The establishment of the National Council of Sustainable Development by the States is a consequence of Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration, which points out that "Environmental issues are best handled with participation of all concerned citizens, at the relevant level.”and pursuant to chapter 8.7 of Agenda 21, paragraph 24 of the Programme For Further Implementation of Agenda 21 (Rio+5) establishes that “Sustainable development strategies are important mechanisms for enhancing and linking national capacity so as to bring together priorities in social, economic and environmental policies and all sectors of society should be involved in their development and implementation”.

The National Council of the Environment and Sustainable Development / CNADS was set up by decree law n. 221/97. It was later reinforced and its members increased by decree law n. 134/2004 of June 3rd.

CNADS is an independent body that aims at advising Government members responsible for the environment and the sustainable development, public entities and NGOs on all matters associated with the environment and sustainable development. It is also a forum for the design and implementation of environmental and sustainable development policies.

Tasks of the Council
CNADS’ tasks

• Environmental policy;
• Strategic plans and programmes for environmental and sustainable development policies;
• Public participation for decision-making;
• International agreements (ratification and internal regulatory process);
• Follow-up of international and EU policies;
• Follow-up of the co-operation policy, mainly with Portuguese-Speaking Countries Community (CPLP)
• Follow-up the implementation of the Framework Law on Environment;

To give advice on the National Plan for the Environment and the National Strategy for Nature Conservation