The word degrowth has some very obvious connotations. It suggests shrinking economies, reducing productivity, making less stuff, buying less, doing less. Even the slightest hint of this sort of idea can be complete anathema to some people. Those for whom growth is always the answer, who believe growth alone has brought about the undoubted improvements we've seen in the last hundred years or so, who believe unfettered access to free markets is the natural state of any economy.

What degrowth isnt

These people will scream that degrowth equals recession, that it's an economy killer, that it will take us back to the stone age. These people are nuts. Degrowth is not about going backwards or about shutting down vital parts of the economy. It's about rethinking our relationship with growth, what it means, where we benefit from it and where we don't. It's about removing GDP growth as the overriding goal of any economic plan and instead looking at what real world outcomes we want and how to achieve them. If that means reducing productivity in some areas of the economy then that’s absolutely fine. Degrowth does not equal recession in the same way that dieting does not equal starvation. One is a planned process designed to achieve a desired outcome, the other is not.

What degrowth is

Degrowth is about taking deliberate, democratic decisions about what we produce, what we consume, and who benefits. Rather than focusing solely on that GDP number and assuming that increasing it will magically fix every problem, degrowth is about looking at what those problems actually are and determining what solutions will actually work. In some cases those solutions will involve reducing the size of certain sectors - things like advertising, gambling, fast fashion, SUVs may find themselves shrinking in order that we can direct that time and energy into more effective ways of improving wellbeing - improved care services, stronger communities, cleaning up waterways etc. It is true that that overall GDP number is likely to decrease under a degrowth economic plan, but so what? As discussed in the previous degrowth explainer and elsewhere, GDP is an utterly crap indicator to focus on. It is of some use in determining the size of an economy but that is it, it is of no use in understanding how that economy functions for its citizens, or showing us who benefits, or even what all that productivity is for.

Degrowth for the planet

So the fact that degrowth would mean a decrease in GDP is not an issue in itself. In fact given the precarious nature of the climate crisis this is actually a necessity. We cannot afford business as usual, if we fail to reappraise our approach to growth then all the renewable energy gains are for nothing. Because even with genuine progress on renewables, with wind and solar now generating over 40% of UK electricity, the full picture of what the UK actually consumes tells a different story. Including everything embedded in the goods we import, our real carbon footprint has fallen just 20% since 1990: from around 925 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 1990 to 740 million tonnes in 2022. We haven't decarbonised. We've outsourced.

From 1990 to 2022 is 32 years. At a 20% reduction every 32 years, we reach net zero sometime around 2150. The climate scientists would like a word.

The drive for renewables is real. The drive for growth is faster.. We cannot get to net zero in any sort of realistic timeframe while continuing to grow the economy, its basic maths at this point. So yes, degrowth unapologetically does mean a smaller economy. But crucially a smaller economy focused on providing for people and the planet, not just the wealthy.

Degrowth policies

A degrowth based economy could provide much better living standards for the vast majority of people with several highly popular policies, some of which have already been trialled including:

• A 4 day week which trials in several countries have shown improves wellbeing, maintains or increases productivity, reduces carbon emissions from commuting, and redistributes time more fairly. Less time at work means more time for the things GDP doesn't measure but that actually constitute a life.

• Universal basic services with housing, transport, healthcare, education, digital access available to everyone as a right, outside the market entirely. This decouples wellbeing from consumption in a direct and practical way.

• More community and collectively managed resources such as local food production, common land, community energy projects, social housing etc all putting less strain on the environment and allowing more space for nature.

• Wealth redistribution. Not because of abstract fairness, though fairness matters, but because overconsumption is concentrated. The wealthiest 10% globally are responsible for roughly half of all consumption emissions. Progressive wealth taxes and other measures to reduce that inequality are necessary to reduce that excess consumption.

Breaking free

Essentially at the heart of degrowth is a rejection of the neoliberal ideal of free markets as the ultimate arbiter of good and bad. GDP growth is simply the metric du jour for that ideology, a way of constantly reinforcing the markets control over every aspect of our lives. That, ultimately is what degrowth challenges, and that is why it is so determinedly attacked by those who benefit from the current system. It’s also why it can feel challenging to many ordinary people who have fully bought in to the consumerist system we’ve been placed into. A lot of people see shopping for unnecessary consumer goods as a major part of their life and don’t want that challenged so these can be difficult conversations to have, but all the problems we’ve discussed - from the shit in our rivers to the climate crisis, to the cost of living crisis, are all linked to the same economic system which pushes you towards that consumption obsessed approach to life. We have to break free of that obsession in order to have any chance of long term sustainable human societies. We cannot continue to rely on infinite growth on a finite planet. That’s just nuts.