Could a planned move away from GDP-led growth help the UK to tackle climate change, inequality and wellbeing, or does the country’s economic structure make it unrealistic? Degrowth would require a deliberate, democratic reduction in production and consumption. But the UK still relies on growth for jobs, tax revenue and political stability.
What is degrowth? In essence it is a shift in focus away from over-production to a society that cares about wellbeing, leisure and ecology.
Richard Smith, the chair of the UK Health Alliance on Climate Change says “we need to move away from our individualistic view of the world and recognise our profound interdependence with each other and nature” in order to avoid increasing global temperatures which would eventually be fatal for mankind.
But, the question remains, could it work in the UK?
Degrowth is not the same as recession where the economy contracts unexpectedly. Degrowth is “a planned reduction of energy and resource use designed to bring the economy back into balance with the living world in a way that reduces inequality and improves human well-being” – Jason Hickel, author of Less is more: How degrowth will save the world (quoted on the UK Health Alliance on Climate Change website).
As Richard Smith explains it, ‘degrowthers’ are not expecting the world to shut down overnight, like they did during the pandemic, instead it would be ‘purposeful downsizing and global redistribution’. They advocate policies such as ‘active transport, plant-based diets, ecological agriculture, insulating homes, sharing, repairing, and favouring second-hand products over new ones’. For those who are interested in sustainability, this will all sound very familiar.
The idea of degrowth is interesting because it could address some of the issues that are widespread in the UK: weak investment, poor productivity and high inequality. The country already has some features that degrowthers would recognise – those reducing carbon emissions and using fewer resources. And something has to be done because endless growth, even ‘green growth’, is incompatible with ecological limits. The earth has finite resources.
The barriers to making degrowth work in the UK are financial and political. The UK economy depends heavily on growth for employment, public spending and pensions. A managed contraction would be politically difficult because historically voters vote for growth, thinking that this brings security. In reality, growth is highly unequal, with 1% of the wealthy owning half of the world’s wealth, while the poorest own just 2.7%. And without growth, it might be harder to fund public services and maintain living standards.
Some parts of the degrowth agenda could work: shorter working weeks, repair and reuse sectors, stronger public transport, improved home insulation, plant-rich diets, and local energy systems. For this to happen, we need low carbon infrastructure that benefits local communities. We need investment into social housing that is well insulated and serviced by public transport. We would also need policies to protect workers during transition, e.g. retraining, public employment, and safety nets.
Is degrowth likely to happen in the UK in the near future? It seems unlikely as the opposition to it is likely to be high for financial and political reasons. But some aspects of degrowth already exist – they are strong in our community of businesses – and these could be expanded to more of the UK. Which degrowth policies do you think are possible here in the UK? Which policies would improve our wellbeing without increasing our consumption?