Carbon emissions are still rising in many countries including the UK. Adopting a carbon budget that aims to reduce our emissions by 90% by 2050 with early action to prevent a cumulative build up of emissions would be a good first step.

Governments could follow the UK's lead in pressing for zero carbon homes, and go further to ensure that all buildings, whether new or existing, residential or otherwise, meet this standard. They could also embark on an ambitious programme to make all of their own buildings zero carbon and push the public sector to follow suit.

In the UK, simple steps such as removing VAT on renewable technologies, increasing investment in renewable technology development, and improving capacity and expertise in the planning system could drive the market to achieve zero carbon standards across the board within the next ten years.

Government buildings should be run on green electricity. Try Good Energy (pictured below) or Ecotricity. For every organisation that switches to Good Energy 100% renewable electricity, the BioRegional charity receives a £20 donation. We promise to spend it developing more solutions for sustainability

The transport sector is responsible for 25% of UK carbon emissions, and is the only sector of our economy where carbon emissions are rising.

The Government should halt road and airport expansion as an urgent first step. Increased investment in public transport and provision for cyclists and pedestrians would convince the public that alternatives to the car and lorry exist. Getting the fuel duty escalator back on track and putting an end to cheap flights would send a clear signal to citizens about their personal transport habits.

Acting on many years of research into where we live and work should also be a priority. Governments can reduce the need to travel by increasing the density of urban areas, which would also better support public transport and local businesses. Stimulating the economies of commuter towns and regions, and encouraging more sustainable meeting methods such as teleconferencing would reduce the need for work travel.

The embodied energy, durability, toxicity and ecological footpring of materials should be a standard construction consideration, going beyond the UK Government's current understanding of "zero carbon homes", which only includes post-build emissions.

Thirty percent of road freight in the UK carries building materials across the country for no good reason. Government building projects should follow local sourcing policies, and local authorities should provide similar policies to developers in pre-application planning discussions. Local and regional reclamation strategies are an easy way for government to promote the use of sustainable materials.

Governments should also make sure they only use the best available materials on their own projects, both as a matter of principle, for example by only using FSC cerified timber, and in some cases to help develop nascent markets such as in limecrete. Set minimum reclaimed materials content for planning briefs or include reclaimed materials in the government procurement system.

National food policy is phenomenally complicated, but governments could take a few simple steps to push us in the right direction.

All food policy should be based on life cycle assessments to assess the carbon and ecological footprints of different options. This will avoid some of the negative development impacts of the food miles debate, for example, and provide some clear guidelines for citizens and governments alike.

Looking at our own agricultural output, the government could push for a transition to less intensive, less wasteful and organic methods of growing food. Stopping retailers from throwing away "unattractive" food, pushing for genuinely local sourcing policies where appropriate, and making it harder to grow food out of season in heated greenhouses are three possible approaches.

Placing a carbon or ecological tax on different food items would immediately reflect their impact, so that the consumption of the problem foods - processed meals, meat and dairy - would decrease. Providing more education on home cooking could also reduce the consumption of processed food, and decrease the amount of food we throw away.

Finally, increasing the space made available for growing our own food, for example in allotments and community gardens, and providing free training through local authorities, could dramatically reduce the impact of our food.

As we demonstrated at BedZED, planning for significantly reduced water usage and better surface run off management is an easy way in which building regulations could tackle the problem of water efficiency. The average BedZED resident consumes just 76 litres/day compared to the London average of 170 litres/day.

Government departments could look to dramatically reduce their own water consumption, setting an example for the rest of the country.

Upgrading the hidden infrastructure that manages our sewage, drainage and potable water could keep our landscape clean, reduce wastage and contribute to natural habitats.

Influencing the location of population growth to ensure it doesn't further stress regions such as the South East of England, or areas with high flood risks, would make it easier to manage a sustainable supply of potable water and adapt to climate change.

Governments could support and implement measures included in the sustainable communities bill to boost local employment.

Local and national governments can introduce minimum wages that match an appropriate living wage, to ensure that everyone can earn enough to meet their most basic needs. The disparity in income between the highest and lowest earning individuals could also be tackled - at BioRegional the ratio is no greater than 3/1.

Schools could promote the values of equity and fair trade, for example by establishing co-operative Fairtrade shops.

Building more affordable homes that are energy efficient and so have lower living costs would also provide for a more equitable society.

Many of the above measures would lead to much healthier, happier lives. For example, providing more allotments for growing food, more affordable housing, a more biodiverse environment and eradicating poverty would have a dramatic impact.

Governments could also move away from GDP and economic growth as a crude measure of a successful society, to something more like the Measure of Domestic Progress.