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occur. In this regard, I agree with Christoff
[t]he system-
atic realisation of strong ecological modernisation requires a proactive
interventionist state to help undo the ecological ravages of two centuries
of industrialization and to facilitate more ecologically rational modes of
production and activity.
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scontentionthat
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2
In the following sections, I argue that an ecologically coherent frame-
work for governance must make provision for local, regional and
national governmental institutions to collaborate in the effort to reduce
levels of stress that human activities place on the environment. Whilst
the state should take the lead in establishing the framework and over-
seeing its operation, it would need to work with lower governmental
levels and non-governmental actors to achieve ecological objectives.
Collaboration across scales is also necessary because the maintenance
of ecosystem functionality and suf
'
cient supplies of energy and other
resources to meet national demands are not matters which could be dealt
with effectively through regional and local action alone.
The relationship I envisage between the different levels of government
remains hierarchical to the extent that central government would retain the
authority to approve local and regional visions of ecologically desirable
change and of how resources might be used in ways that carry less potential
for ecological harm. The state should also have the power to intervene where
decision-making is: procedurally unfair; results in substantive environmen-
tal injustice; or wilfully fails to contribute to prescribed goals. However,
this hierarchy is far removed from the stereotypical
model
in which states command and lower governmental levels do as they are
bidden. Rather, the governance framework should create a relationship
between them in which the state empowers local and regional government
to cooperate with members of the public in developing proposals for the
implementation of national policy whilst using the power it derives from
electorally conferred legitimacy to steer outcomes towards the realisation of
nationally important objectives.
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top-down
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4.3 The limitations of devolution
The question of how political orders might be restructured with a view to
stemming declines in ecosystem health has been the subject matter of
2
P. Christoff,
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in R. Paehlke and D. Torgerson (eds) Managing Leviathan: Environmental Politics and the
Administrative State, 2nd edn (Peterborough, ON: Broadview Press, 2005), p. 294.
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Green Governance and the Green State: Capacity Building as a Political Project
