It’s Time to Get Serious—Why Legislation Is Needed to Make Sustainable Development a Reality in the UK.doc

Sustainability2010, 2, 1101-1127; doi:10.3390/su2041101 OPEN ACCESS sustainability ISSN 2071-1050 /journal/sustainability Article It’s Time to Get Serious—Why Legislation Is Needed to Make Sustainable Development a Reality in the UK Andrea Ross School of Law, University of Dundee, Scrymegeour Building, Dundee, DD1 4HN, UK; E-Mail: a.p.ross@dundee.ac.uk; Tel.: +44-1382-385070; Fax: +44-1382-386737. Received: 15 March 2010 / Accepted: 30 March 2010 / Published: 22 April 2010 Abstract: On paper, the United Kingdom (UK) has the architecture in place to actually start delivering sustainable development. The current UK-wide framework for sustainable development and the individual strategies made under it are all relatively modern and progressive in considering environmental limits and long-term effects. This framework, however, lacks a legislative foundation in the UK. Moreover, these strategies are not delivering in the three areas considered vital for the proper implementation of sustainable development—improving understanding, providing a comprehensive framework to integrate potentially conflicting priorities and providing an operational toolkit. This article argues that over and above its symbolic and educational value, specific legislation setting out the state’s approach to sustainable development should impose mandatory obligations on policy and decision makers, with meaningful consequences both inside and outside the courtroom. Using examples from Wales, Canada and Scotland, it explores three legislative models to support the implementation of sustainable development that would be suitable in the UK and its devolved administrations, and the legislative provisions necessary for their delivery. This article emphasises the benefits of procedural obligations, both by themselves and in support of more substantive obligations, along with the possibility that certain appropriately wor