Imagining Europe Beyond Growth

The document argues that the pursuit of GDP growth is incompatible with ecological stability and proposes a shift toward 'degrowth' and 'postgrowth' models. It examines the role of new institutions, such as ethical cooperatives and not-for-profit businesses, and discusses policy instruments like working time reduction and the 'Cap and Share' framework. The text also addresses the geopolitical risks of this transition, the rise of eco-fascism, and the need for a just transition for workers and the Global South.

• The concept of degrowth is increasingly viewed as a rigorous science rather than just an activist slogan, with literature growing from a few papers in 2008 to over 600 scientific studies a decade later.
• There is a lack of empirical evidence that economic growth can be sufficiently decoupled from environmental impacts to address climate breakdown, rendering 'green growth' an unrealistic strategy.
• A 'wellbeing economy' is proposed as a system no longer structurally dependent on growth, focusing instead on five core values: participation, fairness, purpose, nature, and dignity.
• The 'doughnut economics' framework, which aims to meet human needs within planetary boundaries, has been adopted by over 70 cities and regions globally, including Amsterdam, Brussels, Barcelona, and Copenhagen.
• Commons and ethical cooperatives, such as the Belgian energy cooperative Ecopower, serve as 'prefigurative practices' that demonstrate how economic sectors can function without a growth mandate.
• Transitioning to a postgrowth economy requires a shift from for-profit businesses to not-for-profit (NFP) structures to eliminate the systemic pressure for endless production and consumption.
• Social-ecological working time reduction (WTR), such as a four-day work week, is identified as a key policy to break the 'growth-jobs treadmill' and improve quality of life while reducing emissions.
• The 'Cap and Share' framework is proposed to phase out fossil fuels by capping supply through permits and distributing the resulting revenue on a per-capita basis to ensure a progressive wealth distribution.
• Eco-fascism is emerging as a threat where far-right ideologies co-opt environmentalism to justify discriminatory population control and 'ecobordering' (framing immigration control as environmental protection).
• In India, GDP growth has not consistently translated into employment or poverty reduction, evidenced by a 'jobless growth' syndrome where the ratio of employment growth to GDP growth is less than 0.1.
• Austria's Circular Economy Strategy aims for a climate-neutral society by 2050, targeting a reduction of the material footprint to 7 tonnes per capita and year by 2050.
• The transition to a postgrowth EU may create geopolitical instabilities, as it could weaken international partners who rely on Western demand and increase dependencies on critical minerals for clean tech.

APA

Green European Journal (2023). Imagining Europe Beyond Growth. https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Imagining-Europe-Beyond-Growth-May-2023.pdf

Chicago

Green European Journal. Imagining Europe Beyond Growth. 2023. https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Imagining-Europe-Beyond-Growth-May-2023.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Green European Journal |title=Imagining Europe Beyond Growth |date=May 2023 |url=https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Imagining-Europe-Beyond-Growth-May-2023.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{greeneuropeanjournal2023imagining, author = {{Green European Journal}}, title = {{Imagining Europe Beyond Growth}}, institution = {Green European Journal}, year = {2023}, month = may, url = {https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Imagining-Europe-Beyond-Growth-May-2023.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }