<
https://medium.com/the-new-climate/why-only-degrowth-will-save-the-world-2a4b1bf35011>
"
We are on the brink of ecological collapse.
Scientists reckon that the earth can handle a total material footprint of
around 50 billion tonnes per year, and today we have exceeded this twice over.
At a 1-degree rise in global temperatures, we are already experiencing severe
droughts, floods, fires, and extreme weather events all over the world. Not to
mention we are in the midst of a biodiversity crisis and we have already
crossed seven out of eight earth system boundaries.
To keep temperatures at 1.5 degrees or at most 2 degrees, we must cut global
emissions in half by 2030 and get to 0 by 2050. But if we continue growing the
economy at projected rates, it will more than double in size by 2050. It's
already going to be difficult to decarbonise the existing global economy;
continuing as business-as-usual would require we decarbonise at a rate of 7%
per year to stay under 2 degrees (which is a dangerous threshold) or 14% per
year to get to 1.5 degrees — two to three times faster than what scientists say
is possible
under best-case scenarios.
Let’s be clear. It isn’t ‘climate change’ that’s the problem. It’s a multitude
of crises stemming from the fact that our current capitalist economy,
predicated on endless accumulation and extraction, has tipped nature out of
balance. And if we don’t change this system, we are screwed.
But there is hope over the horizon. We know exactly what we need to change, and
how to do it."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
