Whether Ecological Modernisation Is Essential, or Not - Report Example

Critically assess whether ecological modernisation is essential, or not, for the achievement of sustainable development Introduction Nations around the world are advocating for sustainable development due to how important it is to ensure the preservation of the environment for future generations.1 When it comes to the need for achieving sustainable development, there is always much agreement among all stakeholders that this is a necessity that cannot be overlooked.2 The problem however arises when talks of the approach to attaining sustainable development are made.3 This is the core problem that this research paper will seek to address by outlining the place of ecological modernisation (EM) as an important modern day approach to achieving sustainable development. Ecological modernisation is selected as the approach to sustainable development due to the clear and distinct differentiation the concept makes between ecology and economy, and how these two cannot be used together if sustainable development is to be achieved. However, there are limitations with EM that demonstrate it is not the only viable option for achieving sustainable development (SD). With that in mind, concepts that argue EM is not essential for SD will also be emphasised in this paper. The evolution of sustainable development There have been several perspectives from which sustainable development has been defined or explained. Generally, there are those who see sustainable development as a term that must be seen from an environmental perspective in relation to how the environmental construct can bring about the preservation of natural resources for existing and future generation.4 From the Brundtland Report however, the ultimate reason for engaging in environmental preservation is to have some levels of economic benefits for current and future generations. To this end, it defines sustainable development from an economic perspective. The evolution of sustainable development shall thus be taken from the perspective of the Brundtland Report, which defines sustainable development as a state of “Global economic development sufficient to meet current needs while allowing future generations to achieve their needs”.5 This means that sustainable development should concern itself with ways in which people of today’s generation can make the most out of the resources around them, whilst ensuring that they do not become the only beneficiaries of it.6 Because the need to ensure sustainable development is not an easy task to achieve, there have been several interventions and strategies that have been put in place over the years to ensure that the ultimate goal is realised. Consequently, the evolution of SD shall be focused on various global policies that have been put in place to achieve SD. Over the years, world leaders, academics, pressure groups, civil society and the citizenry of the world have been concerned about what is the best universally agreed strategy to achieve SD. This evolution whereby the achievement of SD has moved from an individualistic approach to a consensus approach has been seen by many as the way forward for eventually realising SD7. But once there is a consensus approach, it is important to have a headship that directs the way such approaches should flow. Commonly, this has been done through meetings of world leaders who come out with policy statements that serve as binding documents for all member states. Examples of such meetings and the proceeding made from them include the Stockholm Declaration Principle 1, Nairobi Declaration (1982), World Summit on Sustainable Development, Johannesburg (2002), and Rio +20 (2012). 8 A very unique feature of the various meetings and summits that have been named earlier that make them form an evolution in the SD agenda is that as the years progress, one sees major changes that have taken place in the policy statements, all aimed bringing about a well improved strategy for change.9 For example in the Johannesburg Declaration on Sustainable Development, 3 pillars of evolutionary sustainable development are identified, which are economy, environment and social.10 By emphasising on the role of all these pillars, one gets the realisation that SD is not something that can be achieved by looking at only one side of the coin. Rather, it takes a consensus and integrated approach as has already been outlined. From an economy perspective, the need for there to make profitable gains for the current generation and generations unborn is emphasised. From a society perspective, the need to ensure that SD becomes a people-based concept is also emphasised. The environmental perspective also puts emphasis on the planet and the need to ensure that the planet becomes intact in serving the needs of not just people of today, but also those unborn. In effect, it is required that all these goals will be achieved together if SD can be said to have been achieved as an integrated concept.11 How ecological modernisation is essential in achieving sustainable development Ecological modernisation (EM) theory is made up of the school of thought that argues that interventions towards environmentalism benefit the economy greatly.12 As a result, they posit the need to decouple economic debates and interventions from SD, since doing so puts the environmental agenda at a disadvantage. Especially from an environmentalist approach, EM is seen as essential for achieving SD. This is because in the view of the environmentalist, environmental preservation should be the basis for SD. This means that once environmental sustainability is achieved, the other components of sustainability can, and will follow automatically.13 Because of this, there is no need to inciting the occurrence of SD from any other perspective other than the environmental approach and through environmental empowerment.14 Because of the relationship between EM and the environment, which is also the central focus of SD, there is a justification as to how EM helps in achieving SD. This is because EM gives the opportunity for there to be absolute concentration on environmental sustainability without any competition from an economic perspective. In the wake of such concentration on the environment, one can expect that there can be both effectiveness and efficiency with the environmental mission because not much competition will be received from other sectors of SD. This has for long being the basis for arguing for the essence of EM in achieving SD. By saying that EM puts emphasis on the environment, reference is being made to environmental programmes and activities including conservation of the environment, avoiding environmental degradation, and increasing availability of environmental resources, especially, renewable national resources.15 Given the importance of these named variables in achieving environmental sustainability, EM theorists posit that part of the requirements for achieving SD is the need to prioritise the environment over economy.16 This is because once sustainability is achieved from an environmental construct, chances that all other constructs including the economic and people parameters can also be achieved. An underpinning claim and pragmatic approach to ecological modernisation emphasises that economic growth and environmental protection are not compatible and thus the need to use a modernised approach that distinguishes one from the other17. The reason the two are said not to be compatible is the fact that whenever economic growth is joined with environmental protection, leaders of change easily become tempted to overlook environmental protection against economic development.18 EM is therefore seen as a model that caters for this imbalance and disproportionate way of tackling SD. In effect, EM can be said to be a theory that promotes environmental attention in a manner that decouples environmental protection from economic development19. When it is argued that environmental protection is the basis of sustainable development all that is being said is that by protecting the environment, the platform is created for all other forms of sustainability, be it cultural, economic, social, or political sustainability to be championed. This is because all the other pillars or components of sustainability take place within the environment. For example, most natural resources that form part of the environment are the major export trading commodities that run the economies of most nations.20 Consequently, when any of these resources are poorly used in a manner that cannot be dependable for today’s generation and future generation, the issue of sustainability becomes defeated from that perspective. Meanwhile, when economic development is targeted together with environmental protection or ahead of environmental protection, the only concern that created is the need to use the available resources without actually thinking of ways of replacing them. Unfortunately, even if there is degradation of the environment, there may be other means to still sustain the economies of nations; but when the environment is destroyed, re-sustaining it becomes difficult as greater part of the environment is non-renewable.21 Characteristics of ecological modernisation that are vital in sustainable development Having looked at the overall essence of EM in achieving SD, it is important to focus on very specific characteristics of EM that is vital in SD. Such characteristics make it easier to apply EM on SD.22 The first of these characteristics is that EM has been found to be very easy to implement.23 This is a characteristic that makes most ecologists and developmental theorist prefer the use of ecological modernisation when it comes to the approach to SD. In the opinion of such theorists and ecologists, SD itself does not, or even if it does, gives very little on how policy should be carried out. In effect, the implementation of SD is very difficult if seen as an independent concept that must be achieved alone.24 However, because EM is systematic and spells out specific ways of using it, it makes EM easy to implement and therefore overcoming the weakness of SD. It has been debated that because SD is not often backed by any punitive sanctions, acts of complexities in its implementation make most governments and policy implementers neglect it.25 It is for this reason that the ease with which EM is achieved has been classified as a vital characteristic in SD because with it, SD becomes likable by all. Another characteristic that makes EM vital in SD is that it has very similar principles with SD. In effect, adopting EM as a means of achieving SD does not require any massive changes in principal methodologies and approaches. A very typical example of this is the fact that EM follows the very principles of modernisation theorists who argue that societies must be open to change26. This means that both EM and modern society emphasise on the need for there to be change. If society expects change as a way of achieving SD, then it can be clear that the model of implementing SD must also embrace this need for change. Should EM not had this characteristic of embracing societal changes, it would have been very difficult to embed it in SD and would therefore not have been vital in it. When it is said that EM embraces the notion that society must be open to change, what is being implied is that EM holds that modernity is about having new concepts and approaches to life in place. But nothing new can take place when existing ones are not changed27. EM theorists therefore hold the opinion that it is only when society changes that there can be sustainability. Already, society also acknowledges the need for there to be changes within it.28 By joining these two standpoints, it becomes easier to use EM as a parameter for achieving SD. Another critical characteristic is EM that makes it vital in SD is its flexibility. Apart from the fact that EM is easy to implement, it is also flexible in accommodating the inclusion of other theories and interventions when using it as the basis of SD. This means that at every point in time while utilising EM, stakeholders are free to divert from any standardised principles and approaches into using what is deemed best for the time. The EM theory is thus synonymous to the contingency theory, which debates that there is no best way to organise the achievement of a goal but making use of situations as and when they present themselves.29 In SD, it is important to ensure that there is always sustained edge that is synonymous with current time. This means that the environmental, social and economic resources of this day must be those that are needed to solve the problems of today if sustainability can be said to have been achieved.30 This edge is preferable to using depleted resources of old in making good for the needs of today. By extension, the problems of today must be solved with solutions that are applicable to the present time, which is the basis of the contingency theory and thus EM. Such similarity therefore makes EM vital in SD. Ways in which Ecological Modernisation may not be essential in Sustainable Development Even though it has been said that EM has characteristics and features that make it ideal for SD, there are other criticisms that have been raised against the concept that may make it unessential for SD. Some of these criticisms are discussed here. First, EM has been criticised to be a double standard approach to sustainable development. What this means is that EM fails to have a single stand that can be used by stakeholders of change. For example ecological modernisation sometimes acknowledges the importance of economic development as a means of promoting the agenda of environmental sustainability31. Meanwhile, one of the key points of arguments for EM is the fact that the economy must be decoupled from the environment. Therefore, if at another point EM argues that economic development is vital for achieving SD, then implementers become very confused on the way to approach SD when using EM. From such a perspective, the double standard nature of EM makes it unessential for SD, given the fact that in its place, other approaches that are seen to be highly independent and yet accepted by EM such as economic development could be used in SD. Again, by using a double standard approach, it is more like repeating approaches and thus defeating the need for efficiency with utilisation of SD.32 There are some who have also said that SD does not need EM to prosper and that SD can be achieved without EM.33 For example, EM makes reference to environmental productivity, which refers to a state whereby there is the productive use of natural resources and environmental media to bring about growth and development for the future.34 As much as this idea of environmental productivity may be seen to be in line with SD, it has been questioned that since the ultimate goal of environmental productivity is growth and development leading to labour productivity and capital productivity, it would be more appropriate to try a method that makes the achievement of labour and capital productivity very direct. That is, instead of emphasising on the environment or ecology to achievement capital based productivity from natural resources, then it would be better to do away with EM all together so that capital based productivity can be achieved through other means such as economic development.35 It is on this basis that the place of EM in SD has been questioned and referred to as unessential, given the fact that the end result of EM is something that can be achieved through other means available in more direct concepts such as economic development.36 Lastly, even though EM has been said to have the characteristic of ease with its implementation, one weakness that has been found with the implementation process is that it makes no room for enforcement. This is because in the 3-pillars of ecological modernisation, there is not much emphasis on enforcement, making institutionalisation of rules ineffective means of achieving sustainability.37 Consequently, stakeholders of SD who may want to see much of a quick action based on the provision of resources to attain enforcement will have this lacking. Meanwhile, SD has been classified to be a very delicate and urgent phenomenon that requires immediate action rather than a delayed one.38 If upon all the international policy planning and making of declarations on SD, there is no will power for enforcement because SD is approached from a EM perspective, then it would be right to say that SD cannot be used to achieve its goals in that context. From this perspective of lack of enforcement, EM has also been said to be highly in appropriate and unessential in SD as it does not have the same spirit of urgency. Whilst SD is constructed on the basis and emphasis of urgency, EM lacks empowerment and thus lacks a sense of urgency. 3. Conclusion It can be said that EM is essential for SD only when SD is viewed from an environmentalist perspective. Where SD is taken from an economic perspective, EM fails to be very effective. This is because in such an instance, the combination of economy with environment fails to the environment the needed attention and preference to achieve sustainability. This paper helped in understanding why such a situation exists, as more global attention is shifting towards an economic liberation paradigm. Constantly, people and governments are becoming concerned about ways in which they can empower people economically. To this end, when they are asked to play economic roles; or to take economic responsibilities together with environmental responsibilities, chances that the environmental responsibilities will not be achieved in full are higher. In conclusion, even though ecological modernisation may have its own weaknesses, it is vital for achieving sustainable development. This is because it helps in making world leaders responsible for the environment in a manner that is not adulterated with other responsibilities that will take their attention from the prime goals they have to achieve. What is more, most of the criticisms can be overturned through a strong commitment from all stakeholders involved in the sustainability agenda. References Case Law Ecology V. Grimes 121 [1993] Wn.2d 459, 852 P.2d 1044 Books Bertelsmann S. (ed.). Winning Strategies for a Sustainable Future. (Verlag Bertelsmann Stiftung, Gütersloh. 2013). Edwards, A.R., and B. McKibben. Thriving Beyond Sustainability: Pathways to a Resilient Society. (New Society Publishers, 2010). Hajer, A.J. The Politics of Environmental Discourse: Ecological Modernization and the Policy Process, (OUP, Oxford, 1995). Joshi, R. 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