Geoscience Reference
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cross-governmental body with responsibility for coordinating the shift
towards a low-risk society.
In addition, the anticipated resistance may make it dif
cult, until an
ecological focus becomes part of the culture of policy-making, to ensure
that assessments and strategies have an in
uence on policy contents.
To address this concern, I propose that an independent body should be
established with the authority to review proposed policy and to advise
the government on how it might be revised to ensure consistency with
statutory objectives for protecting ecosystems. This mechanism would
be supported by rights of standing that would allow the government to be
challenged in the event that the body
'
s guidance is not followed.
3.1.3 Political will
Several signi
cant issues would need to be addressed for the introduction
of an ecologically oriented approach to policy-making. However, per-
haps the most substantial obstacle to this is that suf
cient political will
would be required for politicians to introduce measures that would
involve a re-evaluation of economic and social goals, to take actions
that may well be electorally unpopular, and to accept constraints on the
policy-making process.
13
Theimportanceofrespectingecologicallimits
for society
'
s well-being has been recognised in the policies and legislation
of some developed states.
14
However, as experience with New Zealand
s
Resource Management Act suggests, even statutory recognition of the
need for ecologically responsible resource use is no guarantee that the
political preparedness to control activities will follow.
15
Despite this, I believe that there are good reasons for presenting
proposals for the legal and institutional reforms that would be required
for prioritising ecological considerations in policy-making whether or
'
13
A. Jordan and A. Lenschow,
'
Environmental Policy Integration: A State of the Art
4.
14
See for example Resource Management Act 1991 (NZ); The Council of Australian
Governments, National Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Development (Australian
Government, 1992),
http://www.environment.gov.au/about/esd/publications/strategy/
index.html
; Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Securing the Future:
The UK Government Sustainable Development Strategy (HM Government, 2005).
15
R. Connor and S. Dovers,
Review
'
(2010) 20 Environmental Policy and Governance, 150
-
1, 153
-
Sustainable Management of Natural and Physical Resources:
The New Zealand Resource Management Act 1991
'
in R. Connor and S. Dovers (eds)
Institutional Change for Sustainable Development
'
(Cheltenham: Edward Elgar
Publishing, 2004), pp. 108
-
12;I.H.Williams,
'
The Resource Management Act 1991:
Well Meant But Hardly Done
'
(2000) 9 Otago Law Review, 673.
