International Institute for Environment and Development NATIONAL STRATEGIES FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT : THE CHALLENGE AHEAD

CONTENTS Acronyms and abbreviations Ackowledgements 1 Background to the OECD/DAC donor-developing country dialogues on nssds 1.1 Summary of the project 2 Sustainable development and strategies to reach this goal 2.1 Is there really an understanding of what sustainable development is all about? 2.1.1 Defining sustainable development 2.2 What is a national stratagey for sustainable development ? 2.2.1 Why sustainable development needs a strategic response 2.2.1 Defining a national strategy for sustainable development 3 Five key problems with past approaches 3.1 Need for a new approach 4 Some continuing challenges 4.1 An nssd does not necessarily mean something new 4.2 Political and stakeholder support 4.3 Ownership and stakeholder involvement 4.4 Capacity 4.5 Scoping the nssd – dealing with key areas of change Boxes 2.1 Interpreting the Brundtland definition of sustainable development 2.2 Strategic planning processes for sustainable development 2.3 Why recommendations of past reviews have not been addressed or implemented 4.1 The challenge of globalisation for strategy-making Annex 1 Challenges for more effective strategic analysis, debate and action for sustainable development References Figures 2.1 The systems of sustainable development 2.2 Suggested elements of the cycle of developing and implementing a national strategy for sustainable development 4.1 Formal strategies in context