To Grow or not to Grow

In part 6 of our series of events on green growth and degrowth, we discuss the role of creative destruction for greening growth, and whether slowing growth can also help mitigate climate change.

In 2019, the European Commission launched the “European Green Deal”, a comprehensive policy package aimed at achieving “no net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050”. The Green Deal openly advocates for green growth: “Europe’s new growth strategy” claims that it will be possible to decouple “economic growth […] from resource use”. Of course, this is not without criticism from green-growth sceptics. In part 5 of our event series on green growth and degrowth, we want to discuss how bold and future-proof Europe’s Green Deal really is. Is the European Green Deal as ambitious as it claims and enough to keep the EU within the limits of the Paris climate agreement? Or does it perpetuate ideas responsible for climate change in the first place?

Decarbonizing the economy is necessary to reach the Paris Climate goals. While regulatory incentives like a price for C02 come to everyone’s mind fast, many do not think about the actual work, which businesses have to do to become carbon neutral. How can we create sustainable businesses by reducing C02 emissions? What can businesses already do in the current political environment to become more sustainable? What regulatory changes are needed for a co-existence of businesses with the environment?

How can we decarbonize our economy? The first two events of this series explored diverse ideas and approaches for tackling this question, ranging from Green to Post- to Degrowth. This third event brings them together to establish commonalities and differences, clarify misunderstandings, and to start building bridges for the fight against climate change and the shared goal: paving the way toward a truly sustainable future. After all, whether Green, Post-, or Degrowth, they all aspire toward this same goal and a good life for all. The urgency and dimension of the task at hand calls for overcoming differences and joining forces, wherever possible. There is no time to waste!

How can we decarbonize our economy? Proponents of Postgrowth and Degrowth approaches argue that it will not be possible to decouple economic growth from ecological impacts. Contrary to the logic of Green Growth, they call for abandoning the political fixation on GDP growth and propose alternative economic models for a sustainable future economy. In this second event, we give the floor to leading experts from Postgrowth and Degrowth economics, to present different concepts from this vibrant scholarly field.

How can we decarbonize our economy? This is the question we discuss with our guests. The kick-off event opens the first part of the series. Academic proponents of Green Growth will present their arguments and ideas for what they believe is needed to make developed economies green. It is about the narrative of climate-sensitive transition based on green innovation, sustainable investments, decarbonization, and the academic research behind it.