Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
This, as Dobson contends, leads to the conclusion that
dealing with the
environmental problems that the green movement has identi
'
ed requires
the kind of planning and coordination that can only be provided by a
centralised political structure.
17
That is not to say that devolved units of
governance have no part to play in ecological governance. To the contrary, I
have already noted that their involvement with developing solutions that
are tailored to local conditions is essential for their effectiveness and for
public acceptance of them. Rather, the issue of externalities highlights the
importance of creating linkages between local and central government that
would connect the important contribution of the former with the ability of
the latter to coordinate responses to ecological problems and to take a big-
picture view of how these can best be dealt with.
18
Third, autonomous units of devolved governance may be as adept at
creating externalities as they are incapable of managing sources of
ecological harm that are external to them. For example, the refusal of
one institution with responsibility for managing an ecosystem to permit
activities may, if it is not supported by a holistic framework for control-
ling development, simply result in their being exported to places where
controls are not in place or which are less able to resist the pressures of
external economic drivers. Whilst the governed ecosystems may bene
'
t,
the net result may be that overall levels of ecological stress are not
reduced and that the negative effects of activities become concentrated
in other locations. There is also no guarantee where local institutions are
given signi
for their
area that ecologically desirable outcomes would result.
19
An obvious
potential scenario is that local authorities would deem maintaining the
character of a particular community as being a greater contribution to
sustainability than making resources available for renewable energy
when others might bear the burden of associated infrastructure con-
struction. In this regard, Cowell and Owens question the wisdom of
conferring a high degree of freedom on communities to make decisions
without some provision for external supervision when these
cant leeway to de
ne what would be
'
sustainable
'
'
may have
17
Dobson,
'
Green Political Thought
'
, p. 97. See also Galaz et al.,
'
The Problem of Fit
'
,
pp. 178
-
9.
18
S. M. Wheeler, Planning for Sustainability: Creating Liveable,Equitable,andEcological
Communities (London: Routledge, 2004), p. 122; M. Baker and C. Wong,
'
The Delusion
of Strategic Spatial Planning: What
'
s Left after the Labour Government
'
sEnglish
Regional Experiment?
'
(2013) 28 Planning Practice and Research,96
-
7.
19
Wheeler,
'
Planning for Sustainability
'
,p.46.SeealsoGalazetal.,
'
The Problem of Fit
'
,
pp. 172
-
3.
