For those concerned about the global economy overwhelming the environment, the Economic De-Growth Conference was a rare, encouraging event, although such events are likely to become commonplace soon. The 130 conferees from around the world were entirely united in recognizing limits to growth, the trade-off between economic growth and environmental protection, the need for a phase of de-growth in the North coupled by growth in the South, and the advanced policy goal of optimally sized steady state economies. The conference is taking a position on this agreement – most of it has already been hammered out and it should be finalized in the coming weeks. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> The conference was a refreshing mix of scholars, economic and conservation professionals, and social activists. Pioneers in ecological economics were there, including Roefie Hueting, Joan Martinez-Alier, and Jacques Grinevald. Current leaders in ecological economics and conservation biology were also present, including for example Peter May (President, International Society for Ecological Economics) and Joachim Spangenberg (Vice-President, Sustainable Europe Research Institute). Philip Lawn (<?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Flinders University), one of the leading steady state economists, was there as well, and so was at least one prominent European politician, Yves Cochet - and in full support. Given the Paris location and the strength of the movement for La Décroissance in western Europe, Europeans were most prominent. However, the interests of all other major geo-political regions were well-represented too. For example, “Perspectives from India” were provided by Singh Supriya, “Perspectives from Africa” by Samuel Nguiffo, and one woman from South America described successful efforts toward “De-Development,” where in this case “Development” referred to the traditional World Bank/IMF pattern of capital movements from the North, liquidation of natural capital and resource flows out of the South, and long-lasting debt for the latter, all under the guise of national and international policy goals of economic growth. Most of the abstracts, talks, and/or slideshows have been posted at… http://events.it-sudparis.eu/degrowthconference/themes/ …although some are still forthcoming. (My slideshow on the “Nascent History of Steady State Politics,” for example, is posted, my other show on “De-Growth Toward an Optimal Steady State” should be soon.) I think we can start to perceive growing international support for acknowledging limits to growth, the trade-off between economic growth and environmental protection, and the needs for de-growth in the North and the long-term goal of more optimally sized national and global economies. (The resulting environmental protection will depend on the magnitude and pace of such support.)
Brian Czech, Ph.D., President Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy SIGN THE POSITION on economic growth at: http://www.steadystate.org/CASSEPositionOnEG.html .
