Getting the Goods: 2005

NSSDs: Challenges, Approaches & Innovations in Strategic and Coordinated Action based on a 19-Country Analysis

Darren Swanson,
IISD, Canada

---

This 54-page publication and supporting country case studies can be downloaded from the following websites:
http://www.iisd.org/measure/capacity/sdsip.asp
http://www.gtz.de/rioplus/download

----------------------------

The 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development reiterated a call to all countries to "make progress in the formulation and elaboration of national strategies for sustainable development" and also to begin their implementation by 2005. A national sustainable development strategy is not simply a document, but rather it is a continuing and adaptive process of strategic and coordinated action.

To assist government officials in realizing this process, this publication builds on current thinking and studies 19 developed and developing countries to identify key challenges faced in relation to the strategic management aspects of national sustainable development strategies including leadership, planning, implementation, monitoring and review, co-ordination, and participation. The innovative approaches and tools observed in the 19 countries studied are featured to create a pragmatic toolbox for government sustainable development managers and policy-makers.

Countries studied were Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Denmark, Germany, India, Madagascar, Mexico, Morocco, the Philippines, Poland, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom as well as the European Union.

The country case study research illustrated that many innovative approaches and tools for strategic and coordinated action for sustainable development have been developed and applied over the past decade—before and after WSSD. However, despite the progress made, nations are only at the early stages of learning toward effective strategic and coordinated action for sustainable development. From our analysis of 19 countries we conclude that few countries are acting truly strategically. Many challenges remain in the continuous cycle of strategic management. The key challenges include:

•  The feedback mechanism – including monitoring, learning and adaptation.

•  Co-ordination of strategy objectives and initiatives with the national budgeting process.

•  Co-ordination with sub-national and local sustainable development action.

•  Implementing a mix of policy initiatives, and in particular, environmental fiscal reform initiatives which are typically underleveraged.

For example, regarding the first item, while most nations have statistical offices that monitor various aspects of our economy, society and environment, only a few countries have developed an integrated set of indicators to allow analysis of the inherent trade-offs and inter-linkages among the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. Even more elusive to detect from the research were formal and informal approaches and tools to learn from this type of integrated monitoring and to make critical and necessary adaptations. We manage what we measure. Until we systematically monitor integrated sets of sustainability indicators, and employ a mix of formal and informal approaches and tools to learn and adapt accordingly, nations will not be acting strategically. In addressing these challenges, among the 19 countries studied, the U.K. appeared as a consistent innovator through such approaches and tools as national sustainable development indicators and reporting; sustainable development audit committees and spending reviews; a Task Force for national strategy revision; and sustainable development research networks.

----------------------------

This project is a collaborative effort. Its research partners include the International Institute for Sustainable Development - Measurement & Assessment Program (IISD), the Canadian consulting firm Stratos Inc, and the Environmental Policy Research Centre of the Freie Universität Berlin (FFU). The study was funded by and received continuous advice from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ; commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development – BMZ), the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), Foreign Affairs Canada and Environment Canada. Advisors to the project are IUCN – The World Conservation Union and the UN Division for Sustainable Development.

For questions, inquiries, or comments please email Darren Swanson at the International Institute for Sustainable Development – Measurement & Assessment Program [dswanson@iisd.ca or telephone at +1.204.958.7746, Canada].