Ideology and politics: essential factors in the path toward sustainability

With the Kyoto protocol coming into force we can expect media attention to focus on governments’ efforts to reduce global warming. While some have questioned how effective such efforts will be due to the number of countries who have not signed on (notably the USA), the potential effectiveness of efforts to combat climate change, and more generally to achieve a sustainable society, can better be understood in the light of ideological and socio-political contexts. This paper argues that ideology and socio-political structure are essential considerations in the path toward a sustainable society. Four models are discussed in terms of their potential to achieve sustainability.