The Jahrbuch Ökologie 2013 takes a different, more pragmatic approach to the question of what the ecological turnaround is and should be (Leitschuh et al. 2012). Whether a profound transformation of economy and society is possible and probable is narrowed down with a strong hypothesis: There will be pioneers, but also laggards and dunces.
This compelling triple image emerges when analysing the latest developments in Germany (and probably many other countries), be it in the sectors of energy; transport and mobility; agriculture and food; business and academia, or in the question of awareness and culture – of changing people’s hearts and minds. A comparison of the current turnaround dynamics reveals certain similarities but, above all, major differences.
Concerning the issue of energy, the Triple Disaster of Fukushima (“3/11”) sparked a lively, but also controversial debate in Germany. The international impact of this debate led the New York Times using the German term Energiewende instead of translating it into English – as has been long ago the case with terms such as “kindergarten” and “rucksack”.
Phasing out, switching and moving – these are the central topics of the debate: phasing out nuclear power; switching to relatively cleaner coal and gas energy; moving to renewable energies: solar, wind, water, biomass and geothermal energy.
The 2011 resolution by the German government and parliament to phase out nuclear power met with overwhelming approval from civil society. Switching is being promoted by setting new technical standards, but also by the vested interests of the (few) large companies in the energy sector have in retaining their economic position. Moving to renewable energies is met with enormous approval by numerous new companies (particularly in the fields of solar, wind and geothermal energy), by many municipalities and cooperatives (wind and biomass), and by thousands of homeowners who have taken action themselves (solar).
In contrast, nothing similar has been occurring so far in the transport sector, which led to a different kind of turnaround in the yearbook: it was redefined as the “mobility turnaround”, and postulated as a necessary merger of the energy and transport turnaround.
In spite of a number of successes in the organic and fair trade segment, the agriculture and food sectors turns out to be highly resistant to change, such that the relevant contribution in the yearbook mutates into a new, demanding plea.
Although it proved to be impossible to detect an ecological turnaround in the economy as a whole, the example of two sectors demonstrated what successful sustainability-oriented entrepreneurship could look like.
The question concerning the turnaround in academia resulted in a true philippic against all too antiquated disciplinary structures and interests, which have stifled transformative ecological research and education, or only enabled it to thrive in places.
Pioneers, laggards and dunces, that is the pattern found when considering the development of various sectors (and areas) in Germany – it is the answer to the question concerning the status and dynamics of the “ecological turnaround” at the national level.
The answer is likely to be similar when contemplating the question of the ecological turnaround at the global level. But here, the question is asked differently.