Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Commons^™

Navigating The U.S. Transition To Sustainability: Matching National Governance Challenges With Appropriate Legal Tools, John Dernbach

John C. Dernbach

Sustainable development would require the United States to maintain and improve human prosperity while at the same time greatly reducing its consumption of energy, materials, water, and land. The scope of the challenge includes, but is not limited to, climate change. This Article suggests the elements of a legal structure for achieving sustainability.

Because achieving sustainable development is a significant learning experience, the United States will need to employ a form of governance—reflexive governance—that requires constant learning and supportive citizens and stakeholders who are also working to ensure sustainability in their own activities. The two basic problems reflexive governance must …

Learning From The President’S Council On Sustainable Development: The Need For A Real National Strategy, John C. Dernbach

John C. Dernbach

This is a review of United States sustainable development efforts at the national level from 1992-2002. At the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in 1992, the United States and other countries agreed to develop and implement a national sustainable development strategy in order to fully integrate environmental matters into national decision making. In this period, the United States did not have such a strategy. Through much of the Clinton Administration, the President's Council on Sustainable Development (PCSD) (1993-1999) provided the basis for such a strategy through a rich variety of policy recommendations, but relatively little effort was made …

Sustainable Development: Now More Than Ever, John C. Dernbach

John C. Dernbach

This Article explains how and why sustainable development emerged as a conceptual framework, the basic concepts or principles on which this framework is based, why sustainability is primarily a matter for domestic national governance, and why the United States needs to play a leading role in fostering sustainable development. Because "sustainable" modifies "development," it is first important to understand what development means. Since the end of World War II, development has included at least four related elements: peace and security, economic development, social development, and supportive national governance. Each element is reflected in major multilateral treaties that provide a common …