{"id":287406,"date":"2026-02-12T11:03:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T11:03:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/287406\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T11:03:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T11:03:10","slug":"can-you-have-growth-without-environmental-destruction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/287406\/","title":{"rendered":"Can you have growth without environmental destruction?"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article is an on-site version of our Moral Money newsletter. Premium subscribers can sign up here<\/a> to get the newsletter delivered twice a week. Standard subscribers can upgrade to Premium here<\/a>, or explore<\/a> all FT newsletters.<\/p>\n

Visit our Moral Money hub<\/a> for all the latest ESG news, opinion and analysis from around the FT <\/p>\n

Welcome back.<\/p>\n

Modern economic growth has brought innumerable benefits for humanity. It\u2019s also gone hand-in-hand with a steady degradation of the natural world that ultimately underpins it. Is there a realistic solution to the conundrum? Let us know your view at moralmoneyreply@ft.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

NATURE AND BIODIVERSITYWhen \u2018transformative change\u2019 meets political reality<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been over half a century since the philosopher Andr\u00e9 Gorz coined the word \u201cdegrowth\u201d (or rather, \u201cd\u00e9croissance\u201d). \u201cNo-growth \u2014 or even degrowth \u2014 of material production is a necessary condition [for] the earth\u2019s balance,\u201d he asserted at a 1972 academic debate in Paris.<\/p>\n

Gorz\u2019s argument gained little mainstream traction before his 2007 death. So he might have been tickled by a text approved by more than 150 governments at an international conference on Sunday.<\/p>\n

This was a report on business and nature by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) \u2014 established in 2012 to to give scientific assessments of the state of the world\u2019s ecosystems, and guide policymakers seeking to protect them.<\/p>\n

\u201cA focus on growth, as measured by the gross domestic product, has been a driver of the decline of biodiversity,\u201d said the report to policymakers<\/a>, put together by 80 authors from 35 countries over three years.<\/p>\n

At another point it suggests that <\/p>\n

\u201calternative models and measures of economic welfare, such as bioeconomy, circular economy, degrowth, postgrowth, inclusive wealth, and decoupling, can enable transformational action by businesses to address the underlying causes of biodiversity loss.\u201d<\/p>\n

IPBES \u2014 the biodiversity-focused counterpart of the better known Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change \u2014 has previously warned that about 1mn species are threatened with extinction<\/a>, and that biodiversity loss presents long-term dangers to food security, human health and economic stability. <\/p>\n

The latest report goes on to assert that \u201caction is limited by systemic barriers such as profit-driven business models\u201d, and speaks of a need for businesses to shift their focus from \u201cfinancial returns and profit maximisation for shareholders\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009toward purpose-oriented models\u201d.<\/p>\n

This swipe at businesses\u2019 pursuit of profit may seem like a rather radical position for an intergovernmental body like this to adopt. So too its warnings of an excessive focus on growth and proffering of alternative models \u2014 a line of argument that\u2019s been resolutely ignored for decades by governments who view talk of \u201cdegrowth\u201d as politically suicidal.<\/p>\n

The report was nonetheless approved by all 153 of IPBES\u2019s member states at the end of a six-day conference in Manchester, including all of the world\u2019s largest economies (except the US, which announced its departure<\/a> from the body and dozens of others last month).<\/p>\n

That unanimous endorsement hardly means that these countries are about to turn their backs on growth and profit-focused business. An alternative reading is that member governments are happy to approve documents like this without feeling pressure to act on the contents.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t make recommendations; options for action are what is presented to governments,\u201d Matt Jones, co-chair of the report project, told me. \u201cI think the governments that are in the room recognise the urgency.\u201d<\/p>\n

The report contains a wide range of more specific policy suggestions around creating new nature-related incentives and constraints for businesses, with lots on the need for better data provision. <\/p>\n

Some movement is happening on the data front, with the International Sustainability Standards Board \u2014 whose standards are being incorporated in a growing number of major economies \u2014 currently developing a new framework<\/a> for biodiversity-related corporate disclosures, which it wants to publish by October. <\/p>\n

And various governments have been tightening rules around conservation of nature \u2014 see, for example, the UK\u2019s \u201cbiodiversity net gain<\/a>\u201d rules for land development, and the EU\u2019s 2030 biodiversity strategy<\/a>, which aims to dramatically expand protected areas. <\/p>\n

But governments still need to pay far more attention to where the money is going, the IPBES study says. It notes the latest estimates from the UN Environment Programme<\/a> that financial flows \u201cwith direct negative impacts on nature\u201d amounted to $7.3tn in 2023, dwarfing the $220bn that went towards conservation and \u201csustainable use\u201d of biodiversity. Strategic use of taxes and subsidies, it suggests, could play a key role. <\/p>\n

A fresh test of nations\u2019 seriousness on these questions will come at October\u2019s UN biodiversity COP summit in Armenia. Meanwhile, there are suggestions in the new document for voluntary action by companies themselves, in particular around data gathering and engagement with suppliers. But without major policy moves to shift the incentives for business, it warns, the impact of these voluntary measures will be limited.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are things that businesses can do now, where there\u2019s a business case currently,\u201d said Stephen Polasky, another co-chair of the project. \u201cWe are all in favour of doing those. However, we don\u2019t think that is going to get us to the kind of transformative changes that will actually turn the corner on biodiversity loss.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smart reads<\/p>\n

Fusion power start-ups completed a record 43 funding rounds<\/a> last year, raising $2.3bn from investors.<\/p>\n

\u201cGender norms will need to be even more equal\u201d, if the decline in the international birth rate is to be reversed, writes Martin Wolf<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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