Appendix 3—Reference Information on Federal Policies and Guidelines on Sustainable Development and Greening Government

This appendix lists key government-wide policies, guidelines, and initiatives that provide direction on how departments and agencies are to consider and manage environmental issues related to their activities. It also lists policy instruments used by federal departments to achieve their environmental and sustainable development goals. Please consult with the Internal Specialist—Environment and Sustainable Development for more detailed information.

A Guide to Green Government

This is a guide to taking action on sustainable development that documents the Government of Canada's commitment to integrating sustainable development into the way it defines its business and makes its decisions.

The Guide outlines some objectives for sustainable development, including

The Guide presents possible tools for integrated planning and decision making, based on sound science and broad consultation. These include full-cost accounting, environmental assessment, and ecosystem management. Presented as well are potential policy tools for achieving sustainable development goals plus guidance for federal departments on greening their operations.

Finally the Guide gives practical advice on the main elements on which departments could base their departmental sustainable development strategies, and approaches for preparing them.

Departmental Sustainable Development Strategies

Under the Auditor General Act, most federal departments and agencies are required to table a sustainable development strategy (SDS) in Parliament every three years. Since 1997 four rounds of strategies have been prepared and tabled by federal entities including one that covers 2007 to 2009.

A sustainable development strategy is intended to serve as an entity's blueprint for protecting and preserving the environment and promoting sustainable development. Through its strategies, the entity is expected to establish goals, objectives, and targets as well as an action plan for achieving them. Sustainable development strategies can also cover day-to-day operations and include actions to prevent pollution and reduce consumption or waste.

The first two versions of each entity's strategy (SDS I and SDS II) generally included a departmental profile and an issues scan. These are important information sources, particularly for identifying what the entity perceives to be the relevant environmental (and sustainable development) issues associated with its activities. Attention should also be paid to any commitments made in an SDS.

For links to all of the strategies covering 1997 to 2009, see Exhibit 1.

More on Greening Physical Operations

The federal government has identified priority areas for greening of government operations:

For further information, see

Environmental Management Systems

An Environmental Management System (EMS) is a systematic management framework and approach for identifying and managing environmental issues. In their sustainable development strategies most federal departments have committed to developing and implementing an EMS using ISO 14001 or comparable standards. Auditing to detect evidence of EMS development and implementation is therefore an effective means of evaluating whether, and to what degree, a department is managing the environmental implications of its operations.

The planning elements of an EMS should include a process (such as an issues scan) to identify environmental aspects (issues) and assess their significance. In assessing the potential environmental effects of expenditures, it would be reasonable to obtain the results of any identification exercises that a department or agency has undertaken, with a view to identifying the potential environmental effects of products, services, or activities (these are the three categories of items that ISO 14001 requires an organization to assess for environmental effects).

For more information on EMS, visit the Greening of Government website.

Greenhouse Gas Initiatives

The Federal House in Order initiative is the Government of Canada's plan for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions within its own operations. Through the initiative, the 11 departments and agencies that account for 95 percent of federal emissions have agreed to collectively meet a target of reducing GHG emissions within their operations by 31 percent from 1990 levels by 2010. The departments and agencies are

* lead department for this initiative

Strategic Environmental Assessment for New Policies, Plans, and Programs (Cabinet Directive)

A Cabinet directive sets specific requirements for considering the environmental consequences of new federal policies, plans, or programs.

According to the Cabinet Directive on the Environmental Assessment of Policy, Plan and Program Proposals, federal departments and agencies are required to assess the potential environmental impact of initiatives bound for Cabinet or ministerial approval. The Directive says that ministers "expect strategic environmental assessments to be conducted . . . when a proposal may result in important environmental effects, either positive or negative."

The Cabinet Directive was put in place in 1990 and revised and clarified in 1999 and 2004.

A strategic environmental assessment (SEA) is intended to be conducted early in the development phase of a new policy, plan, or program proposal so that environmental issues and risks can be identified, avoided, and/or mitigated as the proposal is developed.

The Cabinet Directive indicates that an SEA should include a preliminary scan to determine whether a proposal is expected to result in environmental effects considered to be important. The Directive also requires a detailed analysis of the expected environmental effects of any outcomes of the proposal.

For policies, plans, or programs approved since 1999, auditors should examine the process applied by the entity to make the determination required under the Cabinet Directive.

Any preliminary scan and analysis prepared by an entity for an SEA would provide useful information on environmental issues/risks to auditors.

More information on the Cabinet Directive is available on the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency website.

Environmental Impact Assessment for Projects Involving the Federal Government (Canadian Environmental Assessment Act)

Under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, an environmental impact assessment must be conducted when the federal government is involved in a new project in any of the following ways:

The Act and Regulations require that proposed projects be assessed by federal entities to ensure that potential environmental effects are identified and considered in decision making.

Note: Generally speaking, projects are physical works to be constructed or decommissioned (e.g., roads or bridges). However, they can also include certain physical activities covered by the Act through a special regulation. Examples include establishment of nuclear facilities or certain activities in national parks.

More information on the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act is available on the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency website.

Some policy instruments/tools used by the federal government to achieve its environmental and sustainable development goals: