Can we save the planet by shrinking the economy?

It might be time for rich countries to get poorer. In light of the IPCC report on climate change, activists are considering all options. Kelsey Piper analyses the degrowth movement that has been gaining traction in certain spheres. Her overall view is that we should be ready to try just about anything and scale up the technologies that we already have. “The degrowth movement, as it’s called, argues that humanity can’t keep growing without driving humanity into climate catastrophe. The only solution, the argument goes, is an extreme transformation of our way of life — a transition away from treating economic growth as a policy priority to an acceptance of shrinking GDP as a prerequisite to saving the planet.”