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Sustainable Degrowth of production/consumption
capacities
Francois SchneiderFrancois@degrowth.net
www.degrowth.net
Associate Researcher at theAutonomous University of BarcelonaICTA
Is there limits to growth?• Green growth• Green new deal• Sustainable development• Technical Progress• Cleaner production• Industrial Ecology• Sustainable consumption• Higher quality of life• Improvement of well-being
Degrowth for sustainability and equity
• Slogan to challenge the consensus for growth: « missile concept »
• Reduction of the capacity to produce and consume
– that is sustainable, balanced, democratic, convivial, ecological, social, positive, cultural, fair, innovative, diversified, targeted, local, global and transitory.
Clarifications for SustainableDegrowth
• The first degrowth: degrowth of inequity• Process of transformation• Lower actual and potential consumption and production• Diverse : generalisable but unique lifestyles• Personal and collective at local and global levels• Democratic: for growth critics and implementation• NOT a universal concept• Avoiding crisis or recession (failed growth)• Transition to multi-dimentional mildly-fluctuating sustainable state• Taking account of global consequences• Innovative (frugal innovation)
Different De-growth Streams
1- Degrowth as voluntary simplicityHenri Thoreau/Mahatma Ghandi...2- De-growth as important cultural change, away
from “economism” Jacques Ellul/Ivan Illich/François Partant/André
Gorz...3- Physical and economic de-growth, degrowth
of consumption and production capacityNicholas Georgescu-Roegen4- Sustainable StateHerman Daly...
1
2
3
4
LOWERGROWTHVoluntarysimplicityof a few
SHIFT OFPARADIGM : value given to qualitative aspects
SOCIETALDEGROWTHPROCESS
SUSTAINABLELEVEL
Developed countries and “global North” have a high capacity to
consume and produce• With the financial capacity• With the time-efficient consumption and production• With the capacity of extraction of natural resources• With infrastructures (transport – industry – storage/
distribution and waste “elimination”)• With unfulfilled needs with common use prevention
and planned obsolescence• With advertising and externalisation• With inequities• Positive aspect: social and environmental standards
• FAILURE OF SOLUTIONS: we could solve many ecological, social,
inequity, health... problems!!• CRISIS
High capacities of consumption of production
lead to:
Innovations
We can travel further
Reduced fuel costs
More fuel efficient cars
Rebound
Efficiency gain
Savings can be reallocated
Reduced costs
Efficiency
Rebound effect
Rebound Effects: the case of traffic congestion
unattrac tivetrans port s ys tem
extendedunattrac tive
trans port s ys tem
extended, a ttrac tivetrans port s ys tem
the high reputation ofthe transport systemleads to more demand
congestion is seen as aresult of not demandadjusted capacities
On-going crisis: Misery= little consumption and production
in world of high capacities• Little savings in a large financial
economy• No work where workers overwork• Little natural resource access while high
extraction • No car in a highway world• No property where everything is owned• ...
The recession becomes general
- High capacity to produce and consume
- Low production and consumption
With the general crisis: no way to wait
Problem because the society is geared to growth
- Develop “debound strategies”- Choose lower “purchasing willpower”- Adjust productive capacity- Solidarity, social measures, reduction of
inequities
But instead institutions develop:
• Rebound strategies• Growth policies
INCREASING CAPACITIES TO CONSUME AND PRODUCE!!
Rebound strategiesSelection of solutions that suppress
limits
A few words of advertising
Rebound Strategy
€ € € € € €
€ € € € € €
€ € € € € €
R ebound s tra teg y developing innovations that suppress limits to production and consumption = “productivist innovation”
€€
€ € €
€ € €
Limits to consumption and production are reached € € €
€ € €
Growth policies
Economic growth
• Here understood as “growth of the economy”
• Economism: mixing of welfare and level of production and consumption (makes us forget other tracks)
Growth policies = increasing:
• Liquidity, capital flow, export policies• Working hours, later retirement, overwork, sunday/night
work, suppress speed limits, longer opening hours...• New mining areas, new resources, subsidies to extraction,
reduced prices of natural resources...• More roads, airport, industry, internet, urbanisation...• Barriers to mutualisation, less property free...• Deregulation of input/throughput/output standards• Advertising, rebound unawareness, externalising…• Fiscal paradises, bank secrets... Growth is not “magic”: we take
from someone
Growth policy
G row th polic y relax collective limits to production and consumption
€ € €
€ € €
€ € €
€ € €
€ € €
€ €
€ €
€€
Limits to consumption and production are reached € € €
€ € €
Debound strategies: frugal innovation (innovations that include limits)
Lifestyle innovationSocietal innovation
Degrowth vision• Urban Degrowth, more preserved spaces• Less water use, more rain collection• Waste and incineration degrowth, more recycling and reuse• Degrowth of living spaces per person, less washing machines, less
computers and sharing them• Transport degrowth: less cars, trucks, planes, roads and airports, more
bikes and public transport• Speed and distance reduction, localisation and less hurry• More face to face, less “screen to screen”• From supermarkets to relocalised production and consumption• Lower natality rates• Tourism degrowth, local and slow travel• Agro-industry degrowth, less GMOs, pesticides and herbicides• Less animal products, more organic/ ploughing free agriculture• De-growth of energy use with less fossil energy and nuclear, more
renewables• Reducing bulldozers, explosives and other extractors• Access to usage, eco-tax on “mis-usage”• Less advertising
Degrowth of « purchasing willpower » andDegrowth of muldimensional capacity to
consume and producein accordance with personal and collective,
ecological and social actions
Degrowth policies: Adjustment
Degrowth policies = reducing collective capacity to
produce and consume• Collective reduction of purchasing power on natural
resources (should include redistribution)• Speed limits reduction, non economic / convivial
encounters, sharing work, self production• Reducing extractive tools, lower input parameters...• Less infrastructures to produce and consume, less roads,
reduced capacity, less airports, less industrial production, local level
• Institutionalisation of common goods...• Limits to advertising, participative information, reduced
externalisation... • Reduction of inequalities• Better quality, social, environmental standards
ACTION ON LIMITING FACTORS
DEGROWTH OF THE ECONOMY
FOR SUSTAINABILITY, WELL-BEINGAND EQUITY
Degrowth movement
Short History of french Degrowth Movement
Writings from Georgescu-Roegen, Partant, Ellul, Illich, Latouche...
Books and pressConferences: Unesco 2002, Lyon town-hall
2003, Montbrison 2005, international conference Paris 2008
MarchesDebates in civil society and political partiesNetworks
Some french books on Degrowth
A March for Degrowth
Proceedingsavailable atwww.degrowth.net
Who supports de-growth?
• Groups, collectives, networks who clearly support de-growth
• Convergence of themes and associations• Minorities in political parties, political
mouvements and Unions• General citizens
www.decroissance.orgwww.decroissance.infowww.apres-developpement.orgwww.ladecroissance.net/www.simplicitevolontaire.org/www.decreixement.net/www.decrescita.it/www.decroissance.chtransitionculture.org/www.simpleliving.org/www.downshiftingweek.com/www.entropia-la-revue.orgwww.r-m-o-c.net/...
WWW.DEGROWTH.NET
Francois@degrowth.netcontact@degrowth.net
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