The consequences of industrialization on the environment environment and the increasingly evident inequality in the distribution of wealth, led in the 70s to different economists and theorists, regardless of the sign politician of their society of origin, to admit that, at increase the production of goods and services, it is inevitable that also increase the consumption of natural resources.
Therefore, if the consumption is faster than the regeneration of the resources used could lead to few years in the depletion of the Planet. Here comes the degrowth theory to stop this trend.
The price of this ecological deficit is increasingly evident: it takes the form of prolonged droughts, deforestation, soil erosion, loss of biodiversity, depletion of fisheries, pollution of the oceans and, especially, climate change…
Actually, to this day, according to WWF, we live as if we had 1.75 planet Earths at our disposal. Put another way, we are currently using resources at a rate that requires the availability of 1.75 planets if we want to keep the relationship in harmony production-consumption:
The differences are enormous depending on each country: from the 5.1 in the US, or 2.8 in Spain. From this map we can see data on the ecological footprint globally and by country. EITHER the previous graphs that we can consult on Earth Overshoot Day.
Content menu:
In response to uncontrolled growth appeared the theory of economic degrowth which argues that the economic sustainability is compatible with the preservation of natural resources if it decreases the consumption of goods and energy.
The concept of degrowth, therefore, is a current of thought that advocates the diminution regulate and control production, in order to establish a new relationship of balance between the human beings and nature.
Two articles of interest and on the same theme:
The theory of degrowth should not be related to the concept of sustainable development since, given the limitations of the Earth's resources, it would be unsustainable that all the nations of the world try to reach the level Western consumption.
It is estimated that currently 20 percent of the population of the planet accounts for 85 percent of the resources natural.
The degrowthists, therefore, start from the conviction that that it is not about increasing – until homogenizing – the level of consumption of the different countries, but to apply criteria of frugality, reduced production and processing of the resources. It is the decrease sustainable!
A well-known French economist, Serge Latouche, defined the following basic criteria of the theory of decrease:
This is the name given to end-of-life planning. shelf life of a product after a period of time calculated in advance by the manufacturer, so that this product becomes useless or unusable when it expires said period of time.
Planned obsolescence is consistent with the consumerist way of life and with growth at all cost, since it implies a continuous demand for new goods, circumstance that stimulates in an extraordinary way the production.
Degrowthists reject planned obsolescence, defending recycling and reuse.
The ultimate goal of degrowth can be summarized as “living better with less”, but detractors of the theory argue that economic growth generates employment, improves education and public health, and provides, In short, better quality of life.
