Fundamentally Changing our Thinking about Economic Systems

The world's obsession with economic growth is killing nature, report finds

Natural History Museum

Currently, we are asking too much of the natural world, which presents a risk to both the economy and the wellbeing of our children and grandchildren. We need transformative change.

Prof Sir Dasgupta recommends three areas of change:

1. Ensure that our demands on nature do not exceed its supply.
2. Change the way we think about economic success.
3. Transform our finance and education systems.

To make it easier for nature to provide for us, we need to find better, more efficient ways of farming that will both preserve wild spaces and create jobs at the same time. The world also needs to get used to the idea of consuming less and reusing, recycling and sharing what we have much more than we do now. Governments can nudge this along with policies that change prices and behavioural norms.

Natural capital forms the bulk of wealth in low-income countries, and those on low incomes tend to rely more directly on nature, which means conserving and restoring our natural assets also contributes to alleviating poverty.

Countries also need to measure their wealth differently, not using gross domestic product (GDP), but by measuring all our assets, including nature.

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