The Elephant
A resource for journalists, politicians, policy makers, activists and citizens interested in climate change and the environmental emergency
The ElephantA resource for journalists, politicians, policy makers, activists and citizens interested in climate change and the environmental emergency
Valuing What Counts: Framework to Progress Beyond Gross Domestic Product
2023-06-06 (or before) in LinkedInGross domestic product (GDP) is the most widely used benchmark to measure a countrys economic progress and the value of the goods and services it produces.
GDP also reflects a harmful anachronism at the heart of global policymaking:our economic models and measurements overlook many aspects that sustain life and contribute to human well-being, while perversely placing disproportionate value on activities that deplete the planet.
Tagged under: GDP | Economic Growth
Global Resources Outlook press statement by UNEP Executive Director
2024-03-02 (or before) in UN Environment ProgrammeUNEP Executive Director, Inger Andersen, speaks at the launch of Global Resources Outlook 2024, highlighting the urgent need to address the triple planetary crisis through sustainable resource management and circular economy models. She emphasizes the benefits of decoupling economic growth from resource use and environmental impacts. The report outlines actionable steps for achieving this goal, urging strong resolutions at the UNEA-6.
Tagged under: Economic Growth
This is the year the world’s green juggernaut becomes unstoppable
2024-02-14 (or before) in The TelegraphThe greatest economic growth story since the industrial revolution has crossed a critical threshold
Tagged under: Net Zero | Economic Growth
Post-growth: A viable path to limiting global warming to 1.5°C
2024-02-08 (or before) in Cell PressExisting climate mitigation scenarios tend to project a high GDP growth, even though growth leads to increased energy use and emissions. We show that pathways of low growth make it possible to pursue ambitious mitigation with a slower build-up of low-carbon energy and lower improvements in energy efficiency. Low growth is typically associated with poverty and social challenges; however, we argue that novel post-growth interventions could decrease social inequalities while also helping to protect the climate.
Tagged under: Degrowth | Economic Growth | Climate Change Mitigation
Global annual finance flows of $7 trillion fueling climate, biodiversity, and land degradation crises
2024-01-14 (or before) in UN Environment ProgrammeDubai, 9 December 2023 – Close to $7 trillion is invested globally each year in activities that have a direct negative impact on nature from both public and private sector sources - equivalent to roughly 7 per cent of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) - according to the latest State of Finance for Nature report released today at COP28 by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and partners.
Tagged under: COP28 | Economic Growth | Finance
‘We can’t pretend the ecological crisis is separate’: the economist thinking differently about climate breakdown
2024-01-10 in The GuardianJames Meadway, once a Labour adviser and now a podcast host, says the separation between climate and economy has to end
Tagged under: Economics | Economic Growth | Finance
Cyclones slow down the economic growth of a country by 10 years
2023-11-25 in Interesting EngineeringResearchers have calculated the Social Cost of Carbon (SCC) of tropical cyclones for the major economies of India, US, China, Taiwan, and Japan and found that it is so extreme that it stops economic development for more than 10 years.
Tagged under: Economic Growth | Japan
Slow solutions to fast-moving ecological crises won’t work – changing basic human behaviours must come first
2023-10-18 by in The ConversationEcological overshoot is driven by human consumption and a belief in endless economic growth. Could the marketing and media industries that feed those habits also help change them?
Tagged under: Economic Growth
UN Report: Global hunger numbers rose to as many as 828 million in 2021
2023-10-10 (or before) in World Health OrganisationThe number of people affected by hunger globally rose to as many as 828 million in 2021, an increase of about 46 million since 2020 and 150 million since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic (1), according to a United Nations report that provides fresh evidence that the world is moving further away from its goal of ending hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition in all its forms by 2030. The 2022 edition of The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report presents updates on the food security and nutrition situation around the world, including the latest estimates of the cost and affordability of a healt...
Tagged under: Farming | Famine | Meat Production | Economic Growth | Health | Women and Children | Food Production and Consumption
a world safe for spending
2023-10-06 in Tanja SailThe IMF’s key argument is that greater spending will not generate greater growth. This kind of macroeconomics is no fun because there’s no reason it needs to be true.
Tagged under: Economic Growth | Economics
Inconsistent definitions of GDP: Implications for estimates of decoupling
2023-10-04 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comEfforts to assess the possibilities for decoupling economic growth from resource use and negative environmental impacts have examined their historical…
Tagged under: Economic Growth
Airlines Are Just Banks Now
2023-09-26 (or before) by in The AtlanticThey make more money from mileage programs than from flying planes—and it shows.
Tagged under: Economic Growth | Air Travel
To grow the economy in a way that benefits people and the planet, politicians must think outside the box | Mariana Mazzucato
2023-09-18 in The GuardianWe rely on too many old ideas. Governments must foster growth that is innovative and sustainable, says economist Mariana Mazzucato
Tagged under: Economic Growth
What is GDP and how is it measured? - BBC News
2023-09-17 (or before) in The BBCA basic guide to how the economy is measured and why that calculation matters.
Tagged under: GDP | Economic Growth
Is green growth happening? An empirical analysis of achieved versus Paris-compliant CO2–GDP decoupling in high-income countries
2023-09-05 (or before) in The LancetThe decoupling rates achieved in high-income countries are inadequate for meeting the climate and equity commitments of the Paris Agreement and cannot legitimately be considered green. If green is to be consistent with the Paris Agreement, then high-income countries have not achieved green growth, and are very unlikely to be able to achieve it in the future. To achieve Paris-compliant emission reductions, high-income countries will need to pursue post-growth demand-reduction strategies, reorienting the economy towards sufficiency, equity, and human wellbeing, while also accelerating technological change and efficiency improvemen...
Tagged under: Climate Change | The Paris Agreement | GDP | CO2 | Economic Growth
Remarks by Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions Graham Steele at Event Hosted by the Brookings Institution's Assessing Insurance Regulation and Supervision of Climate-Related Financial Risk
2023-08-29 (or before) in home.treasury.govAs Prepared for Delivery Introduction Thank you, Carlos. It is my pleasure to be with you all today, both those in the room and watching virtually. As the Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions, my portfolio includes developing the Department’s policy views on banks, credit unions, consumer protection, access to capital, and financial sector cybersecurity matters. My remarks will focus on the work that Treasury, through the Federal Insurance office (FIO), is doing to understand and help address the financial risks that our changing climate poses in the insurance sector. Work on climate-related financial...
Tagged under: Drought | Finance | Climate Change | Housing | Insurance | Litigation | Economic Growth | California | Climate Change Impacts | Wildfires | Florida | Climate Change Mitigation
Profit-Driven Systems Are Driving Us To Our Doom | by Caitlin Johnstone | Medium
2023-07-13 (or before) in caityjohnstone.medium.comListen to a reading of this article (reading by Tim Foley):
Tagged under: Economic Growth | Economics
Built structures influence patterns of energy demand and CO2 emissions across countries - Nature Communications
2023-07-05 (or before) in NatureExtent and spatial patterns of settlements and infrastructures strongly affect resource demand of national economies worldwide. Their influence on final energy and CO2 emissions is almost as large as that of gross domestic product (GDP).
Tagged under: Economic Growth
Climate grief is real – and I cannot keep watching images of our dying planet | David Shearman
2023-07-04 in The GuardianOur leaders’ addiction to economic growth and its consumption of environmental resources has me paralysed with fear and solastalgia
Tagged under: Economic Growth | Health | Climate Anxiety and Grief
Study suggests 21st century economic growth will be slower than expected
2023-06-25 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyThe global economy will grow slower in the 21st century than economists have expected, a finding that has implications for our ability to adapt to climate change in the coming decades, according to new research.
Tagged under: Climate Change | Economic Growth
'Growth doom loop': Report warns under-investment will see UK lag behind in global race to net zero
2023-06-20 in Business GreenThink tank IPPR warns UK is suffering from 'investment-phobia' and must move quickly to reap the economic benefits of the green transition
Tagged under: Net Zero | Economic Growth
Beyond Growth: a new vision of progress for a sustainable future | FairPlanet
2023-06-19 (or before) by in Solutions Journalism for Human Rights and the Environment | FairPlanetRelying on GDP as a measurement of prosperity will lead to our demise, experts say. Can we redefine societal goals to respect planetary boundaries?
Tagged under: Economic Growth
Needed: Either Degrowth Or Two Earths| Countercurrents
2023-06-16 in CountercurrentsIn reality, degrowth differs fundamentally from a recession. A recession is a reduction in GDP, one that happens accidentally, often with undesirable social
Tagged under: Climate Change | Degrowth | Economic Growth
Valuing What Counts: Framework to Progress Beyond Gross Domestic Product
2023-06-06 (or before) in LinkedInGross domestic product (GDP) is the most widely used benchmark to measure a countrys economic progress and the value of the goods and services it produces.
GDP also reflects a harmful anachronism at the heart of global policymaking:our economic models and measurements overlook many aspects that sustain life and contribute to human well-being, while perversely placing disproportionate value on activities that deplete the planet.
Tagged under: GDP | Economic Growth
Why GDP doesn't work, and what Scotland should replace it with
2023-05-29 (or before) in The National | Scottish NewsLAST week the Beyond Growth Conference, the biggest European conference to discuss an alternative economic model, took place in Brussels. Over…
Tagged under: GDP | Economic Growth
Degrowth isn't the same as a recession – it's an alternative to growing the economy forever
2023-05-23 by in The ConversationNot only is degrowth is not the same as negative GDP growth, it is actually better for the planet.
Tagged under: Degrowth | Economic Growth
Reflections on 'Beyond Growth' | Frankly #31
2023-05-19 (or before) in YouTubeOn this Frankly, Nate reflects on the Beyond Growth Conference held at the European Parliament, including the stunning public acknowledgement by EU President...
Tagged under: Degrowth | Economic Growth
Wellbeing economy - Early Day Motions - UK Parliament
2023-05-12 (or before) in edm.parliament.ukThat this House welcomes the call made by President Michael D Higgins of Ireland on 28 April 2023 at a reception for the Think-Tank for Action on Social Change to look beyond the current obsession with economic growth and rebalance economy, ecology and ethics; notes that this call is well-aligned with the aims of the European Parliament’s examination of the Beyond Growth agenda; further notes that such a call has far-reaching implications for the teaching and practice of economics in which the obsession with perpetual growth has left society blinkered to the ecological catastrophe we now face; agrees with President Higgins...
Tagged under: GDP | Economic Growth | Economics
Home Page
2023-05-10 (or before) in New Climate EconomyThe New Climate Economy Report shows how countries at all levels of income can achieve economic growth while combating climate change
Tagged under: Climate Change | Economic Growth
GrowthKills
2023-05-06 (or before) in Growth KillsTagged under: Economic Growth | GDP | Economics
From Luddites to limits? Towards a systematization of growth critiques in historical perspective
2023-05-06 (or before) in Taylor & Francis Online: Peer-reviewed JournalsWhile economic growth is still at the centre of politics around the world, driven by economic crises and ecological breakdown critiques of growth as well as calls for post-growth or degrowth are on...
Tagged under: Economics | Economic Growth
President condemns ‘obsession’ with economic growth
2023-04-30 (or before) in The Irish TimesIn reception for think tank Tasc, Michael D Higgins condemned ‘neo-liberalism’ and urged country to ‘rebalance economy, ecology and ethics’
Tagged under: Economic Growth
Deadly heat threatens the lives and livelihoods of 1 billion people in India
2023-04-24 by in Grist.org: Climate. Justice. Solutions.Increasingly extreme heat waves will imperil India's development goals and slow economic growth, new research shows
Tagged under: Economic Growth
Drastic climate action is the best course for economic growth, new study finds » Yale Climate Connections
2023-04-14 by in Yale Climate ConnectionsFor decades, economists believed immediate action to fight climate change would decimate the economy, but a new study adds to a growing body of research showing that the economic benefits of climate action outweigh the costs.
Tagged under: Climate Change | Economic Growth
Just how far is ‘beyond growth’ for policy makers?—Economics for Rebels podcast with Tim Jackson
2023-04-14 in CUSP | Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable ProsperityEcological economists integrating ecological and critical social perspectives have long been working on ideas to bring about just sustainability transformations. This podcast aims at communicating …
Tagged under: Economics | Economic Growth | Sustainability
Fixing unhealthy homes would hit GDP growth, but benefit families - report
2023-04-03 in RNZ - NZ News, Current Affairs, Audio On DemandNew research shows household incomes would increase as a result of a retrofit programme.
Tagged under: GDP | Economic Growth
Escape from Overshoot: Economics for a Planet in Peril | Book by Peter A. Victor
2023-04-03 in CUSP | Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable ProsperityEarth is in overshoot. The relentless pursuit of economic growth in the name of “progress” has stressed the planet beyond its limits. This richly illustrated book by CUSP co-investigato…
Tagged under: Economics | Economic Growth
Why We Can’t Just Do It: The Truth about Our Failure to Curb Carbon Emissions
2023-03-23 by in resilienceWe’re at a crisis point. A sacrifice is needed. Only a sacred cow will do. Economic growth is our society’s most sacred of cows. And guess what? The cow is sick anyway.
Tagged under: Economic Growth
Biodiversity policy beyond economic growth
2023-03-19 (or before) in Society for Conservation Biology JournalAbstract Increasing evidence—synthesized in this paper—shows that economic growth contributes to biodiversity loss via greater resource consumption and higher emissions. Nonetheless, a review of in...
Tagged under: Economic Growth
Can statisticians move beyond GDP?
2023-03-16 (or before) by in The Times & The Sunday TimesEvery month, and to much fanfare, the Office for National Statistics publishes its latest estimates of gross domestic product. GDP is rightly regarded as the mo
Tagged under: GDP | Economic Growth
Economic growth is fuelling climate change – a new book proposes 'degrowth communism' as the solution
2023-03-03 by in The ConversationWhat does Karl Marx have to say about climate change? Quite a lot, according to a new book.
Tagged under: Climate Change | Degrowth | Economic Growth
Pursuing economic growth will kill us all in the end | Letter
2023-02-02 in The GuardianLetters: I risked prison to stand up against an system that will lead to ecological and societal collapse – we must look for alternative economic models, writes Zoe Cohen
Tagged under: Activism | GDP | Economics | Economic Growth | Collapse
What Is the Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch?
2023-01-31 (or before) in Sustainable & Eco Friendly eCommerce Packaging | SR MailingThe Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch is considered by many to be one of humanity’s biggest crimes against the planet – and really, just the name of it gives away the horror of what it actually is, considering the size of the Pacific Ocean. We talk a lot about what can be done to save the planet here at SR Mailing, and that’s because we’re absolutely passionate about it! The fact that there is so much to be done, and that there is so much that we can all be doing in our daily lives that can help us to save planet Earth from global warming and climate change. The issue, of course, is much, much bigger than...
Tagged under: Microplastics and Nanoplastics | Oceans | Greenhouse Gases | Climate Change | Pacific Ocean | Methane | Fish | Rivers | Whales and Dolphins | Wildlife | Economic Growth | Great Barrier Reef | Coral Reefs | California | South America | BP | Sea Level | Indonesia
Renewable Energy Isn’t Replacing Fossil Fuel Energy
2022-12-30 by in Deep Green Resistance News ServiceDespite all the renewable energy investments and installations actual global greenhouse gas emissions keep increasing due to economic growth.
Tagged under: Renewable Energy | Greenhouse Gases | Economic Growth
Limits to economic growth - Nature Physics
2022-12-25 (or before) in NatureAcross the world, decisions on investment and policy are made under the assumption of continuous economic expansion. Fundamental physical limits may soon put an end to this phase of development, as foreshadowed by the 1972 report The Limits to Growth.
Tagged under: Economic Growth
Degrowth can work — here’s how science can help
2022-12-15 (or before) in NatureWealthy countries can create prosperity while using less materials and energy if they abandon economic growth as an objective. Wealthy countries can create prosperity while using less materials and energy if they abandon economic growth as an objective.
Tagged under: Degrowth | Economic Growth
Sunak’s government ‘going backwards’ on green economy, says CBI
2022-12-05 in The GuardianBusiness bosses ‘confused and disappointed’ by PM’s lack of growth plan in face of recession
Tagged under: Rishi Sunak | Economics | Economic Growth
Sunak’s growth fetish is a problem: he’s heading for the same budget trap as Truss | Tim Jackson
2022-11-16 in The GuardianThe siren call of climate-burning expansion bewitches British politics. More of the same will emerge in the autumn statement, says Tim Jackson, professor of sustainable development at the University of Surrey
Tagged under: COP27 | Rishi Sunak | Economics | Economic Growth
European project to explore pathways towards post-growth economics
2022-10-25 (or before) by in uab.catThe ERC is providing 10 million euros for an ICTA-UAB project that will study how to escape from a growth economy and ensure social welfare and...
Tagged under: Economics | Economic Growth
Are there limits to economic growth? It’s time to call time on a 50-year argument
2022-10-06 (or before) in NatureResearchers must try to resolve a dispute on the best way to use and care for Earth’s resources. Researchers must try to resolve a dispute on the best way to use and care for Earth’s resources.
Tagged under: Economic Growth
How to Save the Planet: Degrowth vs Green Growth?
2022-09-05 (or before) in YouTubeAs the climate crisis looms ever larger, a critical question has taken the stage: is economic growth incompatible with ecological sustainability? Green growt...
Tagged under: Degrowth | Economic Growth | Sustainability
Lotka's wheel and the long arm of history: how does the distant past determine today's global rate of energy consumption?
2022-09-03 (or before) in ESDAbstract. Global economic production – the world gross domestic product (GDP) – has been rising steadily relative to global primary energy demands, lending hope that technological advances can drive a gradual decoupling of society from its resource needs and associated environmental pollution. Here we present a contrasting argument: in each of the 50 years following 1970 for which reliable data are available, 1 exajoule of world energy was required to sustain each 5.50±0.21 trillion year 2019 US dollars of a global wealth quantity defined as the cumulative inflation-adjusted ...
Tagged under: Economic Growth | Climate Change Mitigation
Drivers of peak warming in a consumption-maximizing world - Nature Climate Change
2022-08-26 (or before) in NatureAn analysis of climate change mitigation policies in an idealized integrated assessment framework highlights the importance of economic growth, and investment in technologies such as large-scale carbon dioxide removal, to limit peak warming.
Tagged under: Climate Change | Economic Growth | Climate Change Mitigation
Postgrowth Mindset | Blog by Richard McNeill Douglas
2022-08-10 in CUSP | Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable ProsperityMainstream politics has long proved resistant to the arguments of those who question the pursuit of unending economic growth. CUSP researcher Richard McNeill Douglas suggests a treatment.
Tagged under: Economic Growth
Many countries have decoupled economic growth from CO₂ emissions, even if we take offshored production into account
2022-08-05 (or before) in Our World in DataHistorically, CO2 emissions have been strongly correlated with how much money we have. This is particularly true at low-to-middle incomes. The richer we are, the more CO2 we emit. This is because we use more energy – which often comes from burning fossil fuels.
Tagged under: Fossil Fuels | Economic Growth
Why an end to economic growth is inevitable
2022-06-29 by in New Statesman MagazineFifty years after the Limits to Growth report was published, the concept of post-growth remains largely taboo.
Tagged under: Economic Growth
The Global South has the power to force radical climate action | Climate Crisis | Al Jazeera
2022-06-29 (or before) by in Al JazeeraAfter all, Western economies – and their economic growth – depend utterly on labour and resources from the South.
Tagged under: Economic Growth
World economy set to lose up to 18% GDP from climate change if no action taken, reveals Swiss Re Institute's stress-test analysis | Swiss Re
2022-06-14 (or before) in Swiss Retbd
Tagged under: Climate Change | GDP | Economics | Economic Growth
How can researchers influence policy when their work lies outside the political mainstream?
2022-05-09 in LSE Blogs | Expert analysis & debate from LSEThe premise of postgrowth research is that environmentally sustainable wellbeing should replace GDP growth as the cornerstone of public policy. This interest in a transition beyond the existing par…
Tagged under: Economic Growth
Moving Beyond GDP: The Case for Wealth as a Core Measure of National Progress
2022-04-29 (or before) in Earth Negotiations Bulletin - International Institute for Sustainable DevelopmentDespite its frequent use as the main measure of progress, GDP fails to account for health, happiness, inequality, and environmental sustainability. An expert panel explored how a focus on wealth could inform policymaking in Africa—and how to make the shift.
Tagged under: Africa | GDP | Economic Growth | Health | Sustainability
Designing a Resilience and Sustainability Trust: A Development-Centered Approach | Global Development Policy Center
2022-03-04 (or before) in Boston UniversityTagged under: Economic Growth | Sustainability
Imperialist appropriation in the world economy: Drain from the global South through unequal exchange, 1990–2015
2022-02-15 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comUnequal exchange theory posits that economic growth in the “advanced economies” of the global North relies on a large net appropriation of resources a…
Tagged under: Economic Growth
Aligning the UK’s economic goals with environmental sustainability | Evidence submissions to the EAC Beyond GDP inquiry
2022-01-29 in CUSP | Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable ProsperityAhead of hearings planned for 9 February 2022, the UK Environmental Audit Committee invited written submissions to examine how the UK Government could incorporate environmental sustainability into …
Tagged under: Economic Growth | Sustainability
Research On Degrowth
2021-12-19 (or before) in Annual ReviewsScholars and activists mobilize increasingly the term degrowth when producing knowledge critical of the ideology and costs of growth-based development. Degrowth signals a radical political and economic reorganization leading to reduced resource and energy use. The degrowth hypothesis posits that such a trajectory of social transformation is necessary, desirable, and possible; the conditions of its realization require additional study. Research on degrowth has reinvigorated the limits to growth debate with critical examination of the historical, cultural, social, and political forces that have made economic growth a dominant obje...
Tagged under: Activism | Degrowth | Economics | Economic Growth | Sustainability
Happy without money: Minimally monetized societies can exhibit high subjective well-being
2021-12-16 (or before) in PLOS - Open ScienceEconomic growth is often assumed to improve happiness for people in low income countries, although the association between monetary income and subjective well-being has been a subject of debate. We test this assumption by comparing three different measures of subjective well-being in very low-income communities with different levels of monetization. Contrary to expectations, all three measures of subjective well-being were very high in the least-monetized sites and comparable to those found among citizens of wealthy nations. The reported drivers of happiness shifted with increasing monetization: from enjoying experiential activi...
Tagged under: Economic Growth
Degrowth: why some economists think abandoning growth is the only way to save the planet – podcast
2021-10-30 (or before) by in The ConversationWe talk to three experts who argue we governments need to find alternatives for their dependence on economic growth. Listen to episode 39 of The Conversation Weekly.
Tagged under: Degrowth | Economic Growth
Bangladesh Really Is a Climate Success Story
2021-10-10 (or before) by in The AtlanticThe country shows the power of self-determination when it comes to development and climate policy.
Tagged under: Solar Energy | Extreme Weather | Climate Change | Geothermal Energy | Fossil Fuels | Economic Growth | Water Resources
What Climate Change Requires of Economics | by Daron Acemoglu - Project Syndicate
2021-09-28 by Daron Acemoglu in Project SyndicateDaron Acemoglu identifies two main areas where the discipline will need to rethink longstanding assumptions and models.
Tagged under: Climate Change | Economics | Economic Growth
Is Green Growth Possible?
2021-09-27 (or before) in Taylor & Francis Online: Peer-reviewed JournalsThe notion of green growth has emerged as a dominant policy response to climate change and ecological breakdown. Green growth theory asserts that continued economic expansion is compatible with our...
Tagged under: Climate Change | Degrowth | Economics | Economic Growth
Climate impact of a transatlantic flight could cost global economy $3,000
2021-09-06 in The GuardianEconomic cost of climate crisis has cut 37% from global GDP this century, say researchers
Tagged under: Greenhouse Gases | Economics | Economic Growth
Economic Growth - Facing Future
2021-08-21 (or before) in Facing FutureInfinite Growth on a Finite Planet “Global civilization has an operating system. It is disastrously flawed. It is killing us. It is known by two common names: money and growth economics. Money is a virus of the mind which uses humanity [and nature] for its own reproduction.” – Stuart Scott, Director of the Facing Future … Continue reading "Economic Growth"
Tagged under: Deforestation | Oceans | Farming | Wildfires | Drought | Greenhouse Gases | Climate Change | Methane | Economics | Wildlife | Fossil Fuels | Economic Growth | Sea Level | Trees | Sustainability
Urgent need for post-growth climate mitigation scenarios - Nature Energy
2021-08-20 (or before) in NatureEstablished climate mitigation scenarios assume continued economic growth in all countries, and reconcile this with the Paris targets by betting on speculative technological change. Post-growth approaches may make it easier to achieve rapid mitigation while improving social outcomes, and should be explored by climate modellers.
Tagged under: Climate Change | Economic Growth | Climate Change Mitigation
Past world economic production constrains current energy demands: Persistent scaling with implications for economic growth and climate change mitigation
2021-08-08 (or before) in PLOS - Open ScienceClimate change has become intertwined with the global economy. Here, we describe the contribution of inertia to future trends. Drawing from thermodynamic principles, and using 38 years of available statistics between 1980 to 2017, we find a constant scaling between current rates of world primary energy consumption E ( t ) and the historical time integral W of past world inflation-adjusted economic production Y, or W ( t ) = ∫ 0 t Y ( t ′ ) d t ′. In each year, over a period during which both E and W more than doubled, the ratio of the two remained nearly unchanged, that is λ = E ( t ) ( t ) / W ( t ) = 5 ....
Tagged under: Renewable Energy | Nuclear Power | Predictions | Climate Change | Economics | Fossil Fuels | Economic Growth | Climate Change Mitigation
Urgent need for post-growth climate mitigation scenarios - Nature Energy
2021-08-08 (or before) in NatureEstablished climate mitigation scenarios assume continued economic growth in all countries, and reconcile this with the Paris targets by betting on speculative technological change. Post-growth approaches may make it easier to achieve rapid mitigation while improving social outcomes, and should be explored by climate modellers.
Tagged under: Climate Change | Economic Growth | Climate Change Mitigation
Limits to Growth
2021-07-25 (or before) in KPMG Advisory ServicesWhat is the balance of the pursuit of economic growth and its effects on environmental and social factors?
Tagged under: Economic Growth
MIT Predicted in 1972 That Society Will Collapse This Century. New Research Shows We’re on Schedule.
2021-07-19 (or before) in VICEA 1972 MIT study predicted that rapid economic growth would lead to societal collapse in the mid 21st century. A new paper shows we’re unfortunately right on schedule.
Tagged under: Predictions | Economic Growth | Collapse
Economics Needs a Climate Revolution | by Tom Brookes & Gernot Wagner - Project Syndicate
2021-06-28 by Tom Brookes & Gernot Wagner in Project SyndicateTom Brookes & Gernot Wagner warn that the neoclassical orthodoxy is utterly unequipped to grapple with climate change.
Tagged under: Climate Change | Economics | Economic Growth
Growth without economic growth
2021-06-19 (or before) in European Environment AgencyEconomic growth is closely linked to increases in production, consumption and resource use and has detrimental effects on the natural environment and human health. It is unlikely that a long-lasting, absolute decoupling of economic growth from environmental pressures and impacts can be achieved at the global scale; therefore, societies need to rethink what is meant by growth and progress and their meaning for global sustainability.
Tagged under: Economic Growth | Health | Sustainability
Is the Controlled Shrinking of Economies a Better Bet to Slow Climate Change Than Unproven Technologies? - Inside Climate News
2021-06-18 by in Inside Climate NewsExisting plans to limit global warming rely too much on “increasingly unrealistic assumptions” that societies will be able to remove huge amounts of carbon from the atmosphere while simultaneously maintaining incessant economic growth over the next 50 years, according to a May 2021 study in Nature Communications. These strategies appear to be speeding the planet […]
Tagged under: Economic Growth
How persistent is civilization growth?
2021-06-12 (or before) in arXiv.org e-Print archiveIn a recent study (Garrett, 2011), I described theoretical arguments and empirical evidence showing how civilization evolution might be considered from a purely physical basis. One implication is that civilization exhibits the property of persistence in its growth. Here, this argument is elaborated further, and specific near-term forecasts are provided for key economic variables and anthropogenic CO2 emission rates at global scales. Absent some external shock, civilization wealth, energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions will continue to grow exponentially at an average rate of about 2.3% per year.
Tagged under: Economic Growth
The poverty of ‘economic growth’
2021-06-12 (or before) by in Al JazeeraSimplistic stories of GDP growth are blinding us to the social and ecological destruction it so often entails.
Tagged under: GDP | Economic Growth
Net zero targets are fossil fuel greenwashing
2021-04-03 by in Deep Green Resistance News ServiceFriends of Earth International (FoEI) published a report revealing the greenwashing of net zero emissions of the fossil fuel industries. In this piece, Kim Hill writes about the problems with the concept of economic growth that the report does not acknowledge. Originally published at Medium. Featured image: Headline on World Coal Association website, March 2017 By […]
Tagged under: Net Zero | Economic Growth
The Tragedy of Growth
2021-03-06 (or before) in Positive Money - Making money and banking work for societyTo protect wellbeing and avoid ecological disaster we must abandon GDP growth and transform our economic system Critiques of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as a measure of economic progress are widespread. However ‘beyond GDP’ narratives often seek to complement the dominant indicator with other measures of progress, aiming for ‘inclusive’ or ‘green’ growth, instead of […]
Tagged under: GDP | Economic Growth
Liebreich: Climate and Finance – Lessons from a Time Machine | BloombergNEF
2021-03-03 in BloombergNEFThe global economy’s pivot to low carbon is gathering momentum. By the time of COP26 in Glasgow in November this year, countries responsible for 78% of global GDP will have pledged net-zero emissions by 2050 or, in the case of China and Brazil, 2060.
Tagged under: COP26 | Net Zero | Economic Growth | Finance
Worker wellbeing and productivity in advanced economies: Re-examining the link | Journal paper by Amy Isham, Simon Mair and Tim Jackson
2021-02-26 in CUSP | Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable ProsperityLabour productivity is a key concept for understanding the way modern economies use resources and features prominently in ecological economics. Ecological economists have questioned the desirability of labour productivity growth on both environmental and social grounds. In this paper we aim to contribute to ongoing debates by focusing on the link between labour productivity and worker wellbeing.
Tagged under: Economics | Economic Growth
Living the Good Life in a Non-Growth World --- The Talk Version – Economics from the Top Down
2021-02-18 in Economics from the Top Down – New ideas in economics and the social sciencesThe talk version of my recent paper on degrowth.
Tagged under: Degrowth | Economics | Economic Growth
Economics of biodiversity review: what are the recommendations?
2021-02-02 in The GuardianLandmark report says GDP should be ditched as measure of wealth and nature valued to protect wildlife and humans
Tagged under: Economics | Wildlife | Economic Growth
Helping poorest tackle climate crisis will boost global growth, says IMF head
2021-01-25 in The GuardianKristalina Georgieva says investing to create resilient economies is a ‘win-win-win-win’ scenario
Tagged under: COP26 | Greenhouse Gases | Economics | Economic Growth
Sustainability: What are the alternatives to economic growth?
2021-01-14 (or before) in European Environment AgencyHow can societies and people prosper and grow without harming the environment and climate? Is it possible to implement the European Green Deal through social innovations that have little or no environmental impact? To broaden the sustainability debate, a European Environment Agency (EEA) briefing, published today, explores alternative ways of thinking about growth and progress.
Tagged under: Economic Growth | Sustainability
The 'market' won't save us from climate disaster. We must rethink our system | Robert S Devine
2020-11-19 in The GuardianExpecting the free market to fix global warming is like trying to pound nails with a saw
Tagged under: Economics | Economic Growth | US Politics
Fifth of countries at risk of ecosystem collapse, analysis finds
2020-10-12 in The GuardianTrillions of dollars of GDP depend on biodiversity, according to Swiss Re report
Tagged under: GDP | Insurance | Wildlife | Economic Growth | Collapse
Approximate calculations of the net economic impact of global warming mitigation targets under heightened damage estimates
2020-10-09 (or before) in PLOS - Open ScienceEfforts to mitigate global warming are often justified through calculations of the economic damages that may occur absent mitigation. The earliest such damage estimates were speculative mathematical representations, but some more recent studies provide empirical estimates of damages on economic growth that accumulate over time and result in larger damages than those estimated previously. These heightened damage estimates have been used to suggest that limiting global warming this century to 1.5 °C avoids tens of trillions of 2010 US$ in damage to gross world product relative to limiting global warming to 2.0 °C. However,...
Tagged under: Greenhouse Gases | Climate Change | Economics | Economic Growth | Climate Change Mitigation
GDP Is the Wrong Tool for Measuring What Matters
2020-07-29 (or before) by in Scientific AmericanIt’s time to replace gross domestic product with real metrics of well-being and sustainability
Tagged under: GDP | Economic Growth | Sustainability
Scientists’ warning on affluence - Nature Communications
2020-06-28 (or before) in NatureCurrent environmental impact mitigation neglects over-consumption from affluent citizens as a primary driver. The authors highlight the role of bottom-up movements to overcome structural economic growth imperatives spurring consumption by changing structures and culture towards safe and just systems.
Tagged under: Economic Growth | Climate Change Mitigation
Britons want quality of life indicators to take priority over economy
2020-05-10 in The GuardianPolls finds majority would like ministers to prioritise health and wellbeing over GDP during coronavirus crisis
Tagged under: GDP | Economics | Economic Growth | Health
Global economic growth will take big hit due to loss of nature
2020-02-12 by Fiona Harvey in The GuardianDamage to environment could wipe £368bn a year from growth by 2050 and UK will be hard hit, WWF warns
Tagged under: Animal Populations | Biodiversity Loss | Natural World | Economics | GDP | Fish | Economic Growth | Trees
The Great Affordability Crisis Breaking America
2020-02-09 (or before) by in The AtlanticIn one of the best decades the American economy has ever recorded, families were bled dry.
Tagged under: Housing | Economic Growth | Health | Economics | Finance
For the Economy, Climate Risks Are No Longer Theoretical
2020-01-28 (or before) by in The Wall Street Journal - Breaking News, Business, Financial & Economic News, World News and VideoClimate crises in the next 30 years may resemble financial crises in recent decades: potentially quite destructive, largely unpredictable and, given the powerful underlying causes, inevitable.
Tagged under: Wildfires | Climate Change | Economic Growth
Nicola Sturgeon: Wellbeing as important as economic growth - BBC News
2020-01-24 (or before) in BBCIn a speech later, Ms Sturgeon will say Scotland is creating an economy where "collective wellbeing" is as fundamental as GDP.
Tagged under: GDP | Economic Growth
Wellbeing and Productivity: A Review of the Literature | Working Paper by Amy Isham, Simon Mair and Tim Jackson
2020-01-20 in CUSP | Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable ProsperityThis report reviews the relationships between the different aspects of wellbeing, productivity, and productivity growth. It is the culmination of a desk-based evidence review, survey, and a mapping workshop held with experts from backgrounds including psychology, sociology, economics, and design. The focus is on wellbeing and labour productivity.
Tagged under: Economics | Economic Growth
CUSP | Understanding Sustainable Prosperity
2020-01-10 (or before) in CUSP | Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable ProsperityCUSP is an internationally leading research organisation, dedicated to tackling the post-growth challenge. The research addresses not just the economic aspects of sustainable prosperity, but also its social, political and philosophical dimensions. Working closely with business, social enterprise, civil society and government, the Centre aims to develop pragmatic steps towards an inclusive economy that works for everyone.
Tagged under: Economic Growth
Australia Will Lose to Climate Change
2020-01-06 (or before) in The AtlanticEven as the country fights bushfires, it can’t stop dumping planet-warming pollution into the atmosphere.
Tagged under: Oceans | Global Warming | Climate Change | Australia | Bushfires | Wildfires | Economic Growth | Great Barrier Reef | Coral Reefs
CUSP | Understanding Sustainable Prosperity
2020-01-01 (or before) in CUSP | Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable ProsperityCUSP is an internationally leading research organisation, dedicated to tackling the post-growth challenge. The research addresses not just the economic aspects of sustainable prosperity, but also its social, political and philosophical dimensions. Working closely with business, social enterprise, civil society and government, the Centre aims to develop pragmatic steps towards an inclusive economy that works for everyone.
Tagged under: Economic Growth
It's time to retire metrics like GDP. They don't measure everything that matters | Joseph Stiglitz
2019-11-24 by Joseph Stiglitz in The GuardianThe way we assess economic performance and social progress is fundamentally wrong, and the climate crisis has brought these concerns to the fore
Tagged under: Climate Change | Economics | GDP | Economic Growth
Why climate change is an irrelevance, economic growth is a myth and sustainability is forty years too late | Global Comment
2019-11-20 in Global CommentHave climate-change activists got it wrong? This is what Kevin Casey thinks the real problem is
Tagged under: Economics | Climate Change | Activism | Economic Growth | Sustainability
Growing pain: the delusion of boundless economic growth
2019-10-16 (or before) in openDemocracyGambling on a future of continued economic growth is a bad bet with long odds and extremely high stakes.
Tagged under: Economic Growth
The Massive Cost of Not Adapting to Climate Change
2019-10-13 (or before) in BloombergThe world must invest $1.8 trillion by 2030 to prepare for the effects of global warming. A new report said the payoff could be four times that.
Tagged under: Climate Change | Economic Growth
Vaclav Smil: ‘Growth must end. Our economist friends don’t seem to realise that’
2019-09-21 in The GuardianThe scientist and author on why humanity’s endless expansion must stop.
Tagged under: Economics | Economic Growth
Should we pursue boundless economic growth? - Prospect Magazine
2019-06-12 in Prospect MagazineIs growth the source of our climate crisis or the means to fixing it? Two contributors go head-to-head
Tagged under: Economic Growth
The Sequel: Life After Economic Growth
2019-04-04 (or before) in Tikkun - The Prophetic Jewish, Interfaith & Secular Voice to Heal and Transform the WorldShaun Chamberlin writes about the central dilemma in our globalized world: growth vs. non-growth and the impact on our economy and planet.
Tagged under: Economic Growth
Oxford Economics: Oil and Natural Gas Is Driving U.S. Economic Growth Across Sectors
2019-02-12 in Energy In Depth | A Project of IPAAFueled by record-setting oil and natural gas production, the U.S. extraction sector is poised to grow faster than any other industry this year, according to a new analysis by Oxford Economics. The research firm predicted that the oil, natural gas and mining sector could grow...
Tagged under: Predictions | Economics | Economic Growth
The False Choice Between Economic Growth and Combatting Climate Change
2019-02-09 (or before) in The New YorkerTagged under: Climate Change | Economic Growth
Trump ditches coal when hyping 'revolution in American energy' in SOTU speech
2019-02-05 by in The HillPresident Trump did not mention coal when he declared Tuesday night that his administration has “unleashed a revolution in American energy” that has lead to historic energy export highs and economic grow
Tagged under: Economic Growth | Donald Trump | Coal | Economics
IMF Survey : Counting the Cost of Energy Subsidies
2018-12-27 (or before) in International Monetary FundEnergy subsidies are projected at US$5.3 trillion in 2015, or 6.5 percent of global GDP, according to a recent IMF study. Most of this arises from countries setting energy taxes below levels that fully reflect the environmental damage associated with energy consumption.
Tagged under: Economic Growth
Scientists vindicate 1972 'Limits to Growth' – urge investment in 'circular economy' | Nafeez Ahmed
2014-06-04 in The GuardianNafeez Ahmed: Early warning of civilisational collapse by early to mid 21st century startlingly prescient - but opportunity for transition open
Tagged under: Economic Growth | Collapse
Why the economy needs nature | Tony Juniper
2013-01-09 in The GuardianTony Juniper: Nature is not a drag on growth – its protection is an unavoidable prerequisite for sustaining economic development
Tagged under: Economics | Wildlife | Economic Growth
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