The Political System’s Capacity for Environmental Policy: The Framework for Comparison

What is capacity for environmental protection? The OECD defines it broadly as “a society’s ability to identify and solve environmental problems” (OECD, 1994: 8). More specifically, the concept points to the objective limits to (and necessary preconditions of) successful solutions of a given type of problem, limitations beyond which failure sets in, even in cases of good luck, skill and highly motivated actors. Lack of ecological, technological or administrative knowledge, lack of material or legal resources, the weakness of environmental organisations or institutions in relation to vested interests are well-known examples of such limitations. The main implication for the debate on sustainable development is that long-term strategies must include concepts for improving the conditions of environmental action (capacity-building).