Sustainable Development Commission

In 1999 the Labour Government made the policy case for sustainable development in a White paper entitled A better quality of life.UK Government, 1999 [http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20080313142253/http://www.sustainable-development.gov.uk/publications/uk-strategy99/index.htm A better quality of life - strategy for sustainable development for the United Kingdom – 1999]

Pressure then came to oversee the Government's progress and develop policy on sustainable development, including from Michael Meacher MP.The Guardian, 22 July 2010 [https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/jul/22/government-axes-sustainability-watchdog Government axes UK sustainability watchdog]

Subsequently, the Sustainable Development Commission was founded by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott in June 2000. It replaced the UK Round Table on Sustainable Development, a stakeholder body, and the British Government Panel on Sustainable Development, a Government think tank.Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, James Medhurst, 2001 [http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/27/31/1828108.pdf Case study of the governance for sustainable development in the United Kingdom: institutional aspects of sustainable development]

Image:Jonathon Porritt Bristol 2008.jpg

The commission reported directly to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (UK Government), the First Minister of Scotland (Scottish Government), First Minister for Wales (Welsh Assembly Government), and the First Minister and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland (Northern Ireland Executive).

Its responsibilities to the four bodies were broadly similar: it was an official watchdog on sustainability; it scrutinised progress on meeting targets on the sustainable management of the bodies' estates and procurement; and it provided cross-departmental policy advice and assistance.Sustainable Development Commission, 4 April 2011 [http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/pages/our-role.html Our Role]

From 2000 to 2009 the Commission was chaired by the former Director of Friends of the Earth, Jonathan Porritt, and between 2009 and its closure in 2011, it was chaired by Will Day formerly of Comic Relief and the United Nations Development Programme.The Ecologist, 20 August 2009 [http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/304464/will_day_new_watchdog_chief_on_gm_nuclear_and_political_jargon.html Will Day: new watchdog chief on GM, nuclear and political jargon]Sustainable Development Commission, 2009 [http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/pages/will-day.html Profile of Will Day] profile The vice-chair from 2004 to 2011 was Rebecca Willis, a researcher on environment and sustainability practice.{{cite web |title=Willis, Prof. Rebecca |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U245678 |website=Who's Who 2020 |doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U245678 |access-date=1 December 2020}}

It produced reports such as Prosperity Without Growth by Prof Tim Jackson in 2009.{{cite web|title=Publications: Prosperity without Growth? - The transition to a sustainable economy|url=http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/publications.php?id=914|access-date=8 December 2014|publisher=Sustainable Development Commission|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150301072824/http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/publications.php?id=914|archive-date=1 March 2015}}

On 22 July 2010, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs announced that it would stop funding the Commission. The decision was part of the Coalition Government's quango reforms, termed by the media as a "bonfire of the quangos"The Guardian, 13 February 2011 [https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2011/feb/13/climate-change-committee-quangos 'Bonfire of the quangos' threatens climate change committee]The Independent, 15 October 2010 [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/bonfire-of-the-quangos-bodies-to-be-abolished-2107709.html Bonfire of the quangos: bodies to be abolished] Jonathan Porritt described the decision an "[http://www.jonathonporritt.com/blog/greenest-government-ever-one-year act of ideological vandalism]".

This news was criticised by Green Caroline Lucas MP, Guardian journalist and activist George Monbiot,The Guardian, 22 July 2011 [https://www.theguardian.com/environment/georgemonbiot/2010/jul/22/carbon-emissions-waste How scrapping the SDC to save money will cost the taxpayer a fortune] Daily Telegraph journalist Geoffrey Lean,The Telegraph, 23 July 2010 [https://web.archive.org/web/20100728080758/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthcomment/geoffrey-lean/7907808/Is-it-badger-hunting-season.html Is it badger-hunting season?] and Friends of the Earth.The Guardian, 27 July 2010 [https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cif-green/2010/jul/27/divided-green-lobby-will-fall Divided, the green lobby will fall] They claimed the Commission was necessary for the Government to fulfil its ambition to be the "greenest government ever".

The Chair of the Environmental Audit Select Committee, Labour MP Joan Walley, also criticised the decision to close the Commission.Utility Week, 22 July 2010 [http://www.utilityweek.co.uk/news/uk/panutility/bonfire-of-the-quangos-spreads.php EAC chairman questions decision as bonfire of the quangos spreads to Defra] She led efforts to ensure the Commission's role had a successor, and in January 2011 the Environmental Audit Select Committee recommended the creation of a new Minister for Sustainable Development.Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, 10 January 2011 [http://sd.defra.gov.uk/2011/01/environmental-audit-committee-recommends-minister-for-sustainable-development/ Environmental Audit Committee recommends minister for sustainable development]

• A Green New Deal
• Sustainable development
• Environmental Audit Select Committee
• Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
• Department for Energy and Climate Change
• Scottish Government Environment Directorates
• Welsh Assembly Government
• Department of the Environment (Northern Ireland)
• 2010 UK quango reforms

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• [http://www.sd-commission.org.uk Official website]

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Category:Sustainability in the United Kingdom

Category:Sustainability organizations

Category:Defunct public bodies of the United Kingdom

Category:Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Category:Defunct environmental agencies