Growth has been a feature of our economy and the goal of business for decades. In times of climate change, the collapse of biodiversity, inequality and war, it is important to question this. Our ecological footprints must be reduced so that we do not cross tipping points. At the same time, trade unions are rightly demanding that our well-being be restored and inequality reduced. To achieve this, the root causes of our crises must be addressed head-on. We cannot hope that economic growth will solve our problems on its own.
The limitations of GDP
Gross domestic product measures the monetary value of all goods and services produced in a country in a year. In Austria, this number has increased in recent years more than tripled in three decades. Has prosperity and well-being in Austria also tripled in the same period? No. In any case, spending money is good for GDP, but not for well-being. For example, cleaning up an oil spill or selling wood from a primeval forest have positive effects on economic growth.
On the other hand, health and education are very difficult to depict in GDP and are therefore undervalued. The privatization of health care, which entails high health expenditures, can thus even lead to economic growth, although social prosperity is falling. The same applies to the privatization of nature. A freely accessible forest is worth less in terms of GDP than the timber that composes that forest. On top of that, GDP is blind to the depiction of any economic, ecological or social inequalities. It is therefore important for the representation of workers’ interests to holistic analysis of prosperity to do.
A natural end to growth?
The climate crisis is already in full swing: its consequences are already showing costs in Austria. The Biodiversity collapse as well as exceeding the others the planet’s borders also cost us dearly. As a result of these ecological crises, many economists are questioning European growth prospects. However, there are other related crises like this Corona-pandemicsthe energy crisis, demographic change and those developing through factory farming Antibiotic resistance. These provide some reasons why future growth seems increasingly fragile, even impossible. Added to this is the fact that so many resources have already been developed that little nature and land remains available for further extensive growth.
This is also through the Genuine Progress Indicatorwho who through Social and environmental losses caused by economic activities are taken into account. The growth of real prosperity is accordingly already come to a standstill.
A necessary repoliticization of redistribution
It is often argued that redistribution is more difficult to achieve in a post-growth context. However, this understanding rests on the belief that redistribution occurs primarily in relation to new income. However, in the last few decades this has changed Economic growth and median income are increasingly decoupled from each other.
Another part of the neoliberal narrative is that inequality is necessary for growth. In reality, however, it is inequality-driven growth that causes poverty. So became Growth used to justify inequalityas in the infamous Kuznets-Kurve. A shift away from growth therefore allows policymakers to directly improve well-being. There Inequality in rich countries is a better predictor than GDP for many social conditions, reducing inequality must become a key objective. At the same time, reducing is on Inequality key to reducing energy consumption.
Ecological crises and economic growth
With tipping points and cascading, interlinked ecological crises approaching, the economic footprint must shrink rapidly and significantly. Fossil sectors must either be rapidly transformed or deconstructed. Efficiency and technical solutions alone are enough due to Rebound effects not enough to sufficiently reduce emissions, resource consumption and land use. It is therefore no longer possible to grow within the necessary period of time to decouple sufficiently from the ecological effects.
Therefore, there are both environmental and social reasons for moving away from economic growth. However, this does not have to mean austerity policies, which are regularly justified with the desire for growth. Alternatively can working time reduction, codetermination, Redistribution and expansion of public services allow from the Jobs Growth Treadmill Break out. are for this alliances necessary for a just socio-ecological restructuring, in which trade unions play a key role.
Conclusion: In order to tackle the crises of the 21st century, social-ecological alliances are needed
An alliance between representatives of work and nature is essential to achieve a socio-ecological transformation beyond growth. Dialogue and discussions, like those of the recent ones Academy for social and ecological restructuringare an important first step.
solidarity actions between the climate movement and trade unionists are therefore an important step towards a better future. Trade unions can play a unique role in developing narratives that show how a Europe that goes beyond GDP and moves towards redistribution and social justice could improve our lives.
There is further literature on this topic in my Report for the ETUI and in the field of Environmental Labour Studies.