Policy paper

The Planning Inspectorate Environmental Policy

Published 20 October 2021

Applies to England

© Crown copyright 2021

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-planning-inspectorate-environmental-policy/the-planning-inspectorate-environmental-policy

This Environmental Policy has been developed using the Greening Government Commitments, 25-year Environment Plan and the UN Sustainable Development Goals as a framework.

Understanding the impact our organisation has on the environment is key to our ability to improve our environmental performance in terms of resource utilisation, recycling, and reduction of pollution, waste and emissions.

We will understand our environmental impacts and we will seek to reduce and remove them through better management of our resources, and by delivering our strategic commitment to sustainable working practices.

1. We will achieve this by:

1.1 Reducing our emissions

  • we will work to reduce the carbon impact of our activities ensuring that we support and achieve the government’s objectives for climate change by becoming a net zero organisation
  • we will work to reduce the environmental impact of our organisation’s activities and adopt more sustainable methods of service delivery

1.2 Effectively managing our waste

  • we will ensure that the decisions we take, relevant to our overall service delivery method, are with conscious effort to reduce our environmental impact including waste generation
  • we will take actions to develop and increase the environmental awareness of our staff and customers in order to help them make more environmentally responsible decisions through the delivery and engagement with our services

1.3 Applying environmentally responsible and aware procurement methods

  • we will take actions to support the reduction in impact from the organisation’s use of physical space improving the environmental performance of our offices and the way we use them
  • we will take actions to ensure that environmental impacts are a meaningful consideration influencing our procurement decisions, our procurement will more frequently be led by the most sustainable options available

1.4 Being open and transparent about our environmental performance

  • we will take action to actively measure and understand the direct and indirect environmental impact that the organisation has
  • we will report the environmental impact that our organisation has in an open and transparent way
  • we will take actions to continually improve our environmental performance as an organisation

This Environmental Policy is an important element to the Planning Inspectorate’s environmental management system and will positively influence the activities and behaviours of the whole organisation.

We will review the Environmental Policy annually to ensure that its commitments and ambition remain aligned with relevant strategic and organisational objectives.

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