Questão 24 - UPF Inverno 2025

The ‘degrowth’ movement envisions global climate justice, but must adapt to global south realities

 

Published: February 6, 2025 3.48am EST 
Authors 
Claudius Gräbner-Radkowitsch, Junior Professor of Pluralist Economics, Europa-Universität Flensburg 
Birte Strunk, PhD in economics, The New School 

 

[1] It is widely accepted that human activities are the primary drivers of global warming and environmental crises, including the 
rapid loss of biodiversity. […]  

 

Is green growth enough?

The idea behind green growth is to continue expanding economies while minimising environmental harm. However, critics 
[5] argue that this approach has failed to significantly curb climate change and biodiversity loss. 

 

Despite international efforts since the 1970s, carbon emissions have continued to rise. […] Nearly half of historical emissions 
occurred after 1990. Incremental policy changes, technological innovations and shifts in consumer behaviour have not been 
enough to reverse this trend. This failure has led to the growing appeal of “degrowth” – a more radical alternative that challenges 
the current global economic system. 

 

[10] The ”degrowth movement” emerged in Europe, particularly in France, in the late 2000s. Philosophers and economists were 
among its early proponents, with researchers later popularising the concept in the English-speaking world. They argue that 
the root cause of environmental destruction lies not only in human activity but also in a global economic model that has 
prioritised growth and profit since the Industrial Revolution. Over time, however, environmentalism has become central to the 
movement’s goals. 

 

[15] What about the global south?

Today, many degrowth advocates assert that the richer countries of the global north, being largely responsible for environmental 
degradation, should be the ones to scale back economic activity to avert ecological catastrophe. But what about the poorer 
countries of the global south? Should they adopt degrowth strategies? Some argue this would impose a neocolonial agenda, 
with wealthier countries once again dictating the terms of global development. Others note that many poorer countries need 
[20] economic growth to combat poverty. And even if degrowth were limited to the north, it could still have significant effects on the 
south – both positive and negative.  […] 

Retrieved and adapted from https://theconversation.com/the-degrowth-movement-envisions-global-climate-justice-but-must-adapt-to-global-south- Accessed on April 10th, 2025.

Read these sentences:

 

I. However, critics argue that this approach has failed to significantly curb climate change and biodiversity loss. (lines 04 and 05)

II. Despite international efforts since the 1970s, carbon emissions have continued to rise. (line 06)

 

The alternative that best substitutes “however” and “despite” respectively, without changing the meanings of the sentences, is