While most of the world remains undeniably poor, some nations, mostly in the global north, enjoy an unprecedented level of wealth. This economic boom means a lot of things. It means we emit more greenhouse gases and consumers in the developing world consume more than what is necessary to survive.
As the climate crisis heightens, there is increased pressure for scientists, policymakers, and activists to come up with real-time solutions to the climate crisis. At the same time, it often falls upon journalists to weed through the myriad of proposed solutions and critically evaluate their validity. Two African journalists were confronted with one of these solutions, The Degrowth Movement.
The degrowth movement, argues that it is untenable for humanity to continue to grow without driving itself into climate devastation. It is proposed that the only solution is a radical transformation of our consumeristic way of life. That is, a transformation away from economic growth as a priority to shrinking GDP to save the planet.
But the reality remains that the global North has been afforded the opportunity to grow for decades while much of the global South has yet to enjoy the spoils of economic prosperity leaving many to question how acceptable degrowth is as a global climate solution.
