on which the Welsh Government is proposing to bring forward legislation, are:
- a new duty -a stronger duty that requires specified public service organisations to embed sustainable development as their central organising principle;
- support -establishing an independent body on a statutory basis to support organisations to embed sustainable development and join up in working towards the improved wellbeing of Wales;
- implementation -through a range of actions which both strengthen the governance for sustainable development and support the change to deliver the outcomes needed;
- accountability – reporting and scrutiny arrangements to ensure that sustainable development is fully embedded within organizations.