Ecological Modernisation and the Governance of Carbon: A Critical Analysis

Newell, Peter; Boykoff, Maxwell; Boyd, Emily

doi:10.1002/9781118315835.ch5

Cited by 35 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Climate change is described as a wicked problem by Bailey (2011) in a critique of ecological modernisation, who states that the uncertainty about how to respond to the science is partly due to the problem having causes and consequences that are systemic in nature. Gollagher and Harz-Karp state that 'issues of non-sustainability are wicked problems that have many, often obscure causes, and for which there is no single, straightforward solution' (Gollagher & Hartz-Karp 2013).…”

Section: A Wicked Problemmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Climate change and cities: problem structuring methods and critical perspectives on low-carbon districts

Freeman¹,

Yearworth²

2017

Energy Research & Social Science

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Cities around the world have set climate change mitigation targets, yet actions to implement these targets have so far proved inadequate. Better methodology is needed to support this impetus for action.Problem structuring methods (PSMs) enable improvements to be made in wicked problem situations; they appear to have potential to improve climate change mitigation actions but they are difficult to carry out in highly pluralist problem contexts. A case study (STEEP) that applied a PSM to support lowcarbon urban energy master planning in three cities is presented. The STEEP methodology was effective in reducing the wickedness of the problem but issues of a lack of clarity on problem ownership and lack of interessement were seen. A reflective boundary critique study found that there was a mismatch between power and interest amongst key stakeholders towards the low-carbon vision. Three key issues identified in the case study were discussed through the lens of critical systems thinking: (i) the need for new competencies, (ii) dealing with wickedness, and (iii) behavioural complexity and discordant reference systems. The paper suggests how these issues might be improved through the application of non-PSM theories which can support the use of PSMs in improving city-level climate change mitigation.Key Words: Problem structuring methods; problematisation; Boundary Critique; climate change mitigation; critical systems thinking IntroductionRecent decades have seen slow and insufficient progress on climate change mitigation -the reduction of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions to below a "safe" level, as recommended by climate science (Edenhofer et al. 2014). Climate change mitigation has been described as a "wicked" problem (Rittel 2There is much potential for cities to play an active role in climate change mitigation. A 40% reduction in carbon emissions from UK cities could be possible by 2020 just from investing in cost-effective lowcarbon technologies (Sullivan et al. 2013). City governments often control some of the key factors related to carbon emissions such as land use planning, building regulations, public transport, and waste management (Kousky & Schneider 2003). Across the world, cities are joining together to support each other in the goal of transitioning to a low-carbon future (for example, the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (www.c40.org) and Local Governments for Sustainability (www.iclei.org)). In reality, however, low-carbon cities are difficult to achieve. A study of eight new-build eco-cities found that the idea of building smart, sustainable cities is still relatively new and unproven, with projects being To guide the reader through the rest of this paper, a brief description of the main sections follows:• Section 2, Background -Perspectives on Urban Climate Change Mitigation: A review of the literature on the nature of the problem of climate change mitigation at the city level, including barriers to mitigation, ideological perspectives from social science, and governance mechanisms that ha...

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Section: A Wicked Problemmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ecological Modernisation (Bailey et al 2011) has been a dominant theme in the field of climate change mitigation. It proposes that policies for economic development and environmental protection can be combined to synergistic effect, creating a positive-sum game between economy and ecology (Berger et al 2001).…”

Section: Ecological Modernisationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate change and cities: problem structuring methods and critical perspectives on low-carbon districts

Freeman¹,

Yearworth²

2017

Energy Research & Social Science

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“…These range from neoMarxist critiques of sustainable development over deeper reflexivity about human-nature relationships (Huber 2010;Swyngedouw 2010;Harvey 2012), critical analyses of carbon markets (e.g. Bailey et al 2011) to the field of "diverse economies". Scholars in the latter tradition have made important contributions to exploring various "alternative" production, ownership, labour, exchange and consumption processes that operate distinctively from mainstream capitalism, including unpaid labour, local trading systems and cooperatives (Gibson-Graham 2008;Healy 2009).…”

Section: Growth Debates and Economic Geographymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Like the Factor 4 approach, ecological modernization has been criticized for its optimism about the viability of continuous -if modified -growth. Critical assessments of mainstream climate policies and carbon markets (Redclift 2009;Bailey et al 2011;Böhm et al 2012) suggest systemic shortcomings in the reformed growth model proposed by ecological modernization. Kindred concepts such as green growth, smart growth or the ambiguous term qualitative growth (increasing the profitability of enterprises without increased use of resources) are also criticized for taking insufficient account of systemic problems in underlying models of capital accumulation and wealth (Bina 2013).…”

Section: De-growth Concepts and Debatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The green economy and post‐growth regimes: opportunities and challenges for economic geography

Schulz

Bailey

2014

Geografiska Annaler: Series B, Human Geography

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While mainstream economic geography is doing increasing research on green manufacturing and services, with a few notable exceptions, its predominant conceptual approaches to emerging modes of economic orientation continue to examine economic transitions somewhat unreflexively within the context of traditional growth paradigms. The aim of this article is to explore and critically examine neoliberal discourses on the green economy and smart growth by exploring contributions to debates on green economics proposed by ideas linked to post‐growth economies. Based on studies by scholars such as Tim Jackson and Serge Latouche, the article examines the contours of debates on post‐growth, décroissance (de‐growth) and prosperity without growth. We begin by examining growth debates and existing contributions by economic and other geographers to the exploration of alternatives to conventional growth‐centred economics. We then identify some emergent spatial facets of post‐growth transitions and utilize these to explore potential research topics and opportunities for empirical and conceptual contributions by economic geographers to academic and societal debates on economic transitions and post‐growth paradigms. Particular attention is paid to approaches currently discussed in economic geography, such as socio‐technical transition studies.

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“…), this action plan aims to achieve three goals by 2020 : reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20 % ; increasing the production of renewable energy to reach 20 % of the energy mix ; increasing energy efficiency by 20 % (cf. Bailey et al, 2011 ;EC, 2007EC, , 2008Hayden, 2011 ;Vogler, 2013). Among the planned initiatives, there is also the Covenant of Mayors (CoM), namely the "translation" of the climate-energy package at the local level (see later in the text).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Why do cities get involved in climate governance? Insights from Canada and Italy

Scanu

Cloutier

2016

eue

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Cities the world over are tackling climate change, even when their national governments are largely inactive in this area. Which factors trigger their implication? Through which kinds of policies do cities become engaged in this issue? Based on previous studies and on urban and multilevel governance theoretical frameworks, this article suggests some answers. An original analytical grid is developed and used to compare two cases in Canada and Italy. The results confirm that the way in which municipalities respond to climate change largely depends on their local and multilevel contexts, as well as on the potential benefits of climate action.Nombreuses sont les villes qui agissent face aux changements climatiques, cela même si leurs gouvernements nationaux sont plutôt inactifs à cet égard. Quels sont les facteurs qui déterminent cette implication ? Quelles sortes de politiques découlent de cette implication ? Afin de fournir quelques pistes de réponse à ces questions, l’article s’appuie sur la littérature relative à la gouvernance urbaine et multiniveau et sur une grille analytique servant à comparer deux cas, au Canada et en Italie. Les résultats confirment que la façon dont les villes répondent aux changements climatiques dépend autant de leurs contextes locaux et multiniveaux, que des bénéfices potentiels de l’action climatique

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Ecological Modernisation and the Governance of Carbon: A Critical Analysis

Cited by 35 publications

References 37 publications

Climate change and cities: problem structuring methods and critical perspectives on low-carbon districts

Climate change and cities: problem structuring methods and critical perspectives on low-carbon districts

The green economy and post‐growth regimes: opportunities and challenges for economic geography

Why do cities get involved in climate governance? Insights from Canada and Italy

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