makingit_16_pp6-13_globalforum_print 24/07/2014 18:11 Page 11
Photo: Reuters
GLOBAL FORUM
“The appeal of green growth is clear: no fundamental change is needed. Policies can be that little bit greener. Business models can incorporate more corporate social responsibility. But the underlying structures of unsustainable economies and lifestyles remain the same.” growth, and growth exercises a powerful hold on the imaginations of policymakers across the world. The appeal of green growth is clear: no fundamental change is needed. Policies can be that little bit greener. Business models can incorporate more corporate social responsibility. But the underlying structures of unsustainable economies and lifestyles remain the same. The problem – identified by proponents of an “End to Growth” (Richard Heinberg) or a “Great Disruption” (Paul Gilding) – is
that ecologically, any kind of growth pushes against the limits of a finite planet: the rising economic costs of climate change and resource extraction (especially unconventional gas and oil via hydraulic fracturing and tar sands). Economically, there are clear, diminishing returns to growth in most industrialized economies. In this sense, post-growth or de-growth become the ‘new normal’ of economic activities – like it or not. The same is true for productivity gains:
the more efficient a process becomes, the more difficult it is to squeeze out that extra one percent of increased productivity. Mats Larsson even argues that “innovativity” – the ability to innovate new products and production processes – has inbuilt limits. If a product can be produced at zero cost and in zero time, no more innovation is possible. With advances in information technology, that possibility is rapidly becoming visible. In post-growth or de-growth, the goal ➤
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