Edition 3 Introduction
If I were to invite you to reflect on the public value case for sustainable development, what would your response be? I suspect you might wonder exactly what I was talking about. You might then start to worry about how, and when, it might impact on your working life. If my assumption is correct then this indicates that the government is failing to deliver on its own sustainable development strategy dubbed ‘Securing the Future’.
On a more positive note, the strategy does acknowledge that we are living well beyond the environmental limits and that climate change is the most urgent problem that we face. And, within this edition of Ethos, you will find examples of the extremely innovative work going on within the public sector, including the Mayor of London’s ambitious Climate Change Action Plan, the ‘Merton Rule’ and the Nottingham Declaration.
However, we must address the fact that champion initiatives such as these are working against the grain of what’s going on in the centre. Sustainable development needs to become a central organising principle of our government. With the new management installed at number ten, this could be about to happen.
I am delighted to be involved with this issue of Ethos – the contributors are all helping to push sustainability forward and it’s vital this momentum continues. You will find that many of the articles focus on the challenges presented by sustainable development, including an interview on procurement with Sir Neville Simms, chair of the Sustainable Development Task Force. Elsewhere, Professor Jean Hartley of Warwick Business School considers how innovation can be encouraged within the public sector and Policy Exchange’s Dr Oliver Hartwich makes the case for road pricing. I hope you find this issue to be an interesting and thought-provoking read.
JONATHON PORRITT | GUEST EDITOR
Jonathon Porritt is founder director of Forum for the Future, the sustainable development charity that works with business and communities. He is also chairman of the Sustainable Development Commission.
