[1] In 1999 the Labour Government made the policy case for sustainable development in a White paper entitled A better quality of life.

[3] Subsequently, the Sustainable Development Commission was founded by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott in June 2000.

[9] On 22 July 2010, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs announced that it would stop funding the Commission.

The Chair of the Environmental Audit Select Committee, Labour MP Joan Walley, also criticised the decision to close the Commission.

[15] She led efforts to ensure the Commission's role had a successor, and in January 2011 the Environmental Audit Select Committee recommended the creation of a new Minister for Sustainable Development.