The global economy has already outgrown the Earth, writes Jason Hickel. Yet even the UN insists that we need decades of continued economic growth to end poverty. The truth is the precise reverse: we must end growth - not just to save our planet but to refocus the economy on meeting human needs.
… To deliver sustainable development, first give up on … needs. What is so refreshing about the UN's Sustainable Development Goals is that they … global warming below 2C, and calls for "sustainable patterns of production and …
Food has never been more affordable for middle class families in rich countries. But it comes at a high cost: the impact of industrial food production on health, environment and society has never been greater as Patrick Holden explained to Emily Lewis-Brown. Now the real cost of food US production will be examined in a ground-breaking conference in San Francisco.
… Food . Patrick Holden - dairy farmer, sustainable food campaigner and organiser of the conference - believes that sustainable farming is being held back by the … That's one of the core missions of the Sustainable Food Trust, which Patrick launched …
Off-grid renewable energy is key to achieving the global goal of 100% electricity access by 2030, writes Adnan Z. Amin, and to achieving the emissions reductions enshrined in the Paris Agreement. Thankfully, a confluence of factors - including rapid cost declines and impressive technology innovations - are making this goal more achievable than ever, and investment in the sector is taking off.
… Off-grid renewables: the sustainable route to 100% global electricity … and the ECOWAS Programme on Access to Sustainable Energy Services, are steps in the … arena, primarily in the fields of sustainable development, international energy …
When Chancellor George Osborne delivers his Budget next month, we can be sure that climate and environment won't take a high priority, writes Alan Simpson. All the more reason for the Labour leadership to develop a new 'one planet' economics for the 21st century that delivers social justice and respects ecological limits.
… A sustainable UK needs a 'one planet' Budget … moment to outline the different shape of a sustainable economics. Osborne is obsessed …
The idea that our profit-oriented, growth-driven economic system can deliver a sustainable society is a beguiling one, write Lili Fuhr, Thomas Fatheuer & Barbara Unmüßig. But it is doomed to failure. The changes we need are in the first place political, and will be driven by a new democratic will to put people and planet before money.
… growth-driven economic system can deliver a sustainable society is a beguiling one, write … and economic crisis and usher in a new era of sustainable growth has been gathering force. … Green Books. Lili Fuhr heads the Ecology and Sustainable Development Department at the …
The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has found India's huge solar initiative 'guilty' of breaking trade rules, write Dipti Bhatnagar & Sam Cossar-Gilbert, because it gives domestic manufacturers a small 10% quota for the supply of panels, leaving up to 90% for foreign competitors. It's a warning for perils of the entire WTO system, and of even harsher trade rules like those in TPP, TTIP and CETA.
… arguing it was part of their commitment to UN sustainable development initiatives and … courts. Trade policies are preventing a sustainable future. In 2012, the WTO ruled … helps rather than hinders the development of sustainable societies, by supporting local …
Reporting from The 5th International Degrowth Conference in Budapest - which continues today and tomorrow - NICK MEYNEN explores the new narrative of ‘sufficiency' being discussed and and asks will it catch on before it's too late?
… the conditions for humanity to thrive. Sustainable degrowth challenges inequalities … that combines local organic farms with sustainable distribution by carbobike and …
Conventional economic analyses of trade tend only to discern the flows of money, writes NICK MEYNEN. But by also considering biophysical metrics - such as material and energy flows, and embodied water and land - ecological economists can identify the asymmetric flows of resources obscured by the apparent reciprocity of market prices.
New scientific insights on ecologically unequal trade Nick Meynen | 23rd November 2016 Comment Ecology Trade Economics Biophysical tokyo skyline.jpg Conventional economic analyses of trade tend only …
The EU referendum debate is taking place between different wings of the corporate elite, dominated by assumptions in favour of big business, free trade and endless economic growth, write Helena Norberg-Hodge, Rupert Read & Thomas Wallgren. But to vote for a sustainable future we must adopt a very different, local perspective - one you'll never find in UK's 'mainstream' media.
… Read & Thomas Wallgren. But to vote for a sustainable future we must adopt a very …
The main concerns that drove the Brexit vote - mass immigration and declining job prospects - must be taken seriously, writes Colin Hines, in the UK and across Europe. We need a new, cooperative union: of decentralised regional economies, with public investment in 'green' infrastructure driving our transition to a sustainable, low carbon future.
… infrastructure driving our transition to a sustainable, low carbon future. Pre and post … Green New Deal will replace austerity with a sustainable prosperity nationwide. Cooperation … be built upon in terms of a continent wide sustainable infrastructure project to generate …
Forty years ago workers at Lucas Aerospace created a detailed plan to transition out of the arms industry and into green, sustainable products and technologies, writes David King. it never happened, yet the Lucas Plan provides a blueprint for similar initiatives today to build a deep-rooted, broad-based movement for social, economic and ecological progress.
… out of the arms industry and into green, sustainable products and technologies, writes …
According to classical economics Adam Smith's 'invisible' hand' of free markets produces the greatest good for us all, writes JP Sottile. But what happens when rip-roaring 'external costs' are left out of the equations? Wars, repression, pollution, resource destruction and climate change. And because that invisible hand is connected to Mother Nature, it's coming back to strike us.
… prices - are driven out of business by the unsustainable inefficiencies produced by bad … subsidized use of hydrocarbons to power an unsustainable, ecosystem-denuding industrial … market correction that comes when the unsustainable force finally hits the immovable …
What's the point of farming? To produce an abundance of wholesome food, writes Colin Tudge, while supporting a flourishing rural economy and a sustainable, biodiverse countryside. Yet the powers that be, determined to advance industrial agriculture at all costs, are achieving the precise opposite. It's time for a revolution in our food and farming culture, led by the people at large.
… supporting a flourishing rural economy and a sustainable, biodiverse countryside. Yet the … the powers-that-be recommend. To be truly sustainable farms need to be low-input; … event next weekend to discuss and debate 'a sustainable future of food and farming'. It …
Over in Davos world leaders are desperately trying to find a 'fourth industrial revolution' to keep the 'growth' juggernaut rolling, write Bennet Francis & Rupert Read. But their efforts are doomed: the real challenge we face is to build a healthy, more equal society and a green, sustainable future for us all.
… a healthy, more equal society and a green, sustainable future for us all. This week, the …
Brexit gives the UK the chance to reform the system of agricultural subsidies that rewards wealthy landowners at the expense of taxpayers, the global south, the environment, and small scale sustainable farmers, writes Alex Scrivener. But strong, effective campaigning will be needed to bring about the changes we desperately need.
… south, the environment, and small scale sustainable farmers, writes Alex Scrivener. … subsidies in a way that promotes a more sustainable farming model. Subsidies should …
The greatest myth of the consumer society is that modern lifestyles are 'normal' - and this can continue forever because we're clever little apes who can solve any problem, writes Paul Mobbs. That hubris, in the face of insurmountable ecological limits, will be our collective downfall.
… world, if there is to be any hope of a sustainable and equitable world the … of Energy Beyond Oil and A Practical Guide to Sustainable ICT (which is available free … growth, if there is to be any hope of a sustainable and equitable world the …
The trade ban on rhino horn is not working, writes Keith Somerville. But non-lethally and sustainably harvested rhino horn can earn income to encourage breeders, pay rangers and anti-poaching teams, provide surveillance and supply wider benefits that will gain the support of people around parks, reserves and ranches.
To save our rhinos, we need a legal horn trade Keith Somerville University of Kent | 22nd September 2016 Comment Wildlife Trade Economics Africa Swaziland Conservation Hunting Farming …
Last week's 'War on Waste' - throwaway coffee cups were the deserving target - was an exemplar of effective single-issue campaigning by Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall. But the answers to our waste problems go way beyond recycling. We must begin to plan a societal transition to a post-consumer culture of caring, sharing, and knowing when we have enough.
Hugh's 'War on Waste' is great - but we need to grasp the bigger picture Sam Earle | 3rd August 2016 Comment Waste Consumerism Recycling Economics Green Economy Society UK Fashion Drink …
The UK's exit from the EU won't deliver for the 'victims of globalisation' whose votes were decisive in the referendum result, writes Pete Dolack. All the economic scenarios advanced to date envisage more of the 'free trade' and neoliberalism that has global empowered capital against communities and the well-paid jobs that once sustained them. Plus ca change ...
The Brexit con: the exit Britain needs is from neoliberal capitalism Pete Dolack | 30th June 2016 News EU UK Politics Trade Economics brexit-cut.jpg The UK's exit from the EU won't deliver for the …
Inequality is on the agenda at the World Economic Forum in Davos this year, write David Sogge & Nick Buxton. A good thing, right? But look at the proposed 'solutions': ramp up the neoliberal 'development' model; lighten business regulation; pursue globalisation with greater vigor ... Yes, you got it. They would all accelerate the transfer the world's wealth upwards to corporate elites.
The Davos solution to inequality? Another corporate power grab David Sogge Nick Buxton | 23rd January 2016 News Economics Society Corporations Law wef-16-cut.jpg Inequality is on the agenda at the …
Hydrogen made from renewable electricity is already fuelling vehicles at affordable prices, writes DAVID THORPE. But now the 'green' fuel is set to go from niche to mainstream - powering not just cars, trucks and buses, but storing surplus renewable energy on sunny and windy days, then to be burnt in gas turbines or fuel cells to supply the grid with reliable power on demand.
… , was for two years a Special Consultant on Sustainable Cities Collective ( see below … (Earthscan, 2011) Earthscan Expert Guide to Sustainable Home Refurbishment (Earthscan, …
For years the 'market mantra' has been to save forests by selling the carbon they embody, writes Chris Lang, harnessing the profit motive for the benefit of trees and climate. But it never worked, and now even former fans are admitting that REDD is just another failed conservation fad. So what next? How about asking local communities to manage their forests as commons?
… approaches that integrate agriculture, sustainable uses, and conservation." The new …
The EU is already paying farmers and landowners for creating and maintaining valuable habitats, write Dominic Hogg & Luke Dale-Harris. But could the UK do better by creating markets in 'ecosystem services' that would put financial value on clean water, key wildlife habitats, endangered species and precious landscapes?
… is an independent consultancy helping to make sustainable choices the obvious ones. The …