Recently, I gave a presentation (via Zoom) for Stiftung Asienhaus. The title was “The False Promise of REDD+ in Southeast Asia”. I started the talk with an overview of the underlying driver of the ecological crisis: capitalism.Thanks for reading REDD-Monitor!
'Capitalism is driving us to disaster. Unless economic growth stops, we face catastrophe.'
Degrowth is the answer. All true. Trouble is, you have to convince the capitalist-roaders, including the Chinese, who are still busy 'catching up'. Chances of de-growth being 'adopted' as the 'rational choice'? Not great, I fear. Degrowth will kick in eventually, driven by the effects of global warming, but by then it will be far too late. I hope I'm wrong!
Thanks for this Brian. I'm also very worried that degrowth, or something similar, is extremely unlikely to be implemented by any government anywhere in the world. As George Monbiot points out in his most recent article, governments are far more likely to spend large amounts of money on "perceptionware" which he describes as "technology whose main purpose is to create an impression of action". (That sounds to me like a good definition of carbon offsets!)
Good one Chris!
'Capitalism is driving us to disaster. Unless economic growth stops, we face catastrophe.'
Degrowth is the answer. All true. Trouble is, you have to convince the capitalist-roaders, including the Chinese, who are still busy 'catching up'. Chances of de-growth being 'adopted' as the 'rational choice'? Not great, I fear. Degrowth will kick in eventually, driven by the effects of global warming, but by then it will be far too late. I hope I'm wrong!
Grumpy old doomster (GOD)
Thanks for this Brian. I'm also very worried that degrowth, or something similar, is extremely unlikely to be implemented by any government anywhere in the world. As George Monbiot points out in his most recent article, governments are far more likely to spend large amounts of money on "perceptionware" which he describes as "technology whose main purpose is to create an impression of action". (That sounds to me like a good definition of carbon offsets!)
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/sep/12/fossil-fuel-companies-environment-greenwashing
Anyway, I'm going to write more about degrowth and whether it will ever be adopted will hopefully be one of the issues covered.