degrowth – is considered the kiss of death at the polls by politicians Right and Left. It has been portrayed as bringing the horrors of continual recession, austerity and joblessness. But, if we took it seriously, we would have a world to win. Degrowth means reorienting our world to live within ecological limits. The starting point is to view the natural world as essential rather than an ‘other’ to be colonized and plundered.
we would need to rebalance the use of ecological space and resources. Poorer nations, where inhabitants reach just a quarter of their annual per capita material boundary, would be given space to expand and develop. Those in high-income nations – who exceed their per capita share by nearly four times – would need to shift to a culture of sharing rather than acquisition.