Ecological Modernization as a Basis for Environmental Policy: Current Environmental Discourse and Policy and the Implications on Environmental Supply Chain Management

Abstract

Sustainable development and ecological modernization are the two theoretical frameworks that underlie environmental policy making in industrialized countries. It is especially the theory of ecological modernization that describes recent changes in environmental policy making and assumes a positive-sum game between the economy and the environment. The article critically reflects upon ecological modernization as a basis for current environmental policy and discourse. It uses experiences of a project on environmental supply chain management to explore the implications of ecological modernization on practical environmental policy outcomes. We conclude that sustainable development and ecological modernization must be viewed as ideological and political concepts, at least as much as they are about the relationship between the economy and environment. Therefore, further analyses of environmental policy making must include issues of power and influence.