The following source information is a quote by Jonathon Porrit.

“ When it comes to sustainable development, construction is one of those sectors rich in the bleeding obvious. Improve performance by getting right on top of waste management issues both on and off site? Bleeding obvious. Improve staff morale by driving down accident frequency? Bleeding obvious. Improve reputation by working closely with communities affected by major construction projects? Bleeding obvious. Satisfy investors by demonstrating the hard-edged business case for taking the lead on environmental and social responsibility – now that really is bleeding obvious!

Carillion came to these conclusions several years ago, and has been working away at operationalising the necessary practices since then. As an external member of its Sustainability Committee, I’ve been impressed at the way Carillion is striving to integrate its commercial priorities with its sustainability objectives – and am convinced that the model it’s using here could be of real benefit to many other companies wrestling with that very same dilemma.

The next leadership challenge for Carillion is two-fold: to ensure that those sustainability objectives are owned across the entire company, so that all employees are involved in delivering the performance improvements they demand. And secondly, to deepen the commitment to the social aspects of sustainable development which require the same analytic rigour and management focus.

What one hopes, of course, is that the example of Carillion and other leaders in the sector will persuade Government that it has still got a crucial role to play in spurring on the rest of that sector – an agenda which seems to have gone rather quiet since responsibility for construction moved to the DTI.

There’s just so much to play for in terms of improving the performance of one of the most important sectors in the UK economy, and it will be hard to make progress on some of our broader sustainable development objectives across the nation as a whole unless construction is right up there as one of the best performing sectors. “

7^th February 2003

Jonathon Porrit, Co-Founder and Programme Director of Forum for the Future, is a leading writer, broadcaster and commentator on sustainable development. He was also appointed by the Prime Minister, as Chairman of the new UK Sustainability Development Commission in July 2000.

Forum for the Future
Forum for the Future is a charity, which offers a solutions-oriented approach to today's environmental and social problems, developing strategic partnerships across different sectors.