At the federal level, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are integrated into both the operational functioning of federal public services (FPS) and the public policies they implement.
The federal government's actions in the area of sustainable development are guided by
- the regulatory framework;
- political initiatives of the head of government in charge of Sustainable development;
- developments in international or European commitments in this area.
In accordance with the law on Sustainable Development, federal sustainable development plans have been prepared and monitored by the Interdepartmental Commission for Sustainable Development (CIDD-ICDO) since 2000. Following the creation of Sustainable development cells by Royal decree in 2004, the FPS must also adopt sustainable development action plans to coordinate the actions of their departments.
In an initial phase, the FPS mainly worked to integrate sustainable development into their operational functioning in order to set an example, demonstrate the added value of such an approach, and make sustainable development a reality in everyday life.
The adoption in 2013 of the federal long-term strategic vision for Sustainable development (2050), followed in 2015 by the 2030 Agenda SDGs, set long-term objectives. This enabled a more strategic approach to the actions of the FPS in a second phase, promoting the alignment of their policies with these objectives.
A regular reporting mechanism has been put in place to report on the implementation of actions undertaken by the FPS to contribute to the achievement of the SDGs. This is mainly done through the CIDD-ICDO reports, but also through other mechanisms presented on a dedicated page on our website (Monitoring the implementation of the SDGs – only available in French and Dutch).
As new tools and policy initiatives contributing to sustainable development have been developed, a new challenge has emerged: the need to ensure policy coherence with regard to Sustainable Development Goals. You can find more information on the dedicated page on Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development (only available in French and Dutch).
For more information on this issue, please visit the pages in French or Dutch.