Sustainable development and ecological modernisationmodernisation also discards much of the political baggage of sustainable
development, notably the ‘development’ agenda of North–South issues,
inequalities, social justice and democracy, which can prove controversial and
costly to implement.^12 Moreover, while sustainable development struggles to
provide a clear, precise blueprint for policymakers, ecological modernisation
seems to offer a practical set of principles and techniques for dealing with
theproblems facing advanced industrialised countries. Its model of a flexible
and enabling state reflects contemporary developments in the idea of ‘gov-
ernance’ as involving ‘steering’ rather than ‘rowing’, whereby governmental
organisations set strategic objectives but leave day-to-day implementation to
other actors (Rhodes 1997 ).
Perhaps the most distinctive feature of ecological modernisation is that it
directly addresses the business sector, whose support, as shown in Chapter7,
is vital for any transition towards a more sustainable society. Although indus-
try’s contribution to environmental degradation is highlighted in the sus-
tainable development literature, the Brundtland Report offers little to win
overbusinesses beyond some mild words of exhortation, such as ‘[industry]
should accept a broad sense of social responsibility and ensure an awareness
of environmental considerations at all levels’ (WCED 1987 : 222). By contrast,
byappealing to business in a language it understands and respects – profit! –
ecological modernisation may encourage the industrial sector to treat envi-
ronmental protection more seriously.
Ecological modernisation theory also reflects developments in several
industrialised countries where policymaking elites have adopted a more
holistic, strategic approach to environmental issues. With its roots in coun-
tries such as Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Den-
mark, which are consistently picked out as having the best records of envi-
ronmental performance in the world, ecological modernisation offers a good
lesson in ‘best practice’ environmental policymaking. The Dutch National
Environmental Policy Plan (see Chapter11)ispresented as an ideal model of
thewayenvironmental criteria can be integrated into every aspect of gov-
ernment, whilst Lundqvist ( 2004 )reports similar developments in Sweden.
Another success story is the expansion of the environmental technology sec-
tor in the German economy (Weale 1992 ). All these countries have adopted
elements of ecological modernisation – environmental policy integration,
the precautionary principle, the polluter pays principle, integrated pollution
control – in several policy sectors, although nowhere has it been universally
implemented. The fifth EU Environmental Action Plan (1993–2000) was also
explicitly couched in the language of ecological modernisation.
◗ Limitations of ecological modernisation
Ecological modernisation is not, however, immune from criticism. In the
first place, although it is a narrower, less ambitious and therefore more
cogent concept than sustainable development, ecological modernisation