SLE721: Policy and Planning for Sustainable Development Report

This report provides an analysis of policy and planning for sustainable development, focusing on the Brighter Green, a public policy action tank. The report examines the organization's mission to raise awareness and promote sustainable practices globally. It details the organization's programs, including initiatives related to Asia, factory farming, climate advocacy, and veganism. The report also explores the strategy development process, emphasizing stakeholder involvement and the formulation of a sustainability policy. The policy aims to promote sustainable development, human rights, animal rights, and environmental conservation at both local and international levels. The implementation strategy focuses on program initiation, partnerships, and public awareness, with a commitment to reducing carbon emissions and attracting funding for research and projects. The report concludes by highlighting the importance of sustainable development and the role of organizations like the Brighter Green in shaping policies and promoting environmental conservation.

Policy and Planning For Sustainable Development1
Policy and Planning For Sustainable Development
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Policy and Planning For Sustainable Development2
Policy and Planning For Sustainable Development
Introduction
Sustainable development has been a topic of concern in the contemporary world.
Sustainable development is a type of development that needs the present needs without reducing
the chances of the future generation meeting the same needs. International and local regulatory
bodies have been on the forefront, spearheading the move towards sustainable development to
regulate the exploitation of natural resources. Major organizations all over the world have also
adopted sustainability as part of corporate social responsibility and promoting initiatives that take
care of the environment, such as reduce carbon emission (Assembly, 2015). Policy and Planning
for sustainable development involve the formulation and implementation of strategies that
facilitate sustainability. The contemporary world is developing very fast with industrialization
and technology coming up, and without keeping checks in place, we could be at a wrong place
and deny the future generation the same opportunities nature offered us. What makes an
excellent sustainable development plan? This essay discusses planning and policy making for
sustainable development in Brighter Green.
Description of the Organization
The Brighter Green is a public policy action tank working towards raising awareness and
encourages the implementation of policies in environmental sustainability. The United Nations
accredit the organization among environmental sustainability development organizations in the
world. The headquarters of the Organization is located in New York, United States, but it
operates internationally with operations across all the seven continents in the world. The
organization was founded by Mia MacDonald, who is now the executive director. Mia
MacDonald is a public policy analyst who has provided consultancy services to several

Policy and Planning For Sustainable Development3
international non-governmental organizations the likes of Save the Children, the Sierra Club, The
Green Belt Movement, the World Wildlife Fund and the Ford Foundation, (Lu et al., 2015). She
has given consultancy on a wide range of issues such as environmental issues, sustainability in
development, gender equality and women rights, conservation and animal protection as well as
health and population. She holds a master's degree in Public Policy which was received at
Harvard from the Kennedy School of Government. The advisory board of the organization
comprises of able and influential members the likes of Anna Lappe, Frances Moore Lappé and
Jim Mason, Apart from advocating for sustainable development the organization also works
towards expanding and maintaining equity and human rights.
The Brighter Green on its own as well with partnership with other organizations
incubates and generate practical and visionary projects and research initiatives that promote
sustainability. The organization initiates programs that give policymakers, the media, influential
leaders, activists as well as the community insight on the responsibility of taking care of the
environment for the mutual benefit of all the current inhabitants and the future generation. The
organization produces documentary films, websites, articles, and other publications that sensitize
the public about the environment and raise debate among policymakers. The main goal of the
organization is to achieve local and international transformation despite the challenges that may
come along in the process.
Justification for the Initiative
The Brighter Green organization works focusing on the challenges and possible solutions
in sustainable development, animal welfare, human rights, and conservation. The organization
works with particular emphasis on countries in emerging economies and of the Global South to
raise concern on how the sustainability development, human rights, and conservation concerns

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which seem separate are inextricably linked. The organization goal is to initiate programs that
will provide useful information to non-governmental organizations and governmental decision
makers. The organization also uses the media to educate the public, shape opinion, generate
debate, and bring a systematic change towards positive sustainability in development.
There are several programs the organization has initiated and supported with a
partnership with other organizations to enable archive the sustainability awareness goal. The
organization operates in for main areas. First, The Asia Program which links media outlets,
researchers, universities, and civil society organizations in the region through public education
and knowledge exchange to upkeep the improvement of the sustainable food system. The
organization has concentrated its attention in China, but with collaboration with other
organization passionate about sustainability, it has expanded its operations throughout Asia. The
second one is the Globalization of Factory Farming Program. This program consists of short
documentary videos, briefs and policy papers exploring the industrialization of animal
agriculture in India, Ethiopia, Brazil, and China. The organization examines how these activities
are connected to the growth o the dairy industry and climate change. Climate change has been a
trending concern among environmental enthusiasts, and the organization is in the forefront,
creating awareness on the topic.
` The International Climate Advocacy Program is another program of the Brighter Green
through which it holds workshops, seminars and participates in climate conferences which
educate opinion formers and policymakers on how to create successful pathways to genuine
sustainability in development on a planetary scale. The fourth program, which is still ongoing, is
the Vegan American Project, which is a presentation, writing, and research project. The project
uses veganism as an experiment on how the United States may formulate and implement

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resilience for animal welfare and food security. The project aims at achieving a positive social
transformation that will help in solving the challenge of climate change. The link about the
organization and its programs is provided at the end of the reference list.
Strategy Development Process
What makes an excellent sustainable development plan? This is a significant concern
that practitioners that develop sustainable development policy face every day. Sustainable
development is a complicated thing that requires proper planning and coordination of various
sectors to achieve. To achieve this, policymakers formulate, implement and review policy that
promotes sustainable development activities. The planning process of these strategies is a
complex process let alone the Implementation face where the strategies must overcome
challenges some of which were not even identified during the formulation phase of the plan thus
there are no set mechanisms to counteract them. The planning process of the sustainable
development policy has three dimensions, the resource commitment, and the political support of
the concept. All three aspects of strategy development must be considered to formulate and
implement a strategy successfully (Zhang et al., 2015). The Brighter Green organization has to
develop strategies that will ensure that it with initiate programs that directly promotes
sustainability as well as have a strong influence on policymakers to make policies that lean
towards meaningful, sustainable development.
For a strategy formulated and implemented by any organization to be successful, all the
stakeholders should be involved. If the shareholders are consulted right from the formulation to
the implementation phase of the strategy, they will feel part of the strategy, and this will make
the implementation face smooth without any challenges, (Welford, 2016). Even if problems
emerge, the collaboration of the stakeholders will be a vital asset in forging a way forward to

Policy and Planning For Sustainable Development6
overcome the obstacles and make the implementation phase of the strategy a success. For the
Brighter Green organization to formulate its plan, it has to consult critical non-governmental
organizations, governmental organizations, influential policymakers, the media as well as the
general public. Sustainable development is a complex issue that requires corporate contribution
at both international and local bodies so the organization should focus on operating at a planetary
level.
The governmental organizations should be consulted because they provide a framework
and regulate the development activities. Consulting with regulatory bodies that set the carbon
emission standards and chemical standards will significantly help in enforcing the sustainability
targets that the organization intends to meet within a given period. The non-governmental
organizations are the driving force towards the initiation and support for environmental and
conservation projects all over the world; hence, they should be involved in the development of
the sustainability strategy. The organization is partnering with these non-governmental
organizations to push its agendas of conservation and sustainability all over the world (Carley
and Christie, 2017). Organizations such as the Greenbelt Movement which have spearheaded the
increase of plant cover on others have worked closely with the Brighter Green organization to
realize their goals and objectives across the world. The influential policymakers which include
top administrators and politicians who influence the formulation of policies that affect how
sustainable development is going to be achieved should be involved to attain the required
political support. Sustainable development is all about the public; hence, the masses should be
involved through the media houses that will propagate the ideas and shape opinions towards a
populace that is aware of sustainability.

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The consultation process has to start will identification of the critical stakeholders in the
related sectors and bring them together through seminars o conferences. Here they can discuss
the sustainability issues from different perspectives and outline the role played by the
stakeholders in making sustainable development a reality. The consultation will help the
policymakers see the stakeholders' views and determine the level of goodwill towards the
common objectives. The stakeholders with the assistance of experienced politicians can then
create a strategy that will provide a framework for the realization of sustainability and
environmental conservation.
Draft Sustainability Policy
The Sustainability policy for the Bright Greener aims at initiating and supporting
programs that promote sustainable development at a planetary level. The strategy also focuses on
creating awareness of human rights, animal rights, and environmental conservation. The plan
should be implemented, and both local and international levels to realize its goals and objectives.
The strategy aims at achieving a reduction in the carbon emissions in the next two years after its
successful implementation. To achieve this, the plan will try to influence the key policymakers
all over the world to make policies that are aligned towards sustainable development (Weaver et
al., 2017). The development agenda and plans of almost all countries should incorporate the
sustainability aspect and also implement the strategies to realize sustainability.
The strategy should realize environmental awareness at a planetary level. To accomplish
this, it will have to spread its operations all over the world with a significant focus in countries
with developing economies and those whose development plan is not well outlined towards
sustainability, (Nilsson, Griggs, and Visbeck, 2016). The organization should be able to attract
funds through donations to help in the implementation of the strategy. The project and research

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programs have economic implications, and without a clear funding plan, the policy cannot be
successful.
Implementation
The primarily the implementation of the program relies on how well the organization can
initiate and support its sustainability-related programs to successful completion. Sustainability is
a broad topic; hence, the organization should determine the key areas such as climatic change
issue and prioritize the projects and research that focus in this area. The organization should also
identify the key stakeholders and make partnership arrangements that will support the
implementation of the strategy (Charles, Schmidheiny and Watts, 2017). Choosing well-
established organizations that have an influence and access to a large geographical area will
enable the Brighter Green to spread its operations and achieve sustainable development at a
planetary level.
Since the Brighter Green is involvement the production of articles, briefs, and
documentary films, it can raise public awareness on sustainability with the partnership with
media outlets. The organization will partner with an influential organization which is passionate
about the environment and human rights and collectively work to promote sustainability, (Sachs,
2015). The policy will be reviewed by the advisory board of the organization by checking if the
short term targets have been met. The strategy should initiate community-based projects that
promote creating environmental awareness.
Conclusion
Sustainable development is an issue of concern, and policymakers are trying to formulate
and implement policies that promote sustainability. There are several organizations such as the
Brighter Green that have been recognized to be spearheading sustainable development. These

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organizations have to formulate strategies and policies that will align the development plan of
countries in the world towards sustainability. The planning process of these strategies is a
complex process, let alone the Implementation face where the strategies must overcome
challenges. The Brighter Green is a public policy action tank working towards raising awareness
and encourages the implementation of policies in environmental sustainability.

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References
Assembly, G., 2015. Sustainable development goals. SDGs), Transforming our world: the, 2030.
Carley, M., and Christie, I., 2017. Managing sustainable development. Routledge.
Charles Jr, O.H., Schmidheiny, S., and Watts, P., 2017. Walking the talk: The business case for
sustainable development. Routledge.
Lu, Y., Nakicenovic, N., Visbeck, M., and Stevance, A.S., 2015. Policy: Five priorities for UN
sustainable development goals. Nature News, 520(7548), p.432.
Nilsson, M., Griggs, D., and Visbeck, M., 2016. Policy: map the interactions between
Sustainable Development Goals. Nature News, 534(7607), p.320.
Sachs, J.D., 2015. The age of sustainable development. Columbia University Press.
Weaver, P., Jansen, L., Van Grootveld, G., Van Spiegel, E. and Vergragt, P., 2017. Sustainable
technology development. Routledge.
Welford, R., 2016. Corporate environmental management 3: Towards sustainable development.
Routledge.
Zhang, X., Davidson, E.A., Mauzerall, D.L., Searchinger, T.D., Dumas, P., and Shen, Y., 2015.
Managing nitrogen for sustainable development. Nature, 528(7580), p.51.
https://brightergreen.org/