Degrowth isn’t the same as a recession – it’s an alternative to growing the economy forever



Qrius

Are the UK and Germany in recession or is this the age of ‘degrowth’?

The UK economy unexpectedly shrank by 0.3% in March, according to the Office of National Statistics. And though the country is likely to narrowly avoid an official recession in 2023, just as it did the previous year, the economy is projected to hit the worst growth rates since the Great Depression, and the worst in the G7.

The Conversation

Degrowth isn’t the same as a recession – it’s an alternative to growing the economy forever

What’s your immediate reaction when you hear the term ‘degrowth’? If it’s to instantly dismiss it as nonsense or wishful thinking, it’s worth suspending your disbelief as, chances are, what you’ve heard about it isn’t fair or accurate.

Resilience

Are you preparing for degrowth? And if not, why not?

WHEN ECONOMIC ACTIVITY PLUMMETED across the globe in 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic presaged how the world might experience climate-induced shocks to economic life.

The Baffler

Degrowing Pains

Just as the machine-smashing Luddites of the 19th century were wrong about the consequences of technical progress for jobs, so may be the champions of the more recent theory of “degrowth.”

The Washington Post

Want to Save the Planet? Re-Industrialize

The green transition is reshaping our societies, our economies and the international system. More than a break with extraction and growth, so far it looks like different version of the same pathway that is straining the planet's limits.

EU Observer

Degrowth needs a strong geopolitical and geo-economic proposition'

As Europe embraces clean energy to fight climate change, a leading ecological economist argues for going beyond “green growth”.

ScienceBlog

Once Unthinkable, The Prospect Of Society Driven By Wellbeing Gains Traction

Challengers raised points that merit responses. Mine lead to one answer: degrowth.

The Tyee

I Warned Against the Green Energy ‘Boom.’ It Sparked Debate

The list of misleading environmental and sustainable descriptors used to market shirts, dresses, pants and T-shirts is unfortunately very long. Last week, experts decoded terms such as carbon neutral, circular, organic, regenerative, sustainable and zero waste.

The Guardian

 Fashion greenwashing glossary part II: what do ‘biodegradable’, ‘closed loop’ and ‘degrowth’ really mean?

There is only one alternative to the mental model of permanent growth, and that is degrowth, also known as energy descent, post-growth, sufficiency, the great contraction, the great simplification, the great unraveling, or living within planetary boundaries.

It’s getting to look a lot like degrowth: Part 2

Despite unprecedented commitments on loss and damage and to a reform of international finance at the recent climate change conference, or COP 27, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, a key conversation was missing: degrowth.

Devex

The 'degrowth' economic model is key to fight climate change

In its March report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change stated that there is a “rapidly closing window of opportunity” to secure a livable and sustainable future for all. To achieve this and to prevent a catastrophic “hothouse earth” scenario of extreme warming and sea-level rise, “rapid and far-reaching transitions across all sectors and systems are necessary,” the report said.

World Politics Review

‘Green Growth’ Won’t Prevent Climate Collapse. ‘Degrowth’ Might

When people of Alex Boyd’s stature speak of energy transition without promoting degrowth, they fail to acknowledge the urgency of the climate crisis. The more we talk about renewables only, the more we covertly support the mindset of continuing consumption and waste, and thus instead of solving the problem, merely prolong it. 

Gisborne Herald

Degrowth required as well for sustainability

The left had managed to narrowly pass them through amendments in the morning, against the advice of the government. But the National Assembly finally rejected Thursday, April 6 afternoon, measures to block food prices and a “inflation basket”.

Globe Echo

Anti-Inflation Measures: The Price Freeze Is Debated In The Assembly, Before The Rejection Of A Text

PTo meet its greenhouse gas emissions reduction target (−55% by 2030 compared to 1990, net zero emissions in 2050), theEuropean Union must double its annual effort over the next ten years, compared to the 2005-2019 period.

We Must “Decarbonize Economic Activity Rather Than Reduce It”

In ‘Marx in the Anthropocene,’ author Kohei Saito examines the environmentalism of Marx and Engels, drawing on their extensive collection of unpublished works.

Scroll.in

Could a reimagined version of Marxism offer solutions to the current environmental crisis?

An author should be pleased to see his thesis bolstered by events. Yet since writing The Coming of Neo-Feudalism in 2020, I have not found any joy in the continued growth of the West’s class divides, as wealth becomes increasingly concentrated in ever fewer hands.

FCPP

A Neo-Feudal War on the People

The degrowth movement is on the ascent, and Marxists are joining the debate, spurred by Kohei Saito's best-selling book on "degrowth communism".

The Ecologist

Degrowth in the age of the climate emergency

The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recently published their annual report on the state of global warming and mitigation efforts. Unsurprisingly, the media has leaped to doomsday scenarios, describing it as a “dire warning about humanity’s future” and claiming “time is running out” to combat climate change and its impacts.

Real Clear Energy

New IPCC Report Should Inspire Hope, Not Panic

Scientists have delivered a ‘final warning’ on the climate crisis, as rising greenhouse gas emissions push the world to the brink of irrevocable damage that only swift and drastic action can avert. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), made up of the world’s leading climate scientists, set out the final part of its mammoth sixth assessment report on Monday.

The Daily Blog

IPCC gives us our final warning on climate change – it’s time to be honest about what we face

Degrowth | Research

As political leaders gather for a second conference at the European Parliament on how to move “beyond growth”, we, the undersigned academics and civil society organisations, see the geopolitical crisis as an opportunity to disengage from the socially and ecologically harmful growth competition and instead embrace a wellbeing cooperation.

Post-growth Europe: 400+ experts call for wellbeing economy

The popular theory acknowledges the waste and inequality built into capitalism—and demands radical change. But, says Sophie Squire, some advocates think that we can rid ourselves of the worst aspects of the system without overthrowing it


Socialist Worker

Degrowth — can it save the planet?

As humanity continues to grapple with the growing impact of climate change, many are questioning the traditional economic model of perpetual growth. Increasingly, experts and thought leaders are discussing an alternative approach — a radical and groundbreaking concept that challenges us to reevaluate our priorities. 


Shout Out UK

Beyond Growth: A New Path for a Sustainable Future

This episode of Hub Dialogues features host Sean Speer in conversation with Jason Crawford, founder of the U.S.-based non-profit organization Roots of Progress, about human progress, why it has slowed, and how a new philosophy of progress can help to accelerate it.

the hub

Make the future bright again: Jason Crawford on building a new philosophy of progress

ONE issue which unites a large part of contemporary Scottish politics – namely sections of the SNP, Labour, Tories, Lib Dems, the political commentariat, media and business – is a near-universal disdain, bordering on contempt, for the Scottish Greens and wider green ideas.

The National

Scottish Greens ignite rage from Fergus Ewing and Alex Massie

As an Australian, it troubles me that if the whole world lived like us, we would need 4.5 planet Earths. 

How Does Degrowth Apply to Our Minds?

According to the latest report of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the world is likely to fail to reach its most ambitious climate target – limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above the preindustrial temperatures. The report warns that now is our last chance to avert a climate disaster.

The Daily Star

Collaboration is in our collective interest

A YOUNG environmentalist who spearheaded the ‘Fridays for Future’ climate action initiative in Limerick has been appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General to an international advisory group on climate change.

Limerick Post

Limerick student appointed to UN climate change advisory group

Professor Jason Hickel, a leading advocate of “degrowth“, recently confronted the Dutch House of Representatives with the myth of green growth. Economic growth always turns out to cause more energy and resource consumption. 

Innovation Origins

A plea for degrowth in Dutch parliament

World trade hit a record $32 trillion in 2022, but growth turned negative in the last half of the year. Environmentally friendly products defied the trend.

UNCTAD

Global trade slows, but ‘green goods’ grow

In the 20th century, the pursuit of economic growth became central to political decision-making. As the environmental consequences of this obsession have become increasingly clear, ideas of ‘green growth’ and ‘degrowth’ have emerged as ways of re-organizing economies to try to avoid the most catastrophic effects of climate change.

London Review of Books

Green Growth and Degrowth

The creators of a new climate change curriculum want to help their teacher colleagues overcome personal fears about the planet’s future and learn how to educate students on the subject in a way that empowers them to take action.

Penticton Herald

Planting hope for the future

Expert from Sustainable Systems Research Institute explains the concept of degrowth from the perspective of Ecological Economics.

Pachamama TV

The Imperative Path towards Degrowth from the Perspective of Ecological Economics

The Center for Global Development (CGD), a think tank with former US Secretary of the Treasury Lawrence Summers as head of their Board of Directors, announced that “we may have reached Peak Progress.”

Counter Punch

Degrowth or Debunk: Do Degrowth proponents have a strategy?

Electrification is a necessary step towards sustainable mobility. However, it has never been sufficient.

WebWire

Slowing down to ramp up: why net zero mobility needs degrowth

Degrowth | Advocacy

In the fifth of six monthly conversations, three experts ask: can the way nations spend money help bring about the change needed to cool the Earth?


News Decoder

Rethinking the economy for the planet

Just as the architects of our current economic system designed the system around perpetual growth, we can redesign the economy around delivering wellbeing to all, within planetary limits

Newsroom

The perpetual myth of perpetual growth

Prepare for a people’s revolution against policies that will abolish choice and impoverish millions.

The Telegraph

Net zero is a Trojan horse for the total destruction of Western society

Short term the Government has to be focused on deflationary spending, mid term economically we need radical climate change adaptation, long term they need to start navigating  a post growth economy.

New Zealand is falling to pieces, we need a radical rethink of our neoliberal experiment

Scotland's first Festival of Economics begins today in Dundee.

Over the next three days, it will bring together leading global economists, lecturers, politicians, authors, commentators and activists to share art, comedy, music, with economics.

Yahoo News

Scotland's first Festival of Economics kicks off in Dundee

Fashion is one of the biggest industries in the world, generating around US$2.5 trillion in annual sales. It is also thought to be responsible for a sizeable 10 per cent of annual global carbon emissions – more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined, according to a McKinsey report.

South China Morning Post

If chasing GDP and consumption is bad for the climate, what are the alternative economic models?

Billion-dollar disaster was the term used to describe the climate breakdown that rocked our world last year. Floods in Pakistan droughts in China and Europe and tropical cyclones in other parts of Asia and America. India in the month of October last year experienced extreme weather events on 30 out of 31 days according to India’s Atlas on the Weather.

Countercurrents

Linking Climate Action to Decolonization and Degrowth

Biden's budget. On Thursday, President Joe Biden released a $6.8 trillion budget plan for 2024 that he says will cut deficits by $2.9 trillion over the next decade, increase military funding, raise taxes on the wealthy and corporations, and pay for Medicare and Social Security without any major cuts or reforms to the programs.

Tangle News

Biden proposes a new budget

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy told Sirius XM’s Breitbart News Saturday host Matt Boyle that pro-economic growth policies are the best way to offset the $31.3 trillion national debt.

Breitbart

Vivek Ramaswamy: Pro-Growth Economic Policies Are Key to Offsetting National Debt

Saitō Kōhei has been a hot commodity in Japan since the surprise success of his Marx-inspired Hito shinsei no shihonron, published in English as Marx in the Anthropocene. In a candid interview, Saitō defends his vision of a postgrowth, postcapitalist society and explores practical steps toward that ambitious goal.

nippon.com

In Defense of Degrowth Communism: A Talk with Economist Saitō Kōhei

New Zealand's economy could be $64 billion better off by 2050 if decisive climate action is taken, a new report by consulting firm Deloitte found.

But failing to act could shrink the economy by $4.4 billion dollars.

The Turning Point report compares what could happen if the planet warms by 3C by the end of the century, against the economic opportunity if global warming was limited to as close to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels as possible by 2050.

Stuff

Failing to take decisive climate action could shrink economy by $4.4 billion

Degrowth | Finance

The new government needs to take a revolutionary step towards deep democratisation and ground-up administration of the city.


Frontline

Why Bengaluru badly needs a new governance approach

Unorthodox economic ideas are finding a mainstream audience as climate change bites


Financial Times

‘Degrowth’ starts to move in from Europe’s policy fringes

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo on Monday criticized the idea of not growing the economy for environmental reasons, joining calls to stop environmental and health-related regulation to prevent overburdening companies.

Euractiv

Belgium’s De Croo slams degrowth, joins call for a regulatory break

Will we see an industry that has fewer and larger players?

Environmental compliance may weed out smaller garment factories

Hitting the brakes on growth isn’t fair to poor nations when a low-carbon economy is possible around what are now heavy, dirty industries.


The Business Standard

Want to save the planet? Re-industrialise

A well-funded movement is arguing against economic growth


Unherd

 The ‘degrowth’ lobby is on the rise

Murray Grimwood assesses a recent Victoria University debate that pitted green growth against degrowth & sees difficult times ahead


Interest NZ

Growth – but of what colour, and in which direction?

With a large number of people going abroad for study and work, and the dropping fertility rate, many are beginning to worry that the nation with an ageing population will de-growth its economy.



Kuensel Online

Is Bhutan heading for trouble?

This history is well-known: Supported by the Club of Rome, a group of MIT scholars published ‘The Limits to Growth’. Immensely successful, the book was also intensely critiqued.

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