ABSTRACT
Ecological modernisation challenges the conventional wisdom that there is a zero-sum trade-off between economic prosperity and environmental concern (Weale, 1992). In stating this, a suggestion is introduced that the achievement of a higher level of environmental protection is a precondition of (sustainable) long-term economic development. However, as Hajer (1996) argues, it is possible to identify a development pathway in the emergence of ecological modernisation discourse - moving from institutional learning, through ecological modernisation as a technocratic project, and eventually to a lasting shift in cultural politics. Generally in the UK and Western Europe, the first stage of this pathway has been delivered, and most European Union (EU) economies are now entering the second stage.
