Sustainable development is not just an issue for developing countries. A commitment to the promotion of sustainable development is deepening at the international, regional and national levels. It has become a norm of global environmental politics; it is a legal requirement of Member States of the EU; and, within a UK context, is forming an important part of environment and development strategies of devolved governments. This heightened engagement over the past ten years for the advancement of sustainable development, by international and national actors, has exposed social, political and economic tensions that need to be explored. These tensions, in turn, call for a re-examination of the conceptual and theoretical underpinnings of the notion of sustainable development. Environment and Sustainable Development answers the need for an introductory, comprehensive, yet critical, book that explores the challenges involved in the implementation of sustainable development. It combines an examination of the institutional engagement with sustainable development at the global level, with an empirically informed discussion on challenges facing high consumption societies, economies in transition and third world countries in their efforts to achieve sustainable development. It explores the issues involved in the promotion of sustainable development across different socio-political and economic contexts, in a theoretically informed, critical way.