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economic performance. The watchword of this form of ecologism is therefore sustainable development (in the sense of ‘weak’ sustainability) or, more specifically, environmentally sustainable capitalism. As, in economic terms, this means ‘getting richer more slowly’, reformist ecology extends moral and philosophical sensibilities only inmodest directions. Indeed, it is often condemned by more radical ecologists as hopelessly compromised: part of the problem rather than part of the solution. The twomain ideological influences on reformist ecology are liberalismand conservatism. Liberalismhas, at best, an ambivalent relationshipwith ecologism. On the one hand, radical ecologists criticize individualism (see p. 24) as a stark example of anthropocentrism, and have serious reservations about utilitarianism, the moral philosophy that underpins much of classical liberalism, on the grounds that it equates happiness with material consumption. On the other hand, the stress found within modern liberalism on self- realization and developmental individualism can be said to sustain a form of ‘enlightened’ anthropocentrism, which encourages people to take into account long-term, and not merely short-term, interests, and to favour ‘higher’ pleasures (including an appreciation of the natural world) over ‘lower’ pleasures (such as material consumption). This can be seen, for example, in J. S. Mill’s (see p. 25) condemnation of rampant industrialization and his defence of both a stationary population and a steady-state economy, grounded in the belief that the contemplation of nature is an indispensable aspect of human fulfilment.
KEY CONCEPT SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT Sustainable development refers to ‘development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’ (Brundtland Report, 1987). It therefore embodies two concepts: (1) the concept of need, particularly the essential needs of the world’s poor; and (2) the concept of limitations,
especially related to the environment’s ability to meet future as well as present needs. So-called weak sustainability takes economic growth to be desirable but simply insists that growth must be limited to ensure that ecological costs do not threaten its long-term sustainability, allowing ‘human capital’ to be substituted for ‘natural capital’. Strong sustainability rejects the pro-growth implications of weak sustainability, and focuses just on the need to preserve and sustain ‘natural capital’.
Conservatives, for their part, have evinced a sympathy for environmental issues on two main grounds. First, ecoconservatism has drawn on a romantic and nostalgic attachment to a rural way of life threatened by the growth of towns and cities. It is clearly a reaction against industrialization and the idea of ‘progress’. Such environmental sensibilities typically focus on the issue of conservation and on attempts to protect the natural
heritage – woodlands, forests and so on – as well as the architectural and social heritage. The conservation of nature is therefore linked to a defence of traditional values and institutions. Second, conservatives have advocated market-based solutions to environmental problems, even espousing the idea of ‘ green capitalism ’. The theory of green capitalism is based on the assumption that the market mechanism can and will respond to pressure from more ecologically aware consumers by forcing firms to produce ‘environmentally sound’ goods and adopt ‘green’ technologies. Such thinking relies on the idea of consumer sovereignty and acknowledges the impact of the trend towards so-called ‘responsible consumption’. Long- term corporate profitability can thus only be achieved in a context of sustainable development.
Green capitalism: The idea that a reliance on the capitalist market mechanism will deliver ecologically sustainable outcomes, usually linked to assumptions about capitalism’s consumer responsiveness. Consumer sovereignty: The notion, based on the theory of competitive capitalism, that consumer choice is the ultimately determining factor within a market economy.
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