There is growing concern that long-run development may be compromised unless countries take measures to achieve balance between economic, environmental and social outcomes. This section looks at three issues of sustainable development that are of particular importance for New Zealand: containing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, reducing water pollution and improving living conditions in developing countries. In each case, indicators are presented to measure the progress and evolution of potential problems, and an assessment is made of government policies that affect the issue. The section also considers whether the institutional arrangements for integrating policymaking across the different elements of sustainable development are working well, taking the example of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) as a case study (see Box 4)...