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...

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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

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R ebound s tra teg y developing innovations that suppress limits to production and consumption = “productivist innovation”

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Limits to consumption and production are reached € € €

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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

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Limits to consumption and production are reached € € €

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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