Institutional Change for Sustainable Development. By ROBIN CONNOR AND STEPHEN DOVERS [Cheltenham, UK and Northampton, MA, Edward Elgar, 2004, 264 pp, ISBN 1 84376 569 1, Hardback, 59.95

Abstract

In Institutional Change for Sustainable Development , the authors set as their objective an assessment of a selected number of institutions established or adapted for responding to the challenges of sustainable development, to inform further policy-making and institutional reform in a modern democracy. The example used throughout the book of such a modern democracy is Australia, but as the authors note, their conclusions are of global rather than merely local application (p 2). Institutions are broadly defined in Part I of the book as encompassing the ‘notion of a system of decisions, rules and agreements that involves structural links between existing organizations, and possibly the creation of new organizations, for the implementation of policy’ (p 19). Drawing on the work of scholars such as Douglass North, Connor and Dovers conceptually distinguish institutions from organisations, and this is reflected in their choice of case studies which form the basis of Part II of the book. Only two of the five case studies concern an institution which might also be described as an organisation: Chapter Three, in which the European Union’s (EU) commitment to sustainable development is assessed, and Chapter Five, which explores the relatively recent creation of national councils for sustainable development (NCSDs). The remaining studies examine juridical responses (actual and potential) to the challenges of sustainable development. Chapter Four evaluates the success of the New Zealand Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA). The RMA constitutes a relatively early legislative development designed to respond to demands that environmental concerns be incorporated into local and national decision-making processes. The integration of environmental and sustainability considerations into policy-making through the development of strategic environmental assessment processes is a more recent phenomenon and comprises the fourth case study in the book (Chapter Six). Lastly, the possibilities offered by property rights instruments for the efficient and sustainable allocation of scarce resources are assessed and critically analysed in Chapter Seven. In Part III, the authors draw tentative conclusions on lessons learnt from each of the case studies and suggest principles which might be applied to institutional reform within Australia.