The 26th report of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution on the urban environment13, proposes an environmental contract between central and local government, which would be a high level agreement to promote environmental action at the local level. On the ground, this would mean a local authority developing a strategy containing a small number of mandatory elements, but would also encourage the authority to design a programme to tackle a variety of environmental activities across sectors with the aim of stimulating improvement and innovation. This concept could help bridge gaps between national governments and municipal authorities and provide an opportunity for private and voluntary sectors and citizens to contribute.
