Growth focused economy is unsustainable

Most world leaders seem to believe that economic growth is a panacea for many of society’s problems. There are many links between our society’s addiction to economic growth, the disturbing ecological crisis, the rapid rise of social inequality and the decline in the quality of democracy. All these are deeply interconnected processes.

• Greater economic growth on its own does very little or nothing at all to enhance social well-being. 
• Reducing income inequality is an effective way to resolve social problems such as violence, criminality, imprisonment rates, obesity and mental illness, children’s educational performance, population life expectancy, and social levels of trust and mobility.
• Societies that are more equal do much better in all the aforementioned areas than more unequal ones, independent of their GDP.
• Unchecked capitalism tends to increase inequality and undermine democratic practices. The focus of a successful social policy should be to reduce inequality, not to grow the GDP for its own sake.
• Our frenetic economic activity has already transgressed ecological planetary boundaries. If current trends continue, humanity will soon face dire and dramatic consequences.
• Constant economic growth is a biophysical impossibility in a limited biosphere, and the faster the global economy grows, the faster the living systems of the planet collapse. This growth increases inequality and undermines democracy, multiplying the number of social problems that erode human communities.
• We have created a dysfunctional economic system of growing the pace of production and consumption, destroys the ecological systems upon which it depends. And when it does not grow, it becomes socially unsustainable. In a game with these rules, there is no way to win!
• Breaking the spiral of socio-ecological disaster is easier than we think. We do not need a new planet to colonize, but only to change the way we frame things.
• The economy is a subsystem of the ecology, not the other way around. If we begin to organize our priorities according to the biophysical reality rather than the market demands, it quickly becomes clear that our dominant economic system is absurd because it destroys the ecosystems that are the source of its wealth.
• In a desirable economic model the goal is to serve the well-being of communities and ecosystems and not to accumulate capital. At a global level we cannot afford to grow at all since we need to reduce economic throughput to be sustainable. 

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If the rich nations in the world keep growing their economies by 2% each year and by 2050 the poorest nations catch up, the global economy of more than 9 billion people will be around 15 times larger than it is now. If the global economy then grows by 3% to the end of the century, it will be 60 times larger than now. The existing economy is already environmentally unsustainable. It is utterly implausible to think we can “decouple” economic growth from environmental impact since technological advancement have only increased our impacts on the planet, not reduced them. The GDP – the monetary value of all goods and services produced in an economy – is a deeply flawed measure of progress.

The Global Carbon Budget

Greta Thunberg - Speeches - Excerpts

Greta Thunberg (16), Climate activist from Sweden

On March 15, 2019, about 1.4 million students in 123 countries joined school strike for climate justice. I am going to continue school striking until Sweden is in line with The Paris Agreement.  Richest 10% of world population emits about half of greenhouse gases. Richest 1% emits more than the poorest 50%. About 100 companies emit approximately 71% of our total emissions of CO2. If the richest 10% of the world’s population would lower their emissions to that of the average citizen in EU, then the world’s emissions of CO2 would be cut by about one third. Our biosphere is being sacrificed so that rich people in countries like mine can live in luxury. It is the sufferings of the many which pay for the luxuries of the few.

• People tell success stories but their financial success has come with an unthinkable price tag.
• We need to start living within the planetary boundaries. This will be drastic change for many but not for most. Because most of the world population is already living within the planetary boundaries. It is minority who are not. 
• The main solution however is so simple that even a small child can understand it. We have to stop the emissions of greenhouse gases. And either we do that or we don't. 
• People are not aware that there is such a thing as a carbon budget. If you regularly fly around the world, eat meat and dairy and are living a high carbon lifestyle then that means you have used up countless of people’s remaining carbon budgets. Carbon budgets that they will need in their everyday life, for generations to come. Those whose carbon budgets we are stealing are the ones least responsible and the ones who are going to be affected the most by this crisis.
• We must change almost everything in our current societies. The bigger your carbon footprint is, the bigger your moral duty. The bigger your platform the bigger your responsibility. 
• I want you to act as if you would in a crisis. I want you to act as if the house was on fire, because it is. 
• We need to keep the fossil fuels in the ground and we need to focus on equity. And if solutions within this system are so impossible to find then maybe we should change the system itself. We have run out of excuses and we are running out of time. We have come here to let you know that change is coming whether you like it or not. The real power belongs to the people! 
• Rich countries like Sweden need to start reducing emissions by at least 15% every year to reach the 2 degree warming target. 
• We are in the midst of the sixth mass extinction, and the extinction rate is up to 10,000 times faster than what is considered normal, with up to 200 species becoming extinct every single day. Erosion of fertile topsoil, deforestation of our great forests, toxic air pollution, loss of insects and wildlife, the acidification of our oceans. These are all disastrous trends being accelerated by a way of life that we, here in our financially-fortunate part of the world, see as our right to simply carry on. 
• Our house is falling apart, and our leaders need to start acting accordingly, because at the moment they are not. If our house was falling apart, you would change almost every part of your behavior, as you do in an emergency. If our house was falling apart, you wouldn't hold three emergency Brexit summits and no emergency summit regarding the breakdown of the climate and environment. 
• No one ever speak about the aspect of equity clearly stated everywhere in the Paris agreement, which is absolutely necessary to make it work on a global scale. That means that rich countries like mine (Sweden) to get down to zero emissions, within 6–12 years, so that people in poorer countries can heighten their standard of living by building some of the infrastructure that we have already built, such as hospitals, electricity, clean drinking water and so on.
• The climate crisis has already been solved. We already have all the facts and solutions. All we have to do is to wake up and change. 
• Today we use 100 million barrels of oil every single day. There are no politics to change that. There are no rules to keep that oil in the ground. So we can’t save the world by playing by the rules. Because the rules have to be changed. Everything needs to change. And it has to start today. 
• Since our leaders are behaving like children, we will have to take the responsibility they should have taken long ago. 
• If burning fossil fuels was so bad that it threatened our very existence, how could we just continue like before? Why were there no restrictions? Why wasn't it made illegal? 
• I was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome OCD and selective mutism. That basically means I only speak when I think it is necessary. Now is one of those moments. 
• If the emissions have to stop, then we must stop the emissions. Either we go on as a civilization or we don't. We have to change. We need a system change rather than individual change. But you can not have one without the other.
• Rich countries like Sweden need to start reducing emissions by at least 15 percent every year. And that is so that we can stay below a two degree warming target. IPCC have recently demonstrated, aiming instead for 1.5 degrees Celsius would significantly reduce the climate impacts.
• People keep doing what they do because the vast majority doesn't have a clue about the actual consequences of our everyday life.
• No one is acting as if we were in a crisis. Even most climate scientists or green politicians keep on flying around the world, eating meat and dairy. 
• What we do or don't do right now will affect my entire life and the lives of my children and grandchildren. What we do or don't do right now, me and my generation can't undo in the future. 
• We children usually don't do as you tell us to do, we do as you do. And if you adults don't care about my future, neither do I. 

Travel pollution

There are many ways to go from here to there. And the mode of transportation we choose can have a big impact. It can affect time, comfort and cost. But how we travel can also have a big impact on the planet. Airplanes are about 3% of total global climate emissions. Business travel is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Travel accounts for an average 15% to 20% of a business’s total emissions, reaching as high as 80% for service business. Carbon pollution from aviation is the fastest-growing source of the greenhouse gas emissions driving global climate change. 

• Short-haul air travel by regional flights of less than 300 miles, create the most carbon emissions because of the high fuel consumption during takeoffs and landings. 
• Planes also emit carbon dioxide directly into the earth’s upper atmosphere, making it especially harmful.
• Trains use 50% less fuel per passenger than planes for the same trips.
• Bus travel emits less carbon dioxide than trains on short and long trips.
• On longer trips of more than 700 miles, train and plane emissions per passenger are comparable. Bus travel is still the greenest option. 
• Solo car travel is the biggest culprit when it comes to emissions, producing nearly twice that of trains and three to four times that of buses.
• Reducing unnecessary trips, using buses, eliminating solo car travel minimizes carbon emissions.

Driving a car solo has the same basic climate impact as taking an 80% full plane flight a similar distance. It pays to carpool. Trains and buses have an average occupancy of only 40%. If the plane is full, it beats the solo car. If your travel is fully booked, the diesel bus comes out on top, followed by the high-speed train, the car with three people in it, then the medium aircraft. Environmentally speaking, the growth of air transport is not desirable. It can be good if people use their cars less and use train or bus rather than taking the plane instead.

Environmentally speaking - train is the best, followed by bus , then car with 3-4 persons, then solo car and lastly air travel. Business & First class air travel is 3-6 times burdensome on both costs and emissions.

Greta Thunberg ....

 

• Greta Thunberg cut a frail and lonely figure when she started a school strike for the climate outside the Swedish parliament building last August (2018). Her parents tried to dissuade her. Classmates declined to join. Passersby expressed pity and bemusement at the sight of the then unknown 15-year-old sitting on the cobblestones with a hand-painted banner. Eight months later on this Friday Mar 15, 2019, the global climate school strike (over a million students on strike for climate justice) has become the biggest environmental protests the world has ever seen. 
• Ms Thunberg's made it clear that "if solutions within the system are so impossible to find, maybe we should change the system itself". In her speech to MPs in April 2019, Miss Thunberg said the UK was supporting shale gas fracking, greater exploitation of North Sea oil and gas fields and expanding airports. "This ongoing irresponsible behavior will no doubt be remembered in history as one of the greatest failures of humankind," she said. She described the UK's carbon emissions reduction as the result of "very creative" accounting.
• In an industry conference, Oil and Gas UK chief executive Ms. Deirdre Michie said: "I would like to reassure Greta Thunberg - we are listening, because we want the world to be a better place too. And while we believe that our industry's global contribution has improved the lives of billions of people, we are clear that climate change is a real and present danger that we must deal with together." She described the climate activist (Ms.Greta Thunberg) as an "impressive young woman we can all take inspiration from".
• Unfortunately the public's, Govt's, etc Green credentials vaporize at the first suggestion that to avert climate change they may have to compromise their lifestyles a tiny bit. Much easier subscribe to the delusion that wind turbines, solar panels electric cars, etc help, even if they obviously don't. Meanwhile the worlds fossil fuel consumption grows year-on-year unabated.

Excerpts from Greta Thunberg's speeches:

• Some people can let things go. I can’t.
• The main solution however is so simple that even a small child can understand it. We have to stop the emissions of greenhouse gases.
• We must change almost everything in our current societies.
• Our civilization is being sacrificed for the opportunity with a very small number of people to continue making enormous amounts of money. 
• And if solutions within this system are so impossible to find then maybe we should change the system itself.
• The real power belongs to the people! 
• 200 species going extinct every single day.
• If the emissions have to stop, then we must stop the emissions. 
• People keep doing what they do because the vast majority doesn't have a clue about the actual consequences of our everyday life.
• Most climate scientists or green politicians keep on flying around the world, eating meat and dairy.
• We need action more than hope. Once we start to act, hope is everywhere. 
• Today we use 100 million barrels of oil every single day. There are no politics to change that. There are no rules to keep that oil in the ground. So we can't save the world by playing by the rules. Because the rules have to be changed. 

Greta Thunberg speeches

1. Speech at TEDxStockholm 
2. Speech at COP24 Dec 3 2018 
3. Speech at COP24 Dec 12 2018 
4. Challenging The World Economic Forum in Davos - January 22 2019 
5. Speech "Our House is on Fire" at 2019 World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos 
6. Speech 2019-02-21 in Brussels: "We want politicians to listen to the scientists" 
7. "You can't just sit around waiting for hope to come" 2019-02-21 in Brussels 
8. Speech at the EU Parliament in Strasbourg 2019-04-16 

Climate crisis is real

After more than a century and a half of industrialization, deforestation, and large scale agriculture, quantities of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have risen to record levels not seen in three million years. As populations, economies and standards of living grow, so does the cumulative level of greenhouse gases emissions. Climate change is potentially irreversible threat to human societies. Climate change is shifting of weather patterns that threaten food production, rising sea levels that increase the risk of catastrophic flooding, the impacts are global in scope and unprecedented in scale. Without drastic action today, adapting to these impacts in the future will be more difficult and costly.

• The concentration of GHGs in the earth’s atmosphere is directly linked to the average global temperature on Earth.
• The most abundant GHG, accounting for about two-thirds of GHGs, is carbon dioxide (CO2), is largely the product of burning fossil fuels. Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions account for around 80% of global warming.
• In 2013, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its report made a categorical conclusion: climate change is real and human activities are the main cause.
• It also estimates and provides a CO2 budget for future emissions to limit warming to less than 2°C. About half of this maximum amount was already emitted by 2011.
• Oceans have warmed, the amounts of snow and ice have diminished and the sea level has risen. 
• The sea ice extent in the Arctic is shrinking. Given current concentrations and ongoing emissions of greenhouse gases, it is likely that the end of this century that global mean temperature will continue to rise. The world’s oceans will warm and ice melt will continue. Most aspects of climate change will persist for many centuries, even if emissions are stopped.
• The leading irreversible changes in the planetary climate system, may already have been reached or passed. Mountain glaciers are in alarming retreat and the downstream effects of reduced water supply in the driest months will have repercussions that transcend generations.
• In October 2018 the IPCC issued a special report on the impacts of limiting global warming to 1.5°C would require rapid, far reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society. While previous estimates focused on estimating the damage if average temperatures were to rise by 2°C, this report shows that many of the adverse impacts of climate change will come at the 1.5°C mark. 
• A number of climate change impacts could be avoided by limiting global warming to 1.5ºC.
• Limiting global warming to 1.5°C would require “rapid and far-reaching” transitions in land, energy, industry, buildings, transport, and cities. Global net human-caused emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) would need to fall by about 45% from 2010 levels by 2030, reaching ‘net zero’ around 2050. This means that any remaining emissions would need to be balanced by removing CO2 from the air.
• Arctic permafrost is melting decades earlier than the worst-case scenarios threatening to unlock vast amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres called on governments to stop building new coal plants by 2020, cut greenhouse emissions by 45% over the next decade and overhauling fossil fuel-driven economies with new technologies like solar and wind. He said the world is facing a grave climate emergency and  even if Paris climate accord promises are fully met, the world still faces a catastrophic 3-degree temperature rise by the end of the century. Guterres urged to halve greenhouse emissions by 2030 and reach carbon neutrality by 2050. He suggested taxing major carbon-emitting industries and polluters, ending the subsidization of oil and gas, and halting the building of all new coal plants by next year. Cutting emissions to zero would be challenging and spell the end of petrol and diesel cars, as well as gas boilers. People will have to fly less, waste less and eat less meat. The average footprint for people in India is 1.73 metric tons; for the industrial nations is about 11 metric tons; worldwide carbon footprint is about 4 metric tons; The worldwide target to combat climate change is 2 metric tons.

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Low carbon lifestyle

Global warming can lead to irreversible changes in the delicate balance that exists in the planet’s climate and life systems. It is a growing crisis with large scale implications on mortality, health, economics and security. All of us will be affected, irrespective of economic status or nationality. We have still not reached a point of no return and the most dangerous climate changes can still be avoided. We need to make climate friendly choices in everyday actions in the use of electrical appliances, transport, paper, water, etc. A low-carbon lifestyle reduces greenhouse gases and saves resources. Many people don't know a lot about climate change, but then there are some people who know but who don't care. It is reported that the 2015 UN Climate Change Conference (COP 21 or CMP 11) held in Paris, France, has emitted about 300,000 tons of CO2.

1. Consume less energy from fossil fuels (petroleum, gas and coal).
2. Use energy efficient lights, fans and other electrical appliances.
3. Turn off lights and fans when not in use.
4. Switch from a desktop to a laptop.
5. Go out for a couple of hours everyday instead of watching TV or computer.
6. Avoid using hot water, wherever possible.
7. Go solar where ever possible.
8. Buy clothes when it is a must.
9. Choose cotton and silk clothes. Organic cotton is even better.
10. Donate unwanted clothes to charities.
11. Buy local food products.
12. Choose organic and seasonal foods.
13. Avoid meat and dairy.
14. Use organic foods to reduce use of fertilizers and pesticides.
15. Don't waste food, energy, water etc.
16. Select natural products with less processing and packaging.
17. Eat more vegetables and fruits.
18. Travel only when it is absolutely necessary.
19. Avoid car usage where ever you can.
20. Use small and fuel efficient cars.
21. Drive car in a fuel efficient manner.
22. Use public transportation or shared vehicles.
23. Walk or cycle over short distances.
24. Avoid air travel.
25. Never travel by business class or first class.
26. Travel by direct flights, as far as possible.
27. Travel by train for over night journeys.
28. Use video conferencing and avoid long distance journeys.
29. Use paper only when it is a must.
30. Plant trees.
31. Conserve water. Use no more than 10 liters for bathing.
32. Harvest rain water.
33. Never use single use plastic carry bags, water bottles, teacups etc.
34. Ensure used plastics are disposed off for recycle/reuse.
35. Stop dying hair and other body lotions.
36. Buy only essentials.
37. Be low on consumption.
38. Repair and postpone replacements.
39. Eliminate unnecessary items in every aspect of living.

Individual efforts may seem like drops in the ocean. The impacts from the positive changes in lifestyles by millions of people will make significant contributions towards a more climate friendly planet. 

Could you live a low carbon life? Meet the people who already are. 

Whatever you do may seem insignificant to you, 

but it is most important you do it - Mahatma Gandhi

The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing

would suffice to solve most of the world's problems - Mahatma Gandhi