Sustainable Development Strategy

Background to Strategy

The first Sustainable Development Strategy for the Department of Enterprise, Trade & Employment was published in December 2002. The Strategy builds on the 1997 National Sustainable Development Strategy published by the Department of the Environment & Local Government and the 2001 EU Sustainable Development Strategy.

What is Sustainable Development?

"Sustainable Development" itself represents a form of development that seeks to integrate economic, environmental and social dimensions in a balanced way. From the Department's perspective, sustainable development is about finding more environmentally and socially responsible and sustainable ways of doing business, both within the Department itself and for enterprises in Ireland.

Aim of the Departmental Strategy

The aim of the Strategy is to enable the Department to address the challenges and opportunities posed by the increasing need to find more sustainable ways of doing business. It provides a path for both the Department and enterprises to achieve sustainable development by setting tangible objectives and actions over a period of time, which will be reviewed and revised at regular intervals. Four priority strategic areas have been selected for initial focus over a three-year period (2003 - 2005). These are:

• Climate Change
• Competitive Sustainability
• Corporate Social Responsibility
• Departmental Sustainability

A copy of the strategy is available below, in pdf format. For hard copies of the Strategy, or any further information, please contact the Competitiveness and Climate Change Unit in the Department at (01) 631 2229 or e-mail to: maria.orourke@deti.ie

Sustainable Development Strategy for the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (pdf, 267kb)

Review of the Implementation of the Department’s Sustainable Development Strategy 2003-2005.

There was an undertaking in the Strategy to carry out a review on its implementation. The document below appraises the implementation of the Strategy, provides information on the activities undertaken under each of the four goals, and outlines the outcomes achieved and the evolution of the policy context for the sustainable development agenda.

• Review of the Implementation of the Department’s Sustainable Development Strategy 2003-2005 (pdf, 319.4kb)

Sustainable Development Links

• Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government’s Sustainable Development webpages
• EU Sustainable Development Strategy
• World Summit on Sustainable Development
• United Nations Sustainable Development Division