The Beyond Growth 2023 Conference brought together top-level EU decision-makers and experts from different backgrounds to provide feasible options for a society based on resilience, meaning, fairness and sustainability. The event focused on the interlinkages between environmental, social and economic challenges.
Earth for All co-authors and members of the Earth4All Transformational Economics Commission (TEC) participated in various plenaries, detailed below.
Open plenary—Limits to Growth: where do we stand and where do we go from here?
15 May, 09:00-10:30 CET
Sandrine Dixson-Declève, co-president of The Club of Rome and Earth for All co-author, participated in this session with Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament and Ursula Von der Leyen, President of the European Commision, to discuss the main issues raised by the growth and planetary limits’ nexus that we need to address to shift our economic model.
Beyond growth focus panel 1 – Which prosperous future? Confronting narratives of growth
15 May, 11:00-12:30 CET
Maja Göpel, Professor, co-initiator of the “Scientists for Future” network and member of the Earth4All TEC, participated in this panel that aims to foster debate between and provide a reality-check of some of the major narratives of growth currently experienced and envisaged.
Plenary 2—Changing the goal: from GDP growth to social prosperity
15 May, 17:00-18:30 CET
Kate Raworth, Senior Associate at Oxford University and member of the Earth4All TEC, discussed the concept of prosperity beyond mere criticism of GDP growth.
Plenary 4— Understanding the biophysical limits to growth to build an economy that respects planetary boundaries
16 May, 17:00-18:30 CET
Johan Rockström, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and Earth for All co-author, provided an overview of the concept of “planetary limits”, used to define the planetary playing field within which humanity can live safely, and the current state of the global crossing of planetary boundaries. The panel also established the relation between biophysical limits and economic growth, as well as the link between human activities and predation on biodiversity.
Plenary 6—Building a post-growth macroeconomic framework: aligning tools, rules and policies with EU political goals
17 May, 14:30-16:00 CET
Robert Costanza, Professor at the University College London and member of the Earth4All TEC, participated in the discussion on the role of economic models in economic policy decisions and present alternative economic models integrating the physical limits of economic growth.
Closing Plenary—Pathways from here: roadmap for a Green and Social Deal
17 May, 16:30-18:30 CET
Tim Jackson, Professor at the University of Surrey and member of the Earth4All TEC, participated in a panel to provide concrete recommendations to shift the European economic model towards a new post-growth one, with the aim of flourishing instead of growth.
On the occasion of the conference, the European Parliament prepared a study to introduce participants and other stakeholders to the beyond growth debate. Earth4All is prominently featured in the study as an example of an economic policy framework to move beyond growth and fully integrate social and climate justice, equality and planetary boundaries into the functioning of societies, along with doughnut economics.
