Sustainability Assessment

Sustainability Assessment

We promulgated a new sustainability assessment (SA) system within the Government in December 2001. Under the system, all Bureaux and Departments are required to : -

  • carry out sustainability assessments for major initiatives or programmes which may bring about noticeable or persistent implications on the economic, environmental and social conditions of Hong Kong; and
  • with effect from April 2002, include in their submissions to the Executive Council (ExCo) and/or the Chief Secretary's Committee (now the Policy Committee) the sustainability assessment findings or implications of their proposals.


The Sustainable Development Division (SDD) provides technical assistance and support to bureaux and departments to facilitate their proper application of the sustainability assessment system.

The sustainability assessment should be conducted at the early planning stage of a proposal. It should help scope out cross-sectoral issues and sensitive areas that require special attention or joint departmental examination at an early stage. It should also facilitate relevant bureaux or departments to resolve the issues through a concerted effort.

The guiding principles, parameters and checklist questions used for the sustainability assessments can be downloaded here:


The SDD arranges training courses to guide bureaux and departments to conduct sustainability assessments.