Degrowth: A Good Life for Everyone within Planetary Limits

Of the various approaches to catastrophic climate change, the most radical is degrowth. CUNY sociologist Jack Hammond is a prominent proponent of this view. Not only can we not continue to consume more and more, Hammond argues that we in the wealthy countries of the world need to consume less and less to leave room for the people in poor countries to reach a decent, universal standard of living. Without degrowth our already dire situation will only grow worse.

The UN secretary general, António Guterres, called the recent IPCC report on the climate crisis a “code red” for humanity“. “We are at the verge of the abyss,” he said. Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg declared, “We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!”

Everyone should understand that we cannot have infinite growth on a finite planet. Clearly growth cannot continue. We need degrowth in the north so the south can continue to grow. We could achieve a decent standard of living for everyone by redistributing resources from the wealthy to the poor. It may sound like a painful adaptation to scarcity, but in fact degrowth would mean a shared good life for everyone, recognizing that the fruits of the earth are enough to take care of all our needs as long as they are more evenly distributed.

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