Governance for Sustainability

In: Australian journal of public administration, Band 61, Heft 2, S. 78-89

Abstract

Environmental policies and responses are strongly influenced by a government's knowledge and understanding of environmental problems, its assessment of their severity, the expert opinions available to it on the size of the response needed, its understanding of the driving forces leading to environmental deterioration and the influence of prevailing theories and paradigms. Environmental policy cannot furthermore exist in a policy vacuum. Environmental goals may or may not be strongly weighted compared to other societal goals especially economic goals. All these influences have major bearing on the approach taken by governments to environmental policy.