Strategies for Sustainable Development

E-book (73 pages)

Executive Summary

1. What is the purpose of this policy guidance?

At the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), governments made a commitment to adopting national strategies for sustainable development. The strategies for sustainable development called for at Rio are foreseen as highly participatory instruments intended "to ensure socially responsible economic development while protecting the resource base and the environment for the benefit of future generations". The OECD's "Shaping the 21st Century" (1996) calls for the formulation and implementation of such strategies in every country by 2005 - one of the seven International Development Goals (IDGs) - and for development co-operation agencies to support such processes in developing countries. The 1997 Special Session of the UN General Assembly set a target date of 2002 for introducing strategies.

Although it is nearly ten years since UNCED very little guidance has been available on how to fulfil these commitments. This document aims to fill that gap. Based on international experience and multi-stakeholder reviews in developing countries, it seeks to clarify the purposes and principles underlying effective national and local strategies for sustainable development; describes the various forms they can take in developing countries; and offers guidance on how development co-operation agencies can support them.

Although prepared as guidance for donors, it is hoped that this document will also be able to inform the World Summit for Sustainable Development and provide a basis for broader international discussions and agreement on this issue.

2. Why are new approaches to strategic planning needed?

Understanding of the pressing problems of unsustainable development has improved since UNCED. More is now known of environmental degradation, and social and economic marginalisation. But responses have not been concerted. There have been success stories, but they are fragmented. There have been improvements in meeting some environmental, social, or economic needs, but often in ways which cause other problems. Traditional approaches to 'sustainable development' are often overlooked by policy-makers.

Moving towards sustainable development presents tremendous challenges. Important structural changes are needed to the ways societies manage their economic, social and environmental affairs. Different countries may settle for different solutions, but all will have to make hard choices. Strategies for sustainable development are about making and implementing such choices, in a realistic, effective and lasting way.

3. What has been learned about previous strategic approaches?

Many countries have tried to plan their way out of problems in a technocratic manner, producing comprehensive, one-off national plans with accompanying sets of projects to be implemented. They were very often required (or inspired) by an external agency, and connected to financial conditionalities. Examples include National Conservation Strategies and Environmental Action Plans.

A review of experience shows that successful approaches share certain characteristics. They set priorities and establish a long-term vision; seek to promote convergence between already existing planning frameworks; promote ownership; can demonstrate national commitment; and are built on appropriate participation. Lower levels of success can be attributed to strategies which over-emphasise a product, take the form of one-off, separate initiatives, and are exclusively top-down. Strategies which have been presented as new concepts, have undermined existing processes and wasted scarce resources by starting new processes from scratch. In addition, many strategies have failed to address the deep economic, social and institutional changes needed for sustainable development.

While most countries have a number of strategic planning processes in existence, few, if any, have a system to effectively co-ordinate them. Developing such a co-ordination system will assist in integrating all the components of sustainable development into mainstream planning processes. Enhanced co-ordination and convergence between different planning frameworks can also relieve the the burden on capacity and resources .

4. What are strategies for sustainable development?

This guidance defines a strategy for sustainable development as comprising: "A co-ordinated set of participatory and continuously improving processes of analysis, debate, capacity-strengthening, planning and investment, which integrates the economic, social and environmental objectives of society, seeking trade offs where this is not possible".

To substantiate the definition, this guidance also offers a set of principles. These encompass a set of desirable processes and outcomes which taken together are likely to help ensure success of strategies for sustainable development. The principles emphasise local ownership of the strategy process, effective participation from all levels, and high-level commitment. They point to the importance of convergence and coherence between different planning frameworks, integrated analysis, and capacity development.

5. What does this mean in practice?

An effective strategy for sustainable development brings together the aspirations and capacities of government, civil society and the private sector to create a vision for the future, and to work tactically and progressively towards it. It identifies and builds on 'what works', improves integration between approaches, and provides a framework for making choices where integration is not possible.

Focusing on what is realistically achievable, an effective strategy will benefit from comprehensive understanding, but will not be paralysed by planning overly comprehensive actions on many fronts at once. As a process of practical institutional change aimed primarily at mainstreaming sustainability concerns, the strategy is likely to be focused on only a few priority objectives.

A strategy for sustainable development will rarely imply initiating a completely new or stand-alone strategic planning project. Rather, a number of initiatives, taken together, could meet the definition and the principles. Bringing existing initiatives closer to an effective strategy for sustainable development might involve complementing them with a broad 'umbrella': a vision and set of co-ordinated mechanisms and processes to improve their complementarity, smooth out inconsistencies, and fill gaps when needed.

In practice, many countries have taken the approach of building on whichever strategy models have been found useful. These include development plans, poverty reduction strategies or action plans, national green plans, decentralised planning and consultation processes - or the national exercises that have proliferated over the last two decades connected to international agreements. In some countries, alternative approaches have been developed by civil society organisations. In recognition of this broad range of starting points, this guidance emphasises that the label does not matter - what is important is the consistent application of the underlying principles referred to above.

Depending on circumstances, a sustainable development strategy may be viewed as a system comprising the following components:

• Regular multi-stakeholder fora and means for negotiation at national and decentralised levels, with links between them.
• A shared vision and set of broad strategic objectives.
• A set of mechanisms to pursue those objectives in ways that can adapt to change (notably an information system; communication capabilities; analytical processes; international engagement; and co-ordinated means for policy integration, budgeting, monitoring, and accountability).
• Principles and standards to be adopted by sectors and stakeholders, through legislation, voluntary action, market-based instruments, etc.
• Pilot activities, to generate learning and ownership.
• A secretariat or other facility with authority for co-ordinating these mechanisms.
• A mandate for all the above from a high-level, central authority such as the prime minister's office and, to the extent possible, from citizens' and business organisations.

5. How can external partners support strategies for sustainable development?

Development co-operation agencies have offered financial and technical support to strategic planning approaches such as National Conservation Strategies and Poverty Reduction Strategies. This support has provided opportunities for country stakeholders to explore sustainable development options. Sometimes, however, bilateral and multilateral development agencies have heavily influenced the strategy process, its timing, and its outcomes - and then supplanted one strategy with another.

Agencies can effectively and efficiently support sustainable development strategies by applying the principles outlined in this policy guidance - assisting country-driven, capacity-enhancing participatory processes that reflect the priorities of stakeholders. Particular commitment to such principles is needed for any strategic framework that has its conceptual or institutional origins outside the country in question, so as to improve coherence between international frameworks and to strengthen and improve synergies with existing national strategies. The role of external partners strategies should be catalytic and supplementary, with a strong focus on using and developing local capabilities, and methodological support. This is a challenging approach, which will require changes in the policies, procedures and capacities of development cooperation agencies. This guidance details action that agencies can take to put their commitments into practice and suggests ways of monitoring agency observance of the guidance.

Finally, strategies for sustainable development prepared by individual developing countries can be greatly compromised by external policies and institutions (e.g. those concerning trade and investment) over which developing countries often have little direct control. Development agencies can help by communicating such vulnerabilities to international stakeholders, including the private sector.

7. How can sustainable development strategies be monitored?

Monitoring is a core component of strategies. It needs to cover processes (such as the quality and coverage of participation and information systems), outcomes, and the changing baseline. Monitoring is not a separate exercise. On the contrary, process and outcome indicators need to be considered on a regular basis by stakeholders at the same time as vision and objectives.

International reporting and information-sharing (as part of a harmonised international system of monitoring of all IDGs) must be agreed in appropriate international fora. This guidance advises that it should not be based strictly on one model, but should reflect the fact that many different approaches to strategies could meet the definition and the principles outlined in this policy guidance.