Sixteen Federal agencies, including the Department of Defense, have prepared pollution prevention strategies. Another example are the 'environmentally preferable' guidelines and policies regulating purchases and acquisitions of the U.S. Government. Major policy shifts toward influencing sustainable development require more than government regulation and executive orders. This money provides grants for, among other things, traffic related projects such as car pools. Corporate Responsibility I would like to return to one element I referred to earlier as a critical building block for sustainable development - corporate responsibility.
Corporate responsibility is important for two reasons.
First, most innovation in industrial processes is generated within the industries themselves. Many in the private sector have taken the lead in developing eco-efficiency and pollution prevention practices as integral parts of industrial management. Many U.S. and multinational companies, largely driven by costs are looking for ways to produce their products with minimum or zero waste. The U.S. National Academy of Sciences, Department of Energy, EPA and other agencies have all supported industry in these activities. The second reason why corporate responsibility is essential for sustainable development is that the private sector is becoming the dominate source of capital for development in emerging markets and developing countries.