VOS

I am writing this message to the millions of people who have been involved in the climate movement over the past several years. This movement has been an incredible force, thanks to your courage, passion and commitment. It has created a new public consciousness and a powerful sense of popular will. These are major achievements. And yet it is clear that we have now reached an impasse and a new path is needed.

Some narratives in international development hold that ending poverty and achieving good lives for all will require every country to reach the levels of GDP per capita that currently characterise high-income countries. However, this would require increasing total global output and resource use several times over, dramatically exacerbating ecological breakdown. Furthermore, universal convergence along these lines is unlikely within the imperialist structure of the existing world economy. Here we demonstrate that this dilemma can be resolved with a different approach, rooted in recent needs-based analyses of poverty and development. Strategies for development should not pursue capitalist growth and increased aggregate production as such, but should rather increase the specific forms of production that are necessary to improve capabilities and meet human needs at a high standard, while ensuring universal access to key goods and services through public provisioning and decommodification. At the same time, in high

Scientists have raised concerns about whether high-income countries, with their high per-capita CO2 emissions, can decarbonise fast enough to meet their obligations under the Paris Agreement if they continue to pursue aggregate economic growth. Over the past decade, some countries have reduced their CO2 emissions while increasing their gross domestic product (absolute decoupling). Politicians and media have hailed this as green growth. In this empirical study, we aimed to assess whether these achievements are consistent with the Paris Agreement, and whether Paris-compliant decoupling is within reach.

Background Scientists have raised concerns about whether high-income countries, with their high per-capita CO2 emissions, can decarbonise fast enough to meet their obligations under the Paris Agreement if they continue to pursue aggregate economic growth. Over the past decade, some countries have reduced their CO2 emissions while increasing their gross domestic product (absolute decoupling). Politicians and media have hailed this as green growth. In this empirical study, we aimed to assess whether these achievements are consistent with the Paris Agreement, and whether Paris-compliant decoupling is within reach.

Op 15 mei organiseert Denktank Oikos in samenwerking met Kunstencentrum 404 in Gent een debat met de belangrijkste 'degrowth'-denker van het moment, Jason Hickel. Oikos-hoofdredacteur Dirk Holemans daarover: “'Ontgroei' (degrowth) is een filosofisch concept: het toont dat we een heel ander maatschappelijk verhaal nodig hebben dan het blinde groeidenken.”

After all, Western economies – and their economic growth – depend utterly on labour and resources from the South...

Centraal in dit boek staat de vaststelling dat het kapitalisme niet in staat is de klimaatverandering en ecologische ineenstorting op te lossen. Het schetst een duidelijke weg naar een postkapitalistische economie.

Hans Demeyer las 'Minder is Meer' van Jason Hickel en vergeleek dit boek met 'Waarom ons klimaat niet naar de knoppen gaat (als we het hoofd koel houden)' van Maarten Boudry.

Op 24 oktober 2021 sprak Jason Hickel, auteur van Minder is Meer (EPO, 2021), op Ecopolis in Brussel. Zijn toespraak publiceren we hier naar aanleiding van het 50-jarig jubileum van het rapport De Grenzen aan de Groei van de Club van Rome. “Wat we de komende tien jaar doen zal de toekomst van de mensheid bepalen”.

The world has finally awoken to the reality of climate breakdown and ecological collapse. Now we must face up to its primary cause. Capitalism demands perpetual expansion, which is devastating the living world. There is only one solution that will lead to meaningful and immediate change: degrowth.

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