ABSTRACT
In this chapter we aim to explore how the concept of sustainability is used and interpreted by national governments. It is governments that have been tasked by international organizations, such as the United Nations, with forming and implementing policies or plans that support the aims of sustainable development and thus the sustainability of our social, economic, and environmental systems. We have entered a period in which our greatest challenges are global challenges that require global solutions. Solutions, therefore, must be developed between and among sovereign nations committed to a common global goal. Several international attempts to incorporate sustainability principles into policy are examined, and we note differences in approach, governmental level of implementation, and focus among the most developed nations as well as between more and less developed nations. The Rio conference and Agenda 21, The Millennium Development Goals, the UN Sustainable Development Goals, The Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, and the OECD Declaration on Green Growth are all examined.
We seek to draw comparisons between the way sustainable development has been defined and the degree to which the interpretations of those definitions have translated into action by exploring the efforts of the United States, the European Union, some nations of Africa, Bhutan, Brazil, and China. We then look at some of the measures of national sustainability that have been developed to rank and measure these nations. Finally, we explore how a turn to the political right in several nations impacts sustainability governance.
