In many countries, the necessary funds are not available to meet projected capital needs for energy alone. Energy efficiency is one of the primary answers. The initiative to create a global energy efficiency collaborative is one of the possible responses to the hard case for sustainability. The environment cannot be left to environment ministers, even less can sustainable development. One of the disappointments of Rio is that the Commission for Sustainable Development has become largely a gathering of environment ministers.
Environment ministers are necessary.
But environmental ministries alone cannot care for the environment. And that is where the real changes have got to occur. Environmental ministries and agencies have to sit at the table and help provide the environmental input to that process. But they are not going to be able to exercise the power required to implement the changes that are necessary. Nations everywhere are increasingly being forced to recognize the limited capacity of governments to meet the expectations of the electorate, an electorate which, in many cases, is unwilling to accept new taxes, and which insists upon a greater degree of costeffectiveness, transparency and accountability from government.