The aim of the UNU report is to provide an overview of trends, policies already established, and new policy directions related to critical socio-economic and environmental issues identified in Agenda 21, focusing on three large developing countries: namely, China, India and Indonesia. This report is one of the core outputs of the UNU/IAS project on "Sustainable Development Frameworks for Developing Countries" carried out during the past five years in collaboration with leading scholars and institutions in those three countries.

The report covers both positive trends pointing towards greater sustainability and negative trends or issues in which progress has proved more elusive. It identifies policy gaps and trade-offs, suggests options for future policy directions, and examines the types of institutional and decision-making efforts that have been adopted in China, India, and Indonesia to improve their governance framework to meet the sustainable development challenge.

A special feature of the project has been its "bottom-up process," whereby policy makers and decision makers in addition to academics from these three countries were included in the development and dissemination of this report. The policy makers involved in this project include Emil Salim, Chair of the Summit's Preparatory Committee; Ir. Sarwono Kusumaatmadja, Minister for Marine Exploration, Indonesia; Yoginder K. Alagh, former Minister for Planning and Power, India; and Shang Yong, Director, Department of Policy, Legislation and Systems Reforms, Ministry of Science and Technology, China.

The policy report can be downloaded from the UNU website at: http://www.ias.unu.edu/binaries/BaliPrepComReport4.pdf