Discourse Of Ecological Modernization Research Articles

Tapping the Conversation on the Meaning of Decarbonization: Discourses and Discursive Agency in EU Politics on Low-Carbon Fuels for Maritime Shipping

EU politics on decarbonizing shipping is an argumentative endeavor where different policy actors strive try to influence others to see problems and policy solutions according to their perspectives to gain monopoly on the framing and design of policies. This article critically analyzes, by means of argumentative discourse analysis, the politics and policy process related to the recent adoption of the FuelEU Maritime regulation, the world’s first legislation to set requirements for decarbonizing maritime shipping. Complementing previous research focusing on the roles and agency of policy entrepreneurs and beliefs of advocacy coalitions active in the policy process, this paper dives deeper into the politics of the new legislation. It aims to explore and explain the discursive framing and politics of meaning-making. By analyzing the political and social meaning-making of the concept “decarbonizing maritime shipping”, this paper helps us understand why the legislation was designed in the way it was. Different narratives, storylines and discourses defining different meanings of decarbonization are analyzed. So is the agency of policy actors trying to mutate the different meanings into a new meaning. Two discourses developed in dialectic conversation framed the policy proposals and subsequent debates in the policy process, focusing on (i) incremental change and technology neutrality to meet moderate emission reductions and maintain competitiveness, and (ii) transformative change and technology specificity to meet zero emissions and gain competitiveness and global leadership in the transition towards a hydrogen economy. Policy actors successfully used discursive agency strategies such as multiple functionality and vagueness to navigate between and resolve conflicts between the two discourses. Both discourses are associated with the overarching ecological modernization discourse and failed to include issue of climate justice and a just transition. The heritage of the ecological modernization discourse creates lock-ins for a broader decarbonization discourse, thus stalling a just transition.

Sustaining business as usual or enabling transformation? A discourse analysis of climate change mitigation policy in Swedish municipalities

AbstractThis article explores how discourses may influence the potential for success in mitigating climate change in Swedish municipalities. We identify dominant discourses in climate change mitigation policy in three Swedish municipalities using argumentative discourse analysis, based on policy documents and interviews as empirical material. Political leadership and adequate organizational preconditions are necessary for working with climate change mitigation in municipalities, but the role of discourse is also significant. Policy discourse constructs preconditions for certain scenarios while rendering others less likely. Previous studies have shown that the ecological modernization (EM) discourse tends to be dominant, something which this study confirms and investigates further. We find that the dominant discourse is strong EM, which largely considers it possible to decouple economic growth and environmental problems through renewable energy and technology. A focus on collaboration between stakeholders is central and a global climate justice perspective is present to some extent. Potential solutions that are not related to the market or technological innovation risk being rendered invisible when this discourse is dominant, but the inclusion of a diversity of actors and an increased focus on climate justice could potentially minimize this risk. Finally, emerging discourses around transformation and circular economy have potential to enable the forging of new paths. This depends, however, on how these concepts are framed and how they are used.

Conditional environmentalism of right-wing populism in power: ideology and/or opportunities?

ABSTRACT This study focuses on right-wing populists (RWP) in power and their discourses and policy preferences on environmental issues. Through a content and frame analysis of electoral manifestos, party communication and semi-structured, in-depth interviews with party representatives, this paper examines whether ideological or contextual factors (political opportunities) determine RWP positioning on the environment. By focusing on the only three cases in Europe of RWP in government in a prominent position, i.e. alone or as a major coalition partner (also representing key ideological varieties of RWP), Law and Justice – PiS in Poland; Fidesz in Hungary and Lega in Italy, this study shows that ideological positions (and especially differences) are less important in determining RWP environmental discourses than are opportunities and institutionalization. Moreover, we also find that the shared features across these actors reflect a conditional, ‘yes-but’ environmentalism of these parties, embedded in the discourse of ecological modernization and oppositional, Manichean framing.

The making of sustainability: ideological strategies, the materiality of nature, and biomass use in the bioeconomy

The bioeconomy, a recent addition to the political project of ecological modernization, is largely premised on the widespread use of biomass. Biomass is presented by bioeconomy proponents as renewable and, therefore, sustainable. However, a large body of academic and non-academic literature questions this sustainability, citing the negative socio-ecological aspects of biomass use. Given this contradiction, we ask how the key institutions of the innovation system (government, science, and industry), construct and uphold the image of sustainability of biomass use in the bioeconomy. Through an analysis based on ideology critique, we look at the broad field of biomass policy in Germany, including official bioeconomy strategies and biomass potential calculations, expert portrayals of biomass use in the bioeconomy-themed Year of Science, and an iconic biomass-based commodity. We identify four central ideological strategies that uphold the image of sustainability and contribute to creating political consent for the political project of the German bioeconomy: seeking managerial solutions, relying on technological innovation, relegating solutions into the future, and obscuring the materiality of nature. We discuss how these strategies are upheld by the wider discourse and institutions of ecological modernization and argue that particular attention should be given to the biophysical materiality of living nature in this context. The materiality of nature represents both an obstacle to the ideological strategies identified, and a starting point for envisioning alternative society–nature relations.

The discursive sources of environmental progress and its limits: biodiversity politics in France

ABSTRACT France has made considerable progress on biodiversity policy in the last 15 years. However, the literature on French environmental politics remains unclear as to how effective this progress has been and what kind of political context has conditioned this progress. To answer these questions, I present here four discourses that characterize French biodiversity politics, discourses that have emerged from a documentary analysis, stakeholder interviews, and participatory event observations. I show that progress is conditioned by three discursive factors: the dominance of ecological modernization discourse, which only goes so far in enabling progress and transition; the continuing importance of economic development discourse, which is reluctant to further biodiversity conservation; and the limited prominence of two more radical discourses, ecological solidarity and ecological collapse, which are not taken up by the government but benefit from significant support in civil society.

When safety is relative: Ecological modernisation theory and the nuclear safety regulatory regimes of France, the United Kingdom and United States

This paper analyses the differences in nuclear safety regulation between the USA and two European countries, France and the UK, using ecological modernisation (EM) as a theoretical framework. The EU aims to apply the precautionary principle to nuclear safety regulation. This may encourage greater public acceptance of nuclear risks which will benefit the nuclear industry economically through allowing continued operation and deployment. This may fit in with EM's discourse favouring environmental regulation that increases economic efficiency. However, this is a weak version of EM since it involves negotiations with the industry rather than a ‘strong’ version of EM involving engagement with leading environmental NGOs who wish to avoid nuclear power altogether in favour of renewables. By contrast, the USA's nuclear safety regulation is constrained by adherence to cost benefit analysis and not the precautionary principle which is associated with EM. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is dominated by political appointees in its leadership. Attempts to strengthen nuclear safety regulations are often opposed by Republicans who argue from a general position that stricter environmental regulations involve major increases in industry's costs. However, this can lead to increased public argument about the regulations and resulting regulatory uncertainty may, paradoxically, increase regulatory costs.

Figuring the Transition from Circular Economy to Circular Society in Australia

The combined pressure of economic, environmental, and social crises, including bushfires, waste management, and COVID created conditions for a turn to the circular economy in Australia. In addition to a dominant circular discourse of ecological modernization in state and federal policy and business and public consultations, other more socially inclusive and ecologically sensitive discourses are circulating. The two main competing discourses are a techcentric circular economy and a reformist circular society, the latter reflected in ‘growth agnostic’ doughnut economics. In the context of unambitious federal and state policies, the circular transition is being supported by a range of intermediary organizations whose key representatives envision or ‘figure’ the sustainability transition in hybrid discursive combinations. Few studies of the circular economy transition in Australia exist and none focus on competing discourses and intermediation for sustainability transition. Since intermediary organizations both discursively reflect and lead the circular change, fuller understanding of how circularity is interpreted or ‘figured’ by key actors is crucial. This study identifies how twenty representatives from intermediating organizations actively ‘figure’ the process of the circular transition for Australia, including while managing the tension between personal positions and organizational missions. Employing the concept of figured worlds this qualitative thematic discourse interview study analyses how, drawing on available circular discourses, key actors and their organisations actively ‘figure’ the present and future circular transition. The study contributes to debates on circular discourses, nature, and the limitations of the circular economy in Australia, the relational space of intermediation, and the nature of MLP transitions for a sustainable circular transition economy in Australia.

Transforming ecological modernization ‘from within’ or perpetuating it? The circular economy as EU environmental policy narrative

ABSTRACT It is widely acknowledged that policies for a more sustainable society require narratives outside the status quo. This contribution studies the EU’s environmental policy narrative of a circular economy (CE), which many consider promising in this respect. The results demonstrate that the CE narrative was created to transform EU policy discourses ‘from within’ but eventually perpetuated the established discourse of ecological modernization. This perpetuation resulted from specific strategic practices used to create the CE narrative, which (1) concealed conflict, (2) strengthened the agency of incumbents, and (3) excluded alternative voices. The analysis uses empirical evidence from 28 interviews with key stakeholders, 84 policy documents and participant observation data at the European Union (EU) level. The results suggest that the development of narratives outside the status quo depends on strategic practices that address (future) conflicts and offer new agency to change agents as well as transition strategies to incumbents.

Renovabio: Innovation and Sustainability at the New Brazilian Biofuels Policy or The Emperor’s New Clothes?

Biofuel policies are an ongoing matter for both developed and developing countries. Brazil, a giant world producer, has a historical roll of regulations and laws that affect the sector. Nevertheless, studies from a political ecology perspective, which pay attention to the impacts of power relations and discourses in political outcomes are scarce. In this sense, we focus on the National Biofuel Policy (Renovabio), launched in 2017, to analyze discursive coalitions as well as perceptions from social actors settle in a biofuel production territory. We sought to understand contradictions between discourses and practices within Renovabio and how they reproduce traditional Brazilian Biofuel policies. To answer these questions, we used Atlas.ti software to support a content and critical discursive analysis in order to detect distinct perspectives, narratives and interests during Renovabio’s implementation. We draw on: i) statements from stakeholders, lobbyists, and Congress members; ii) Bills, Law Projects and ordinances texts from the special commissions and committees; iii) speeches from plenary sessions occurred on the National Congress; iv) Public Audiences contributions; v) articles from biofuel magazines and specialized websites; and, vi) digital platforms from lobbies and interest groups; We also conducted 24 interviews with community members, farmers, local government officials, civil associations, and industry representatives in the state of Goiás, a large ethanol/ sugar-energy production territory. Results pointed to a strong ecological modernization discourse deployed to justify the rapid policy implementation and to legitimize economic incentives, particularly ecological labeling/certification. Renovabio’s goals, speeches and practices are in many senses contradictory and reproduce problems detected in previous biofuel policies that dim legislative transparency, weakens accountability and tramples society participation and representativeness over biofuel development.

Contesting the greening of the urban growth machine: Ecological modernization and the promethean counter-discourse

Urban environmental governance and planning are increasingly characterized by the adoption of “sustainability fixes,” namely political compromises which try to conciliate economic and ecological goals in order to safeguard long-term growth. If sustainability fixes have been harshly criticized for being sociospatially selective, resistance to them does not always come from radical groups who demand stronger and fairer measures, but from actors who oppose the idea of sustainability because it goes against their interests, habits, or values. This paper focuses on this “contestation of the greening of the urban growth machine,” by presenting an empirical study of a sustainable mobility policy in Quebec City, Canada, which has given rise to a controversy opposing two divergent perspectives. The first is an ecological modernization discourse advocating for a green and attractive public transit system. The second is a promethean counter-discourse which supports the unconditional growth of automobility and urban sprawl. Results show that even if urban environmental policies are increasingly attuned to the “growth first” logic, they could still face strong opposition, especially from suburban and conservative interests. More generally, this paper shows that, in some contexts, sustainability fixes could be a “better than nothing” solution, namely a step toward fairer and greener cities.

Climate-Smart Cocoa in Ghana: How Ecological Modernisation Discourse Risks Side-Lining Cocoa Smallholders

Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) aims to transform and reorient farming systems to decrease greenhouse gas emissions, boost adaptive capacity, and improve productivity while supporting incomes and, ostensibly, food security. In Ghana – the world’s second biggest cocoa producer – the cocoa sector is challenged by increasing global cocoa demand, climate change impacts, as well as mounting consumer pressure over cocoa’s deforestation. Climate-smart cocoa (CSC) has emerged to address these challenges as well as to improve smallholder incomes. As with CSA more widely, there are concerns that CSC discourses will override the interests of cocoa smallholders, such as tenure rights, and lead to inequitable outcomes. To better understand if and how the implementation of CSC in Ghana can meet its lofty ambitions, we examine 1) the dominant CSC discourses as perceived by stakeholders, and their reflection in policy and practice, and 2) subsequent implications for cocoa smallholders through an equity lens. Through semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with key stakeholders in Ghana’s cocoa sector, we find overwhelming consensus for an ecological modernisation discourse with the promise of a triple wins narrative that simultaneously stops deforestation, supports climate mitigation and adaptation, and increases smallholder livelihoods. Moreover, we find that implementing the CSC concept on the ground has generally converged around ‘sustainable intensification’ and private-sector-led partnerships that aspire to generate a ‘win-win’ for environment and productivity objectives, but potentially at the expense of delivering equitable outcomes that serve smallholders’ interests. We find that the success of CSC and the overly simplistic sustainable intensification narrative is constrained by the lack of clear tree tenure rights, complexities around optimal shade trees levels, potential rebound effects regarding deforestation, and the risks of agrochemical-dependence. Nevertheless, local governance mechanisms such as the Community Resource Management Area Mechanisms (CREMAs) may give cocoa smallholders a stronger voice to shape policy. However, we caution that the discursive power of dominant private sector actors may risk side-lining equity and challenges that could be detrimental to the long-term wellbeing of Ghana’s approximately 800,000 cocoa smallholders.

Picturing two modernities: Ecological modernisation and the media imagery of climate change

Abstract The article analyses the discursive roles of two prominent themes of the habitual media climate change imagery: “the smokestack” and “renewable energy”. Through semiotic analysis of connotation and thematic content analysis of images in The Guardian, the article argues that the constant reliance on these two themes and the particular ways of representing them sustain a definition of climate change as a technological dualism. The article argues further that this dualism of “dirty” and “clean” technologies, as the predominant way of visualising direct causes of and responses to climate change, articulates ecological modernisation discourse and its central storyline of progressing from “defiling growth” toward “sustainable development” (Hajer, 1995). The article suggests (1) further research on conventional thematic imageries as a meaningful approach to studying policy discourses and (2) the relevance of applying concepts of policy research to understanding and challenging the political bearings of prominent visualisations.

Changing the story? The discourse of ecological modernisation in the European Union

ABSTRACTOver the last three decades, ecological modernisation (EM) has emerged as a powerful political discourse, in which economic growth, environmental protection and energy security are mutually reinforcing. Here, the trajectory of EM in the European Union is traced, using a discourse analysis of the seven Environmental Action Programmes. The discourse articulated in these documents points towards an encroaching ‘double depoliticisation’. First, political decisions are discursively constructed as a matter of market rationality rather than a democratic process that engages with different political positions. Second, EM is reified as the only feasible solution, and alternative and contesting discourses are marginalised. Thus not only are political differences erased from the discourse, but the discourse is itself removed from political debate.

In the Corporate Interest: Fossil Fuel Industry Input into Alberta and British Columbia’s Climate Leadership Plans

Background This article examines the narrative strategies used by fossil fuel industries in responding to and shaping Alberta and BC’s climate leadership plans. Analysis This article makes inferences about fossil fuel industry influence by examining submissions of industry players to both regions’ public consultation processes. Conclusions and implications Key themes include: a need to take a leadership stance, a balance between environmental protection and economic growth, an appeal to protect industry competitiveness, and an emphasis on demand-side policies. These themes align with a policy discourse of weak ecological modernization and are central to advisory panel recommendations and subsequent subnational climate policies that facilitate market expansion and increased oil and gas production at a time when strong greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation efforts are urgently required.

Streamlining or watering down? Assessing the 'smartness' of policy and standards for the promotion of low and zero carbon homes in England 2010–15

The knowledge and enforcement problems faced by governments in defining traditional ‘command and control’ regulation are well known. Significant legal scholarship offers alternative models of ‘smart,’ ‘responsive’ environmental regulation, emphasising the need for policy instrument mixes, including the vital role of voluntary, industry-led sustainability standards. Yet, as is being increasingly recognised, these contributions leave open the need for detailed, qualitative evaluation of instrument mixes as a complement to primarily quantitative cost-benefit analyses that predominate in regulatory impact assessments by governments. Addressing this need, this paper evaluates policy and standards for low and zero carbon homes in England during the Coalition government (2010–2015) when the ecological modernisation discourse of the previous New Labour government became subsumed by a deregulation agenda. Our study, incorporating 70 stakeholder interviews, suggests that, in supplier-driven markets such as housing in England, a ‘smart’ mix of mandatory and voluntary standards requires a strong, central role for government in setting national, mandatory standards and supporting their delivery. There is an important potential supplementary role for voluntary tools and local authority discretion, though our study highlights problems that can arise when such different instruments promote diverging roadmaps towards a policy goal.

How institutions and beliefs affect environmental discourse: Evidence from an eight-country survey on REDD+

This paper investigates the adoption of discourses on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) across different national contexts. It draws on institutional theories to develop and test a number of hypotheses on the role of shared beliefs and politico-economic institutions in determining the discursive choices of policy actors. The results show that win–win ecological modernization discourse, embraced by powerful government agencies and international actors, dominates national REDD+ policy arenas. This discourse is challenged primarily by a minority reformist civic environmentalist discourse put forward primarily by domestic NGOs. We find evidence that countries with a less democratic political system and large-scale primary sector investments facilitate the adoption of reconciliatory ecological modernization discourse, which may not directly challenge the drivers of deforestation. Policy actors who believe in and are engaged in market-based approaches to REDD+ are much more likely to adopt ecological modernization discourses, compared to policy actors who work on community development and livelihoods issues.

ENGO Impacts on Climate Change Policy in European Malta

This article analyzes the impacts of ENGOs with respect to Maltese climate change policy in an EU context. In particular, focus is made on the politics of climate change in Malta and the EU in the first five years following the country's EU accession, which led to the setting of energy emissions targets by 2020. The main conclusion of this article is that ENGOs formed part of an EU-wide hegemonic formation on climate change, wherein a common position with binding emissions targets was reached. The common position was signified around the discourse of ecological modernization. EU multi-level governance provided an opportunity for ENGOs to put forward discourses for climate-change adaptation.

The promises of the Amazonian soil: shifts in discourses of Terra Preta and biochar

ABSTRACTBiochar – a carbon-rich product used as a soil conditioner – is among the more recent technologies in environmental governance. In the spirit of ecological modernisation, biochar is claimed to deliver multiple benefits for soil fertility and climate change mitigation. However, biochar has a long history. It was inspired by Terra Preta, a highly fertile soil of anthropogenic and pre-Columbian origin found in the Amazon. This article uses discourse analysis to explore how the Terra Preta and biochar concepts have been articulated over time and what environmental discourses they resonate with. Our analysis shows that over time, the concept of biochar has slowly become disconnected from Terra Preta. While the concept of Terra Preta continued to be closely connected with Amazonian nature, archaeology and indigenous culture, biochar gained international traction and became embedded in ecological modernisation discourse. The different articulations of these concepts in fact represent different conceptualisations of human–nature relationships. We suggest the rich and intricate history of biochar and its connection with Terra Preta is key to understanding how the concept changed throughout the years, how it was influenced by international environmental discourses and how its underlying assumptions will determine who might benefit the most from biochar.

Mapping Engineering and Development Research Excellence in the UK: An Analysis of REF2014 Impact Case Studies

AbstractFor the first time, the UK research evaluation system, known as the Research Excellence Framework, considered ‘measures’ of impact in the 2014 review. Here, we focus on impact case studies that had an engineering and international development orientation. We found that writers of impact case studies commonly chose to employ an ecological modernization (economic, environmental, and social value) discourse to shape value claims. We also found that the type of engineering and international development research that appears in impact case studies tends to be high tech, best‐with‐best, and exclusive, rather than low tech, humanitarian, and inclusive.

Energy transition on the rise: discourses on energy future in the German parliament

In this paper we describe energy policy discourses and their story-lines in German parliamentary debates, and trace their evolution over the past decades. Through content analysis and coding with MAXQDA, changes in the discourses and in the use of story-lines by different political parties are analyzed. Our study shows that while the concept of a transition towards a nuclear-free, renewables-based energy system became hegemonic within three decades, the discourse itself underwent major changes. Energy Transition was de-radicalized and became part of a discourse of Ecological Modernization, thus aligning with mainstream economic logic. There are still considerable differences in the story-lines narrated by parliamentarians about pathways to Energy Transition and its effects. Discursive struggles into the meaning and the means of the transition project continue, suggesting that discourse structuration is far from complete.