Introduction
What is sustainable development (SD)?
SD is embracing ways of doing things that:
- preserve the health (e.g., clean air, water, and land) of the natural environment;
- ensure access to social services; and
- extend the benefits of economic prosperity to broader segments of the population.
SD wants to meet these goals without jeopardizing the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Why an SD strategy?
At the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, Canada and other countries committed to developing national strategies for SD to reduce the negative impacts of development on the welfare of the earth's peoples. To advance on this commitment, in 1995 the federal government changed the Auditor General Act to require certain federal departments and agencies to prepare, table, implement, and update an SD strategy at least every three years.
What is the role of the Office of Primary Interest (OPI) for SD within the CCRA?
The SD Division within the Real Property and Sustainable Development Directorate of the Finance and Administration Branch is the OPI for SD within the CCRA. The division has the key role of:
- preparing the SD strategy;
- developing SD awareness and learning tools;
- coordinating SD awareness initiatives and events;
- providing leadership that promotes the implementation of the SD strategy throughout the CCRA;
- reporting on SD performance;
- developing, updating, and managing the Environmental Management System (EMS) for the CCRA; and
- providing technical support and advice on environmental issues.
Why an SD performance report?
SD performance reporting is important. It helps us assess our progress, provides information on our performance, acts as an accountability tool, provides an opportunity to showcase our successes, and gives us the incentive to improve.
What is the process for SD performance reporting?
The starting point for our performance report is the targets that branches and regions have set in the SD strategy. Branches and regions monitor progress on the SD targets and report performance annually to the SD Division. A summary on SD performance is presented to Members of Parliament and interested Canadians in the CCRA Annual Report. It is provided in greater detail to management, employees, and other interested parties in this report.
Audits and reviews are used to verify our performance and ensure continual improvement. During a regular internal audit of their program or operation, managers may be expected to respond to questions related to their SD targets and performance. Parts of the SD program and strategy are also reviewed and/or audited by the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development in the Office of the Auditor General. Findings are reported in the Commissioner's annual and additional reports to the House of Commons.
How well did the reporting process work for 2001-2002?
Our SD Division issued call letters for performance reporting to the ten branches and six regions within the SD network. We received responses from nine of the ten branches and five of the six regions.
We recognized several weaknesses in the reports received. Firstly, there were many cases in which the implementing office did not understand the requirements of the agreed targets. As a result, little or no progress was made to implement them. This was largely due to the fact that the targets were not clearly stated. Secondly, in cases where the targets were implemented, there was a lack of results-oriented performance information. Few areas were able to report impacts in the way of resource savings and behavioural change. Much of this is because of lack of dedicated resources and monitoring systems to capture this kind of information.
These weaknesses highlight areas for improvement. We must continue to focus attention on developing commitments that are more specific, measurable, and have clear guidelines for implementation. We will also work with the SD network to establish monitoring systems to capture relevant performance information, where feasible. While the SD Division in Headquarters (HQ) has increased its communication efforts, the greater part of our target to increase SD awareness among managers and employees is not yet accomplished. This will only be completely addressed over time.
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