Question

Module 6 - Discussion

Governments adopt various policies (for example, California's Cap-and-Trade Program (Links to an external site.)) that aim to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, large businesses implement sustainable practices by joining Corporate Renewable Energy Buyers' Principles (Links to an external site.) in order to procure 100% of their electricity from renewable energy sources. As a result, evidence (Links to an external site.) suggests that global CO2 emissions and economic growth could be decoupled. This information has led to optimistic prognoses for our planet’s further development (see The Washington Post article The economy is growing, but carbon emissions aren’t. That’s a really big deal (Links to an external site.) and The New York Times article Can Economies Rise as Emissions Fall? The Evidence Says Yes (Links to an external site.)).

On the other hand, despite the widespread opinion that our societal progress has been associated with a persistent increase in energy consumption (see the New Yorker article Economy vs. Environment (Links to an external site.)), sceptics insist that only Degrowth (Links to an external site.) – a significant shrinkage and restructuring of production and consumption – can guarantee us a safe future. For many environmentalists, a seemingly obvious solution to global problems is to reduce consumption of goods (watch The Story of Stuff video (Links to an external site.)). In this case, we would have to change our lifestyle completely because our society of a Hydrocarbon ManLinks to an external site. deeply depends on petroleum-based products. Finally, The Huffington Post articles Overpopulation is not the problem? Really? (Links to an external site.) discusses limits of this planet to sustain ever-growing human population.

Please pick a side of the preferable scenario of the planet’s future development. In your opinion, could the adoption of innovative policies and technologies aiming to reduce CO2 emissions and to increase sustainable practices be enough or should we pursue a degrowth scenario (regarding population and/or consumption) in order to survive? Come up with two or three arguments to support your position and cite your sources.

5 months ago

Answer