Challenge to Growth Series
Welcome to DGI’s Challenge to Growth (C2G) series! Through this series, we provide summaries of current thinking and relevant data concerning limits to global economic growth. We point to opportunities for ushering in a more just and ecological economy; one that seeks appropriate growth in some areas, but which is smaller at a global scale. The C2G briefs are open access, with printable versions and graphics downloadable from our website. They are also filled with citations, so that you can dive deeper into the great variety of literature that challenges endless economic growth.
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C2G#1: Has the Economy Outgrown the Planet?
This brief introduces degrowth – intentional downscaling of the global economy to achieve ecological sustainability and social justice – for people working in environmental and social advocacy. It centers the question: “Has the economy outgrown the planet?” because global ecological limits have reshaped the conditions under which we pursue climate action, environmental justice, and many other pressing aims.
8 Pages, or prints as a booklet on 3 sheets of paper.
C2G#2: What Happens to the Savings?
This brief examines how the savings from sustainability efforts are consistently re-allocated to further growth rather than environmental stewardship, with examples and data from the real economy, past and present. We propose that a challenge to endless economic growth must be sustainability’s next evolution, and we provide some ideas for you to support this shift through action in your own work. By investigating what happens to the savings, adding macroeconomic context to environmental claims, and prioritizing equity over efficiency you can help advance the movement for a more just and ecological economy within planetary limits.
14 pages, or prints as a booklet on 5 sheets of paper.