Is it attainable in developed countries?

Developed countries are strides ahead in this regard although there might still be some flaws

Yes, in terms in the amount of studies, experience, fund, but not in terms of political will when you put the richness of resources they have, the actions they have taken and the ongoing damage they have undertaking.

In my experience, developing countries have the force to implementing action already tested or successful of developed countries averaging them in your environment, however is so broad the theme of integration between the public political and environmental sustainability, that is must generate greater knowledge inwards of institutions research for transfer to the institutions of government

I think that the answer to your question is, yes.

Lack of consensus on how integrated development should proceed should not delay planning for effective environmental management. The reason is simple: a sound economy and a stable society depend upon a healthy environment. Thus, effective environmental management is a condition precedent to long-term effective economic development. Another way of saying this is, while economic development unquestionably is a key driver of determining what environmental resources need protection and of how that protection should be carried out, it is not the main driver. Environmental management to further economic development must be subordinated to environmental management to further social development and, indeed, to protect the environment itself from the consequences associated with human activities.

While efficient use of governmental resources urges planning for environmental management and integrated economic development to proceed in a closely coordinated manner, governments typically lack the luxury of starting environmental management and economic development planning with a clean slate – irrespective of whether the country in question is developing or developed. Thus, government planning starts in an existing context in which frequently there are socio-economic activities already competing for use of the same environmental resources; and that planning needs to account for that context, to evaluate the continued viability of some or all of those activities, and to determine what new activities should be encouraged to be introduced. All this takes time, much energy, and even more debate before consensus can be reached on the plan.

In the meantime, environmental management for social development and environmental protection purposes still must proceed. That management scheme will have to be adjusted to account for any new economic development that may arise, but those adjustments must not be to the detriment of social development and environmental protection.

Environmental management is tremendously complicated when a nation has several levels of government within its borders – for example, national, provincial or state, and local. Fully coordinated and cooperative management requires that government planning be undertaken in a manner that does not encroach on each level’s sphere of authority but that assists and supports each other and coordinates their actions and legislation with one another. My country, the United States of America, has all three levels of government – the federal government, state governments, and local governments within each state. Under the principle of “cooperative federalism,” the federal government enacts environmental protection legislation that provides a minimum set of requirements applicable nationwide and state governments are authorized to enact their own legislation applicable within their own borders that provide a greater measure of environmental protection. The practical effect of this scheme has been that States have used differing environmental regulatory compliance costs as an incentive to lure businesses to settle within their borders. Thus, the promise of short-term economic gain has worked to the detriment of long-term environmental protection. Much can be learned, therefore, from the experiences of the developed countries about what NOT to do when undertaking environmental protection in the context of furthering environmental protection.

I agree with Mr. Sullivan that this should start as soon as we can in our developing countries, and that we may take some advantage of previous experiences from developed countries. I think we cannot separate environmental sustainability from economic activities and human health/food security and education. We should see this as a whole national important issue that should be supported by governmental institutions (universities, local governments, ministry of health, environment, education, natural resources, fisheries....) represented in each locality where the programs are to be implemented. These efforts may also be impulsed by NGOs, cooperatives and others such as private companies. I think integration and coordinate work among these groups, not only will improve the use of our limited budgets, but also may give better approaches and results for environmental management and sustainability, where environmental education is a key action.

Yes, cooperative governance for environmental management is attainable in developing countries, even with unclear integrated development. Success depends on building strong partnerships, fostering stakeholder engagement, and creating clear frameworks for collaboration and decision-making.