Chapter 12 ended with the observation that the environmental movement has become so reconciled to the continuation of capitalism that it is now positively enthusiastic about the role of the market as a tool to protect the environment. This sentiment seems a long way from the anti-industrialism and the anarchistic blueprint of a sustainable world discussed in Part I. Indeed, it reflects the shift in the centre of gravity of environmental politics in recent years from a radical rejection of the existing economic and political system towards a reformist acceptance of capitalism and liberal democracy. This concluding chapter draws together some of the themes discussed in the book by analysing the state of environmental politics some forty years after the emergence of ‘modern environmentalism’. More specifically, it examines the significance of ecologism, assesses progress towards sustainable development and speculates about the future path of environmental politics.

A central argument of the book is that ecologism should be regarded as an ideology in its own right. It offers a persuasive critique of (capitalist) industrial society and the liberal democratic polity, holding them largely responsible for the current ecological crisis; it outlines a vision of an alternative sustainable society; and it suggests strategies of change that might achieve that utopian vision. The most distinctive theoretical contribution of ecologism, as discussed in Part I, resides in its two core ideas: the need to reassess human–nature relations and the belief in ecological limits to growth.