Limits to Growth at 50: the groundbreaking study that failed to change the world
Richard Robertsmedium.com
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Limits to Growth at 50: the groundbreaking study that failed to change the world
Despite all the talk of pollution, global warming and climate change, most countries have yet to make any serious economic or political sacrifices to improve the situation. When the moment comes to choose between economic growth and ecological stability, politicians, CEOs and voters almost always prefer growth.
Yuval Noah Harari • Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow
the attempt to rebuild a national imagination would always be elbowed out of the way by an obsession with achieving economic growth, in the same way that governments who are, on paper, committed to sustainability and climate change mitigation override those values anytime new roads, airports or energy extraction are deemed ‘good for the economy’.
Rob Hopkins • From What Is to What If: Unleashing the Power of Imagination to Create the Future We Want
The combination of our inaction and of the extraordinarily difficult nature of the global warming challenge is best illustrated by the fact that three decades of large-scale international climate conferences have had no effect on the course of global CO2 emissions. The UN’s first conference on climate change took place in 1992; annual climate chang
... See moreVaclav Smil • How the World Really Works: The Science Behind How We Got Here and Where We're Going
But this isn’t how ecology actually works. The problem with economic growth isn’t just that we might run out of resources at some point. The problem is that it progressively degrades the integrity of ecosystems. As onshore oil reserves run dry we can switch to offshore reserves, but both sources contribute to climate breakdown. We might be able to
... See moreJason Hickel • Less is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World
At the end of the day, we have to radically transform society, and we have to do it fast,” he says. That means overhauling politics, policies and institutions, safeguarding food production and the natural world that supports life on Earth.
“That’s the recipe to mitigate collapse,” he says. “But nothing is really happening substantially. We are shift... See more
“That’s the recipe to mitigate collapse,” he says. “But nothing is really happening substantially. We are shift... See more