Capacity Building in National Environmental Policy

The development of national environmental policies is of great concern to governments, enterprises, NGOs and international organizations since it sets the structural conditions for economic globalization. The systematically structured reports of 17 countries permit a comparison of capacities for environmental policy and management on a global scale. The country reports inform about, inter alia, the most urgent environmental problems, national policies and institutions, and environmental proponents and opponents. The book is of relevance for experts in universities, business, governments, and administrations as well as non-governmental organizations.This book provides a systematic description and analysis of the development of national environmental policies in seventeen countries in terms of capacity building. It covers a broad spectrum of different types of countries, ranging from advanced industrial, newly industrializing and transition countries to developing countries, representing all continents. This allows the reader to draw conclusions about the chances of an effective global environmental policy, the interrelationship between economic and environmental development as well as the importance of globalization, new forms of governance, and democratization for sustainable development. The editors deliver a broad cross-national survey covering altogether thirty countries and focussing on the diffusion of environmental innovations, the globalization of environmental policy, and the worldwide convergence of basic environmental policy patterns.