PLANNING FOR A SUSTAINABLE EUROPE? - TU Berlin

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modernization” that is invoked by decision-makers. 9
Few non-academics outside of
Europe have even heard of ecological modernization as a distinct concept, whereas most
high-school graduates will recognize the term “sustainable development” and even have a
vague idea that it is “somehow related to environmental policy.”
Since many researchers conflate or contrast the two terms in ways quite different
from mine, their contributions deserve a quick analysis. In 2000, Langhelle wrote a
longish article aimed at clarifying the relationship between ecological modernization and
sustainable development. He makes a valuable contribution when he initially compares
the two concepts and finds, most importantly, that “sustainable development is not only
about the environment” and that the WCED and the Brundtland report were “first and
foremost an attempt to reconcile the tension between developmental and environmental
concerns at the global level” (p.308). To him, ecological modernization, on the other
hand, “has no established relationship either to the global environmental problems or to
social justice” and “relates primarily to the experiences of western industrialized
societies.” 10
It is thus an “OECD-centric” concept. Langhelle, borrowing from Jänicke
(1997), also finds that “sustainable development seems to imply a larger degree of
structural change.”
Meanwhile, Dryzek (1997:143) understands “ecological modernization” and
“sustainable development” as two different “sustainability discourses” and finds the key
difference between the two is the frame of reference: He points out that ecological
9 Ecological Modernization as a term for a political program, however, has gained more prominence among
West European governments lately, and translations of the term are now actively used in governmental
and/or party programs in Germany, Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands.
10 Langhelle continues to point out several additional supposed differences between the two concepts, most
of which I find much less relevant, e.g. that sustainable development goes further in acknowledging limits
to growth and that it assumes greater ecological interdependence.