Greening London: Sustainability, Politics and the Third Way

One of the key problems of the sustainability agenda is the relationship between policy and implementation. Policy perspectives are often informed by normative definitions of sustainability. Implementation, by contrast, has to focus on the complex and pragmatic concerns of governance institutions, citizens and other actors involved in the process. The linkage between both sides of the agenda is important if sustainable development is to be achieved over the long term. This is not simply to make the process more efficient, but to ensure that policy outcomes—whether they are local, national or global— conform to the objectives that were originally set.