Sustainable Development Action 
Plans
Government has made clear that the public sector needs to demonstrate leadership on Sustainable Development (SD). As part of this, the UK Government SD strategy, Securing the Future, set a requirement for all central Government Departments and their Executive Agencies to produce Sustainable Development Action Plans (SDAPs) and to report and update them regularly.
Defra has now published its second SDAP which sets out our actions until March 2009. We have used the learning experiences from our first SDAP, published in December 2005, to develop this new plan.
Our approach is to ensure that SD is embedded into the heart of Defra’s working practices. This means making sure that SD is a key component of everything we do, for example from making policy, to running our estates or engaging with staff and customers. This is a marked change from our first SDAP where we focussed on specific policies and specific operational activities. This should build on our first SDAP and help to meet our aims of becoming a leader in sustainability.
In writing the plan, we have followed the guidance published by the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC). The ambition in the Defra plan and our progress against it will be audited by the SDC as part of their watchdog function.
read Defra’s second Sustainable Development Action Plan (PDF 1.2 MB)
Previous plans:
read Defra's first Sustainable Development Action Plan (PDF 310 KB)
Agency plans
The commitment to produce a sustainable development action plan also extends to Defra’s executive agencies. The agency plans show how the work of each organisation relates to Defra and the sustainable development agenda, as well as detailing their actions towards SD.
Defra’s Executive Agencies are publishing their updated or second plans.
SDAPs currently available (in Adobe Acrobat pdf format) are:
- Central Science Laboratory
- Centre for Environment Fisheries and Aquaculture Science
- Pesticides Safety Directorate
- Veterinary Medicines Directorate
- Marine Fisheries Agency
Previous Executive Agency Plans:
- Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science
- Central Science Laboratory
- Joint Nature Conservation Committee
- Pesticides Safety Directorate
- Rural Payments Agency
- Veterinary Laboratories Agency
Page last modified: 8 April 2008