This article in HBR makes a case for looking at degrowth proposals for social ecological well being given that evidence historically and in the present don’t hold too much hope for proposals on green growth and energy transition. One of the key insights here is on the energy transition and how it is an illusion. Do read https://lnkd.in/gcE-4wbP #degrowth #energytransition
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Moment in time. Harvard Business Review in support of #degrowth Despite some resistance, especially from the business sector, the arguments supporting degrowth underscore the inextricable link between economic growth and environmental degradation, proposing a shift toward more sustainable business practices and a reevaluation of the myths surrounding “sustainable growth,” such as the effectiveness of energy transitions and efficiency improvements, which often overlook significant environmental impacts and dependencies on existing energy infrastructures. Worth reading every word of this by Christopher Marquis
In Defense of Degrowth
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Really great points on the fundamental, frequently overlooked challenges with transitioning our economy, businesses and society to sustainable/regenerative models. I'd only add - we need to consider our language carefully. Terms like 'degrowth' could trigger a sense of loss and pain of losing. Thus they can turn people off. Instead, it's good to use terms highlighting commonly recognised outcomes, such as 'good lives for all' - more on this in the comments.
A nuanced article on degrowth appeared in The New York Times earlier this week ( 👉 see here: https://lnkd.in/e4XJmhU8). Now also in Harvard Business Review ( 👇 ). Rethinking our economic model is becoming mainstream, and rightly so. We've spent too much time on the fairy tales of "innovating our way out" of climate crises and believing that merely correcting flaws, like not pricing adverse effects such as carbon emissions, will lead to a sustainable growing economy. It's time for a more profound shift in our approach. Here are some key myths about "sustainable" growth that the article debunks: 🔺 Myth: We're in an energy transition. 🔋⚡ Reality: The shift to renewables often adds to existing energy sources rather than replacing them, leading to increased energy consumption and environmental impacts. 🔺 Myth: Energy efficiency will solve climate change. 🌱🏢 Reality: Increased efficiency can lead to higher overall emissions due to the rebound effect, where lower costs spur greater use. 🔺 Myth: Innovation will save us. 🚀🌍 Reality: Technologies like green hydrogen and carbon capture face significant challenges and often overpromise on their potential to reduce emissions. 𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 (𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬) 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡 A quote for the new minister: 💬 "𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚜 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚋𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚎𝚏𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚒𝚝 𝚞𝚗𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔 𝚎𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛. 𝚆𝚎 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚞𝚖𝚙𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚣𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚍𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚜 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚖𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚎𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚢, 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚒𝚛𝚌𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚛 𝚖𝚘𝚍𝚎𝚕𝚜 𝚊𝚜 𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚘𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚍𝚛𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚞𝚖𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚐𝚢 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜. 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚊 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚐𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚊 𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚊 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚎, 𝚜𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕-𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚎𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚞𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜." https://lnkd.in/e8ACNZfT
In Defense of Degrowth
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Governments & citizens who favor #FreeMarketCapitalism & #Justice shouldn't promote degrowth. Rather, we should be making polluters and destroyers of #NaturalCapital pay. To allow the #market to maximize economic efficiency on a finite planet, we need to internalize positive and negative "externalities" that recognize #PlanetaryBoundaries. This Harvard Business Review article by Christopher Marquis is a good read as it highlights how it is not only oil companies who ignore negative #externalities, but much of the "green" economy as well. Governments shouldn't be picking winners and losers. Rather, we should be working to incorporate planetary boundaries into a market system that rewards those that give us positive "externalities" (like land stewards & ecosystem service providers) while having polluters and destroyers of natural capital compensate society at large. We have the technology to more accurately measure #TrueCosts and #Benefits. Continuing to ignore a growing list of "externalities" is not only lazy & unjust, but is wishful thinking that flies in the face of reality. https://lnkd.in/gcDwjMQp
In Defense of Degrowth
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Continuing on the theme of sustainability, check out HBR’s article on “The Defense of Degrowth” by Christopher Marquis. In a world with finite resources, the focus on continuous economic growth needs urgent reassessment. The concept of "degrowth" questions the necessity of perpetual expansion, highlighting its conflict with ecological sustainability. #Sustainability #Degrowth #EnvironmentalImpact #SustainableBusiness #EconomicReevaluation #HBR
In Defense of Degrowth
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Head of Sales and Solutions for TCS Hybrid Cloud (IaaS, PaaS, Cloud Consulting) and Market Creator for US, UK&I and India
There is a critical need to reassess the focus on continuous growth in the global economic system. The concept of “degrowth” challenges the necessity of perpetual economic expansion for human prosperity, suggesting it contradicts ecological sustainability on a planet with finite resources. Despite some resistance, especially from the business sector, the arguments supporting degrowth underscore the inextricable link between economic growth and environmental degradation, proposing a shift toward more sustainable business practices and a reevaluation of the myths surrounding “sustainable growth,” such as the effectiveness of energy transitions and efficiency improvements, which often overlook significant environmental impacts and dependencies on existing energy infrastructures. The article advocates for a societal movement toward reducing consumption and over-production, while embracing values of care and redistribution, challenging traditional market-first ideologies.
In Defense of Degrowth
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There is a critical need to reassess the focus on continuous growth in the global economic system. The concept of “degrowth” challenges the necessity of perpetual economic expansion for human prosperity, suggesting it contradicts ecological sustainability on a planet with finite resources. Despite some resistance, especially from the business sector, the arguments supporting degrowth underscore the inextricable link between economic growth and environmental degradation, proposing a shift toward more sustainable business practices and a reevaluation of the myths surrounding “sustainable growth,” such as the effectiveness of energy transitions and efficiency improvements, which often overlook significant environmental impacts and dependencies on existing energy infrastructures. The article advocates for a societal movement toward reducing consumption and over-production, while embracing values of care and redistribution, challenging traditional market-first ideologies. #Sustainability #ThincStrategy
In Defense of Degrowth
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There is a critical need to reassess the focus on continuous growth in the global economic system. The concept of “degrowth” challenges the necessity of perpetual economic expansion for human prosperity, suggesting it contradicts ecological sustainability on a planet with finite resources. Despite some resistance, especially from the business sector, the arguments supporting degrowth underscore the inextricable link between economic growth and environmental degradation, proposing a shift toward more sustainable business practices and a reevaluation of the myths surrounding “sustainable growth,” such as the effectiveness of energy transitions and efficiency improvements, which often overlook significant environmental impacts and dependencies on existing energy infrastructures. The article advocates for a societal movement toward reducing consumption and over-production, while embracing values of care and redistribution, challenging traditional market-first ideologies.
In Defense of Degrowth
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There is a critical need to reassess the focus on continuous growth in the global economic system. The concept of “degrowth” challenges the necessity of perpetual economic expansion for human prosperity, suggesting it contradicts ecological sustainability on a planet with finite resources. Despite some resistance, especially from the business sector, the arguments supporting degrowth underscore the inextricable link between economic growth and environmental degradation, proposing a shift toward more sustainable business practices and a reevaluation of the myths surrounding “sustainable growth,” such as the effectiveness of energy transitions and efficiency improvements, which often overlook significant environmental impacts and dependencies on existing energy infrastructures. The article advocates for a societal movement toward reducing consumption and over-production, while embracing values of care and redistribution, challenging traditional market-first ideologies.
In Defense of Degrowth
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I was just about to write a long-winded post detailing my heroic sustainability journey of taking the train through Europe for work instead of flying, writing about all the things about subsidies and the oil-industry. I was ready to paint myself as the eco-warrior you all need in your lives. But then I thought, "Why not just share this article instead?" Seriously, if there's one thing you should read today (or this summer), it's this by Christopher Marquis (and if the article is not enough he has just published a book "The Profiteers: How Business Privatizes Profit and Socializes Cost" read it if you afford it): https://lnkd.in/d7e7_pgk Don't sleep on me, an article is coming about being an active economic citizen, how the world economic system is totally messed up, and why understanding it is as fundamental as voting for your political party.
In Defense of Degrowth
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I took last #relearningregeneration Wednesday to rest and deal with the very real consequences of climate change on persons with chronic illnesses like me. But, I am back this week, and wanted to share this article on why we need to move towards degrowth (LinkedIn autocorrected degrowth to regrowth!LOL). Here's the link: https://lnkd.in/g3qUBfnn "Leaders need to avoid the trap of focusing on selective positives that make us all feel good (e.g., the boom in renewables; efficiency gains; green innovations) and understand we need to make a fundamental shift, from reducing or offsetting emissions to avoiding emissions from the start, in the conception and design of products. It’s not clear we can do this while continuing to grow in developed economies. Furthermore, many parts of the world persist in extreme poverty — they will need to see the benefits of industrialization, which heightens the need for citizens of wealthy countries to face the harsh reality that our flourishing can no longer depend on economic growth."
In Defense of Degrowth
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