Canada at the WSSD Sustainable Development: A Canadian Perspective

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2 CHANGES TO DECISION-MAKING STRUCTURES AND PROCESSES

2.6 CONTINUING CHALLENGES

Making sustainable development a reality is a long term process. The measures that governments have taken over the last decade help integrate environmental factors into policies and programs. Continuing challenges remain, including jurisdictional fragmentation, incomplete environmental information, competing priorities and the lack of agreed metrics. Incorporating sustainable development considerations into industrial policy in order to promote the link among innovation, environmental performance and competitiveness will require cutting across traditional policy processes and structures. In the business sector, the challenge remains to involve a large number of companies of all sizes into triple bottom line decisionmaking and building a business case for practices and products that go beyond eco-efficiency and towards sustainable production and consumption objectives. While civil society has more opportunities than ever before to influence government and corporate development decisions, many NGOs feel that the lack of resources constrains their ability to participate effectively. Civil society organizations also face continued challenges to increase their own accountability to the public. Ensuring that education for sustainability is infused into all provincial and territorial curricula will require further inter-jurisdictional cooperation.

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