This presentation introduces degrowth-aligned finance in a webinar hosted by the Sustainable Finance Network of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA), the largest professional body for environmental practitioners in the UK and worldwide. There's also a brief presentation by Adrian Vodislav, Structured Finance Officer of the European Investment Fund (EIF), discussing the EIF's … Continue reading Intro to Degrowth-aligned Finance
In my recent Master's thesis for a degree in Degrowth: Ecology, Economics and Policy at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, I explored how kaupapa Māori enterprises contribute to achieving Māori aspirations. In settler colonial countries, Indigenous nations have faced systemic destruction through dispossession and de-culturalisation, eliminating traditional modes of production and value creation. Modern Indigenous … Continue reading Kaupapa Māori Enterprises: Agents of Aspiration
Sustainability reports from Google and Microsoft indicate they are struggling on climate action, with both companies citing expansion of data centres for AI, which have high energy and water demands, coupled with a scarcity of renewable energy. Is AI so profitable they are willing to forego environmental goals? Or do they have no control over … Continue reading The Huge Water and Energy Costs of AI
The briefing paper 'Degrowth-aligned Finance: A preliminary exploration' is an aid to understanding the emerging elements of a degrowth-aligned financial system. Co-authored by Jennifer Wilkins and Anastasia Linn, its purpose is to initiate conversations and encourage building a shared research and practice agenda. It also provides supporting information to the Special Session "Investing in Degrowth" … Continue reading Degrowth-aligned Finance
Narratives properly explaining the various approaches to sustainable lifestyles have been missing from climate modelling. Now, European researchers have developed the SLIM (Sustainable Living in Models) scenarios, offering four lifestyle narratives for long-term climate mitigation, designed to be easily incorporated into Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs). Previously, IAMs have used simplified assumptions (e.g. 100% vegan diets) … Continue reading SLIM Lifestyles: Narratives for Climate Models
There's a tendency in post-growth thinking to assume the global affluent are somewhat homogeneous. A study on global values reveals strong divergence, even in a modernising and globalising world, with the greatest divergence around emancipatory values. This has implications for advocating sustainability to affluent people around the world. Researchers Joshua Conrad Jackson and Danila Medvedev … Continue reading The Heterogeneity of Affluence
The New Zealand Minister of Climate Change asked the Centre for Sustainable Finance Toitū Tahua to prepare a set of recommendations for a sustainable finance taxonomy. Draft recommendations were developed by an Independent Technical Advisory Group and released for feedback by 5 May 2024. Heliocene founder, Jennifer Wilkins, submitted feedback on 1 May 2024, copied … Continue reading Feedback on the Sustainable Finance Taxonomy
Ground-breaking news on two fronts: Girona is the first city in Spain to explore degrowth AND a master's of degrowth programme is going to be delivered alongside the municipal administration. An agreement has just been signed between the City Council, the University of Girona, Dark Matter Labs and Research & Degrowth International (R&D), which produces … Continue reading Oh, Girona!
The New Zealand government wants to put in place a fast-track decision-making process for infrastructure and development projects, proposing the Fast-track Approvals Bill, which would give three ministers wide new powers over major projects and the environment. Heliocene founder, Jennifer Wilkins, submitted to the select committee on 16 April 2024, copied below. My name is … Continue reading Submission on the Fast-track Approvals Bill
In her recent address to the Auckland Business Chamber titled "Growth is the Answer", New Zealand Finance Minister Nicola Willis acknowledges low-growth projections, imploring businesspeople to lean in on the government’s growth agenda. However, this fails to grasp the essence of entrepreneurship, which is rooted in autonomy. Entrepreneurs are never in business to work for … Continue reading Growth is No Longer an Answer
This chapter, written for the book Radical Business Perspectives for Sustainability Transitions, explores the contested notion of corporate degrowth, suggesting degrowth intrapreneurship as a way forward. First, the chapter questions the efficacy of corporate sustainability, assessing whether intensifying ESG practices would be a sufficient corporate response to the global poly-crisis, and proffers degrowth as a … Continue reading Corporate-degrowth Intrapreneurship
A survey of MEPs by degrowth scholars Giorgos Kallis, Riccardo Mastini and Chritstos Zografos has uncovered some interesting data on opinions, shedding light on the growth dependency within institutions, such as the European Parliament, that makes them resistant to change, despite preferences for change within. Their paper in Nature describes how they looked at four … Continue reading A Survey of Perceptions of Degrowth in the European Parliament
There is so much to love in this graphic book by Céline Keller smashing the myths about degrowth, filled with quotes from the who's who of both growth and degrowth worlds, juxtaposing their views and really exposing the absurdity of many of the ideas that are taken for granted and lauded as truths in the … Continue reading Who is afraid of Degrowth? A brilliant graphic book by Céline Keller
"Setting Limits to Growth" is a new handbook for aligning start-ups and SMEs with post-growth thinking, based on a self-case study of its writers' own business, Post Growth Guide, a post-growth-aligned start-up educating about post-growth business. How's that for meta! Post Growth Guide (PGG) dovetails with founders' other business, an impact-led communications agency, enabling them … Continue reading Setting Limits to Growth: a handbook for post-growth start-ups
The nascent trans-disciplinary topic of business degrowth must find a home where it can cross-pollinate to form new strands of management scholarship. Much of the literature in the field of degrowth lands in the Journal of Cleaner Production. But degrowth business management literature needs to land where business scholars can find it and engage with … Continue reading Who’s Publishing Business Degrowth Research?
A rich, new tome on degrowth has just been published. Congrats to the eds and authors, some of whom I truly admire. But I have a big concern. Searching the book for the words 'business' and 'enterprise' to see how the authors tackle these, it appears that the degrowth community's strategy continues to involve criticising … Continue reading De Gruyter Handbook of Degrowth
Infrastructure decision making needs to flow from community decision makers to financiers, not the other way round. Direct democracy models must ensure that communities have access to a diverse array of experts, including futurists in touch with realistic scenarios around sufficiently meeting the basic needs of future generations and the resources that would be fairly … Continue reading Post-Growth Infrastructure: Let The People Decide
The business sector has framed 'progress' as the goal of economic growth and 'sustainability' as the process of ESG. In fact, these terms should be the other way round. To shift to a post growth wellbeing economy, we must wrestle back these valuable terms and restate what the goal of sustainability is about and what … Continue reading Progress or Sustainability
The professions - architecture, engineering, law and accountancy - are crucial to applying degrowth to business, so it was fantastic to be invited to speak to Engineering New Zealand Te Ao Rangahau. This presentation draws on Apollo 13 problem solving, the laws of thermodynamics and the Matrix of Convivial Technologies. Thanks to Bryony Lane at … Continue reading Shifting Economics and the Role of Engineering
Global experts in post growth economics Katherine Trebeck and Donnie Maclurcan join Heliocene founder, Jennifer Wilkins, to explore the challenging question of how existing larger businesses, especially multinational enterprises and corporations, can begin to prepare for a post growth future. Dr Katherine Trebeck is a political economist and advocate for economic system change. Her roles … Continue reading Larger Enterprises in a Post Growth World
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