Overcoming societal addictions: What can we learn from individual therapies?

Costanza, Robert; Atkins, Paul W. B.; Bolton, Mitzi; Cork, Steven J.; Grigg, Nicky; Kasser, Tim; Kubiszewski, Ida

doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2016.09.023

Cited by 62 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Scenario development can play a critical role in this endeavor. Participatory scenario development is suited to overcome the societal addiction to growth as it allows exploring policy options toward a positive vision of a shared future and the commitments necessary to get there (Costanza et al, 2017). Up to now, biodiversity scenarios take growth forecasts as given and search for policy options that can reduce biodiversity loss while the economy grows.…”

Section: Fostering the Transition Through Scenario Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biodiversity policy beyond economic growth

Otero

Farrell

Pueyo

et al. 2020

CONSERVATION LETTERS

204

141

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Increasing evidence-synthesized in this paper-shows that economic growth contributes to biodiversity loss via greater resource consumption and higher emissions.Nonetheless, a review of international biodiversity and sustainability policies shows that the majority advocate economic growth. Since improvements in resource use efficiency have so far not allowed for absolute global reductions in resource use and pollution, we question the support for economic growth in these policies, where inadequate attention is paid to the question of how growth can be decoupled from biodiversity loss. Drawing on the literature about alternatives to economic growth, we explore this contradiction and suggest ways forward to halt global biodiversity decline. These include policy proposals to move beyond the growth paradigm while enhancing overall prosperity, which can be implemented by combining top-down and bottom-up governance across scales. Finally, we call the attention of researchers and policy makers to two immediate steps: acknowledge the conflict between economic growth and biodiversity conservation in future policies; and explore socioeconomic trajectories beyond economic growth in the next generation of biodiversity scenarios.

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Section: Fostering the Transition Through Scenario Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biodiversity policy beyond economic growth

Otero

Farrell

Pueyo

et al. 2020

CONSERVATION LETTERS

204

141

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…For building desirable, more sustainable forms of production and consumption, wider society should be engaged in discussing alternative futures and building consensus on preferred ones [2,49,110]. Grassroots initiatives act as vital local laboratories, piloting and demonstrating in real-world settings how citizens and communities can live more sustainably [38,107].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grassroots Initiatives as Sustainability Transition Pioneers: Implications and Lessons for Urban Food Systems

2018

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Abstract:This review explores the current evidence on the role and success factors of grassroots initiatives in sustainability transitions, with special attention given to social innovations and the transformation of urban food systems, a field that is still rather scantly dealt with in literature compared to technological innovations in other sectors such as energy. In addition to their contributions to get the necessary transformation towards sustainable futures off the ground, the preconditions for grassroots initiatives to thrive are presented-as well as limitations regarding their possibilities and the challenges they face. Increasingly, the importance of civil society and social movements in facilitating societal transformation is recognized by both researchers and policy makers. Within their radical niches, grassroots initiatives do not have to adhere to the logics of the wider systems in which they are embedded. This allows them to experiment with diverse solutions to sustainability challenges such as local food security and sovereignty. By means of democratic, inclusive and participatory processes, they create new pathways and pilot a change of course. Nevertheless, upscaling often comes at the loss of the transformative potential of grassroots initiatives.

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“…Consumption is energy (and material) intensive and expands in lockstep with income (Sorrell 2015). Consumers are addicted and profligate (Costanza et al 2017). Yet, consumption also has transformative potential.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The potential contribution of disruptive low-carbon innovations to 1.5 °C climate mitigation

et al. 2018

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This paper investigates the potential for consumer-facing innovations to contribute emission reductions for limiting warming to 1.5°C. First, we show that global integrated assessment models which characterise transformation pathways consistent with 1.5°C mitigation are limited in their ability to analyse the emergence of novelty in energy end-use. Second, we introduce concepts of disruptive innovation which can be usefully applied to the challenge of 1.5°C mitigation. Disruptive low-carbon innovations offer novel value propositions to consumers and can transform markets for energy-related goods and services while reducing emissions. Third, we identify 99 potentially disruptive low-carbon innovations relating to mobility, food, buildings and cities, and energy supply and distribution. Examples at the fringes of current markets include car clubs, mobility-as-a-service, prefabricated highefficiency retrofits, internet of things, and urban farming. Each of these offers an alternative to mainstream consumer practices. Fourth, we assess the potential emission reductions from subsets of these disruptive low-carbon innovations using two methods: a survey eliciting experts' perceptions and a quantitative scalingup of evidence from early-adopting niches to matched segments of the UK population. We conclude that disruptive low-carbon innovations which appeal to consumers can help efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C.

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Overcoming societal addictions: What can we learn from individual therapies?

Cited by 62 publications

References 27 publications

Biodiversity policy beyond economic growth

Biodiversity policy beyond economic growth

Grassroots Initiatives as Sustainability Transition Pioneers: Implications and Lessons for Urban Food Systems

The potential contribution of disruptive low-carbon innovations to 1.5 °C climate mitigation

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