In a report by the UNDP in its Poverty and Environment Initiative (1999: 2-3), the following remark was made regarding the UN conferences on development and the environment. What do you think can be done to get out of this unfortunate quandary? Explain your answer using specific examples:

Though serious and successful efforts to address both poverty and environment are underway in many places, they remain exceptions. While there is broad agreement on the ‘why’ and the ‘what,’ there has been far less agreement about the ‘how.’ Too often, politicians and technical experts have found themselves at odds. Policymakers complain that the experts have not given them substantive practical solutions. Experts accuse policymakers of lacking political will. This fruitless debate has contributed to the disappointing gulf between the goals of the global conventions and their actual achievements.