What is Degrowth?
The new IPCC report mentions the term 27 times. Here’s what you need to know:
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has released another landmark report on the worsening climate crisis and the dire need for governments and economies to adapt for the future. The report not only lays out the latest climate change predictions and their likely impact on our societies, but it provides important recommendations on how societies can start preparing for the realities of global heating.
We’re all (hopefully) familiar with the most popular options: increasing efficiency, transitioning to greener technology, reducing carbon emissions — but to my surprise and delight, the IPCC finally deigned to discuss another (in my view, more important) avenue for climate mitigation: degrowth.
Degrowth is the practice of actively reducing production and consumption in the economy. The degrowth movement critiques the assumption that continued economic growth is a good thing. Instead, it argues that both our climate resilience and our well-being could be greatly improved by actively reducing the size and productivity of our economy, shifting our economic goals from increased profit and consumption to improved social and ecological health.
