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Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD) Policy

For Sydney Water the principles of ESD are :

• Conservation of Biological Diversity and Ecological Integrity
  Maintain or enhance the range of native plants and animals and the health of natural areas.

• Precautionary Principle
  Reduce the chance of serious environmental problems even if we are not sure that these problems will occur.

• Inter-generational and Intra-generational Equity
  Reduce the effects of activities on the environment that the community, now and in the future, relies on to meet its needs and expectations.

• Improved Valuation and Pricing of Environmental Resources
  Improve the way we undertake valuation of environmental costs and benefits and use this information when making decisions.

1. These principles have been paraphrased from the Protection of the Environment Administration Act 1991 as amended by Schedule (4) of the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997. This is the legislation referred to by Section 21 (1) (b) of Sydney Water Act 1994.

Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD) Policy

The purpose of this Policy is to commit Sydney Water to ensuring the principles of Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD) underpin our decision making processes, and as such, how ESD is incorporated into our activities.

Sydney Water's Objectives for ESD

Sydney Water will ensure that its corporate direction is consistent with the Australian Government's goal for ESD, which is:

Development that improves the quality of life, both now and in the future, in a way that maintains the ecological processes on which life depends (National Strategy for ESD, 1992).

Sydney Water will apply the four principles of ESD: the precautionary principle, intergenerational equity, conservation of biological diversity and ecological integrity, improved valuation, pricing and incentive mechanisms, as described in the Protection of the Environment Administration Act.

Objectives for ESD will be implemented by integrating ecological, social and economic considerations into decision making processes, consistent with the corporate objectives as set out in the Sydney Water Corporate Plan 2000-2005: customer satisfaction; protecting public health; protecting the environment; being a successful business.

Sydney Water will define its environmental objectives through the Environmental Policy and Environment Plan; social objectives in line with our Customer Contract, customer access protocols and safety net commitments; and economic objectives in line with the Statement of Corporate Intent, within the context of the Sydney Water Corporate Plan.

Implementation of ESD

Sydney Water will implement ESD principles by:

• delivering sustainable products and services through the development of long term strategies and plans which apply the principles of ESD and are informed by community consultation. The implementation of these strategies is initiated through the Sydney Water annual corporate planning process.
• supporting learning and encouraging values which promote the implementation of ESD principles.
• pursuing research and development to provide reliable, high quality and sustainable products and services.
• investigating and adopting tools that assist in identifying overall cumulative environmental and social impacts, and the valuation and pricing of environmental resources.
• developing, implementing and reviewing contracting and procurement methods so that ESD commitments are adopted and adhered to by contractors, and are reflected in the use of materials and resources.
• providing information and education to assist customers to adopt preferences and practices which support ecologically sustainable use of resources.
• working with customers, stakeholders and regulators to achieve a common agreement on environmental, social and economic priorities.
• moving towards integrated ecological, social and financial reporting. This is increasingly referred to as triple bottom line reporting.

ESD Reporting

On the basis that ESD principles are implemented at all levels across Sydney Water, reporting on ESD will be based on our performance across the whole of the corporation.

Assessing and reporting our progress against ESD will be through our Sustainability Indicators, which will provide information on operations. The information gained through this process will be considered as an input to developing our strategies and plans, and will be published in the Sydney Water Annual Report.

Review of this policy

This Policy will be reviewed as appropriate to reflect Sydney Water's Corporate direction and understanding of ESD.