The Politics of the Environment

Ideas, Activism,

Policy 2nd Edition

The continuous rise in the profile of the environment in politics reflects growing concern that we may be facing a large-scale ecological crisis. The new edition of this highly acclaimed textbook surveys the politics of the environment, providing a comprehensive and comparative introduction to its three components: ideas, activism and policy. Part I explores environmental philosophy and green political thought; Part II considers parties and environmental movements; and Part III analyses policy-making and environmental issues at international, national and local levels. This second edition has been thoroughly updated with new and revised discussions of many topics including the ecological state, ecological citizenship, ecological modernisation and the Greens in government and also includes an additional chapter on ‘Globalisation, trade and the environment'. As well as considering a wide variety of examples from around the world, this textbook features a glossary, guides to further study, chapter summaries and critical questions throughout.

NEIL CARTER is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Politics at the University of York. He is co-author of How Organisations Measure Success: The Use of Performance Indicators in Government (with Rudolf Klein and Patricia Day, 1992) and joint editor of the journal Environmental Politics.

The Politics of the

Envir onment
Ideas, Activism, Policy

2nd Edition

NEIL CARTER
Department of Politics, University of York

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo

Cambridge University Press
The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK

Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York

www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521687454

First edition © Cambridge University Press 2001
Second edition © Neil Carter 2007

This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception
and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,
no reproduction of any part may take place without
the written permission of Cambridge University Press.

First published 2001
Second edition 2007

Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge

A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library

ISBN 978-0-521-86802-0 hardback
ISBN 978-0-521-68745-4 paperback

Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs
for external or third-party Internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not
guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

To Tom and Rosa

Contents

Figures

Tables

Boxes

Preface to the second edition

The writing of the first edition of this book took several years, so it was with some relief when I began to prepare this second edition that I found the basic structure of the book still seemed to work. I have added one chapter – effectively a second on international environmental politics – in which I analyse the relationship between globalisation, trade and the environment, with a specific focus on the World Trade Organisation, the North American Free Trade Agreement and the European Union (EU). The discussion of the EU also serves as an introduction to a supranational organisation that frequently reappears in the two following chapters. Otherwise, all the chapters have been thoroughly updated, with substantially new or revised discussions of many topics, including Bj⊘rn Lomborg, the ecological state, ecological citizenship, the experience of green parties in government, party politicisation, environmental policy integration and the use of market-based instruments.

I would like to thank Elizabeth Bomberg, Meg Huby and Chris Rootes for reading various chapters. I also received excellent advice on various revisions from Andy Dobson, Katarina Eckerberg, Arthur Mol, John Parkinson and Wolfgang Rüdig. Thanks are owed again to my students for sharpening my thoughts and to John Haslam for encouraging me to write this second edition. I would like to thank Susan Baker, and Taylor and Francis, for permission to reproduce her ‘Ladder of Sustainable Development’ in Table 8.1.

Finally, thanks to Charlie, again, for her love and support, and to Tom, just for being my wee man.

Acknowledgements

In writing a book that has been as long in gestation as this one, I have inevitably accrued many debts. Andy Dobson, Meg Huby, Andy Jordan, Sue Mendus and Chris Rootes have each read several chapters, and I know that the book is much better for their wise and helpful comments. Brian Doherty, Mat Paterson and Andrew Williams have each commented on a chapter. A wide range of people have helped in small but important ways, including Keith Alderman, Riley Dunlap, Katarina Eckerberg, Dave Humphreys, Janet Jenkins, Arthur Mol and Ben Seel. Many others, too numerous to mention, have contributed in a less formal manner. I should, however, like to make a special fond mention for Dick Richardson, with whom I shared many discussions about green politics and whose enthusiasm and good humour are greatly missed by his many friends. My colleagues at the University of York have provided a friendly, supportive and stimulating working environment. Several cohorts of students who have taken my courses in ‘Green Politics’ and ‘Environmental Policy’ have also helped me to develop my ideas. I am also grateful to Nuffield College, Oxford, where I spent Autumn 1997 as a Visitor. John Haslam has been a remarkably patient, supportive and encouraging editor throughout.

Finally, Charlie Burns has been an unfailing source of emotional and intellectual support throughout the often painful process of writing this book. She has read every chapter, usually several times, and offered excellent, constructive advice. I cannot thank her enough.

Abbreviations

Glossary

Anthropocentrism A way of thinking that regards humans as the source of all value and is predominantly concerned with human interests.

Biodiversity The number, variety and variability of living organisms; sometimes refers to the total variety of life on Earth.

Bioregionalism An approach that believes that the ‘natural’ world (specifically, the local bioregion) should determine the political, economic and social life of communities.

Climate change Any change in climate over time, whether due to natural variability or to human activity.

Conservationism An approach to land management that emphasises the efficient conservation of natural resources so that they can later be developed for the benefit of society.

Corporatism A system in which major organised interests (traditionally, capital and labour) work closely together within the formal structures of government to formulate and implement public policies.

Cost–benefit analysis A study that compares the costs and benefits to society of providing a public good.

Decentralisation The expansion of local autonomy through the transfer of powers and responsibilities away from a national political and administrative body.

Deep ecology The pre-eminent radical ecocentric moral theory which has the primary aim of preserving nature from human interference.

Ecocentrism A mode of thought that regards humans as subject to ecological and systems laws and whose ethical, political and social prescriptions are concerned with both humans and non-humans.

Ecological footprint A measure of the amount of nature it takes to sustain a given population over the course of a year.

Ecological modernisation A policy strategy which aims to restructure capitalist political economy along more environmentally benign lines based on the assumption that economic growth and environmental protection can be reconciled.

Ecologism A distinctive green political ideology encompassing those perspectives that hold that a sustainable society requires radical changes in our relationship with the non-human natural world and our mode of economic, social and political life.

Eco-tax A tax levied on pollution or on the goods whose production generates pollution.

Environmental impact assessment A systematic non-technical evaluation, based on extensive consultation with affected interests, of the anticipated environmental impact of a proposed development such as a dam or road.

Genetically modified organism New organisms created by human manipulation of genetic information and material.

Green consumerism The use of environmental and ethical criteria in choosing whether or not to purchase a product or service.

Holism The view that wholes are more than just the sum of their parts, and that wholes cannot be defined merely as a collection of their basic constituents.

Intrinsic value The value which something has, independently of anyone finding it valuable.

Issue attention cycle The idea that there is a cycle in which issues attract public attention and move up and down the political agenda.

Limits to growth The belief that the planet imposes natural limits on economic and population growth.

Market-based instrument A policy instrument that internalises into the price of a good or product the external costs to the environment of producing and using it.

Modern environmentalism The emergence, from the late 1960s, of growing public concern about the state of the planet, new political ideas about the environment and a mass political movement.

Moral extensionism Ethical approaches which broaden the ‘moral community’ to include non-human entities such as animals, based on the possession of some critical property such as sentience.

New politics The view that since the late 1960s the rise of postmaterial values, a new middle class and new social movements has changed the political agenda and led to a realignment of established party systems.

New social movement A loose-knit organisation which seeks to influence public policy on an issue such as the environment, nuclear energy or peace, and which may use unconventional forms of political participation, including direct action, to achieve its aims.

Ozone depletion Depletion of ozone in the Earth’s upper atmosphere which leaves the surface of the Earth vulnerable to harmful ultraviolet radiation.

Party politicisation A process whereby the environment ascends the political agenda to become electorally salient and the subject of party competition.

Pioneer states Those countries, mostly in Northern Europe, that have taken the lead in developing progressive environmental policies and setting high standards of environmental protection.

Policy paradigm A framework of ideas and standards that specifies the nature of a problem and the policy goals and instruments needed to address it.

Political opportunity structure The dimensions of the political environment that either encourage people to use collective action or discourage them from doing so, and which shape the development of movements and parties.

Postmaterialism The theory that, as material affluence spreads, ‘quality of life’ issues and concerns tend to replace material ones, fundamentally changing the political culture and values of industrialised countries.

Precautionary principle The principle states that the lack of scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing measures to prevent environmental degradation.

Preservationism An approach based on an attitude of reverence towards nature, especially wilderness, that advocates the protection of a resource from any form of development.

Regime The principles, norms, rules and decision-making procedures which form the basis of co-operation on a particular issue in international relations.

Regulation Any direct (‘command-and-control’) attempt by the government to influence the behaviour of businesses or citizens by setting environmental standards (e.g. for air quality) enforced via legislation.

Renewable energy Energy sources, such as wind, geothermal and hydroelectric, that never run out.

Resource mobilisation An approach to collective action which focuses on the way groups mobilise their resources – members, finances, symbols – in turning grievances into political issues.

Risk assessment An evaluation of the potential harm to human health and the environment from exposure to a particular hazard such as nitrates in drinking water.

Sentience The capacity to suffer or to experience enjoyment or happiness.

Social justice The principles that should govern the basic structure of a society, focusing on the distribution of rights, opportunities and resources among human beings.

Survivalism Approaches characterised by an overriding preoccupation with human survival, a sense of urgency about an impending ecological crisis and drastic, often authoritarian, solutions.

Sustainable development The ability of the present generation to meet its needs without undermining the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

Technocentric A mode of thought which optimistically believes that society can solve all environmental problems, using technology and science, and achieve unlimited material growth.

Traditional policy paradigm An approach to the environment that treats each problem discretely, gives priority to economic growth and results in reactive, piecemeal and tactical policies and end-of-pipe solutions.