Ecological transition: growth/decrease what are we talking about?

Six of the nine planetary limits have already been exceeded, yet our economic policies continue to focus on GDP growth. The ESEC has seized upon this paradox and, using the method of controversy analysis, reviews the issues that call into question the sustainability of our economy, our modes of production and our lifestyles. These are all issues that will need to be at the heart of future public policy and pave the way for a possible global reorientation of the way our society functions.

Since the 1970s, the slowdown in growth in France and other industrialised countries has been accompanied by an increase in our carbon and materials footprints. What’s more, with growth, living standards have risen on average, but so have inequalities, and the reduction in extreme poverty now seems to be marking time. Although our social model is a powerful lever for redistribution, its financial sustainability has been undermined, and our public services are in trouble. The competitiveness of our economy is struggling, impacting on jobs, living standards and the funding of our social model.