ABSTRACT

The Department of the Environment (DOE) published a list of some 120 indicators of Sustainable Development in order to meet one of its commitments made in its 1994 Strategy for Sustainable Development. Within the UK the Government issued Europe’s first environmental health action plan based on three groups of actions: securing basic environmental health requirements; seeking to prevent medium to long term environmental health hazards; and promoting well-being as opposed to the prevention of disease. The UK Round Table on Sustainable Development which was set up in 1995 also published a number of reports on Sustainable Development. The DOE underwent a far-reaching reform of its organisation and working methods in 1995 which reduced the number of management levels and in order to promote cohesion across the Department four new strategic aims were adopted. These are: sustainable development; maintaining and improving the quality of the natural and built environment; achieving economic competitiveness; and good government.