The Department duties are:

1. promotion of programs and projects for sustainable development
2. support to the Ministry within the interministerial committees for economic programming
3. accounting, environmental tax system
4. promotion of initiatives for employment in the environmental field and of agreements with single or associated enterprises aimed at sustainable development
5. information to and relations with citizens and public and private institutions about environmental protection matters
6. promotion of environmental research
7. reporting on the status of the environment to the Parliament
8. environmental education and training
9. management of the central environmental documentation library and promotion of all national and international initiatives for relevant data, texts and documents acquisition
10. operational coordination of the Ministry participation to the international conventions, protocols, directives etc. committees; to the environmental UN program (UNEP), the economic commission for Europe (ECE-ONU), the organisation for cooperation and economic development (OCSE) and the EU, in agreement with the other specific general Departments
11. coordination of public administrations and Italian enterprises participation to financial mechanisms and international cooperation in the environmental field
12. relations with other Departments as far as international environmental protection is concerned