The Scottish Government

This Spending Review has enabled us to make major commitments to sustainable development in Scotland across the Executive, including:

• increasing the amount of waste collected by local authorities which is recycled or composted to 25%;

• building sustainable development into the major school building and refurbishment programme;

• developing education for sustainable development across the curriculum, including initiatives like the Sustainable Secondary Schools Initiative and Eco-Schools;

• investing in new social housing to promote sustainable development through the use of renewable materials, better insulation to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, maximising the development of brownfield sites and better land use planning to reduce travel to work distance;

• building sustainable development into the Glasgow Stock Transfer and other transfers to ensure that our investment produces homes that are warm, dry, energy efficient, safe and secure;

• setting high performance standards for central heating installed under the Central Heating Programme;

• inviting a team of independent consultants to assess eight priority business areas in Enterprise and Lifelong Learning for their impact on sustainable development. As a result of this work we are looking at how to take forward, for example:

  • sustainable development in further and higher education,

  • ways in which the Enterprise Networks can measure progress towards sustainable development,

  • using Regional Selective Assistance to encourage resource use planning, and

  • working with the Enterprise Networks to promote growth in clean technology sectors including renewable energy and energy efficiency;

• helping tourist businesses become more sustainable through the VisitScotland Green Tourism Business Scheme, and access funds for energy-efficient heating systems or waste recycling through the Clean Energy Demonstration Scheme and Loan Action Scotland;

• managing sustainable forests: Scotland's national forests were among the first in the world to win internationally-recognised independent sustainability certification;

• supporting the further development of the Greencode Environmental Management Tool and NHSScotland's good record on energy-efficiency;

• delivering better public transport for all sectors of the community, reducing both resource use and the need to travel unsustainably;

• Modernising Government Fund projects helping to reduce or eliminate the need to travel to access public information, advice or services, for example through contact centres, "one stop shops" and video conferencing; and

• promoting sustainable development in the built environment through the Executive's architecture policy - nearly half of UK carbon dioxide emissions are from buildings.