Systems Change

Degrowth

Ecological economics beyond growth

Featured story

Jason Hickel on Degrowth: A response to Branko Milanovic

In late 2017, Branko Milanovic wrote a blog post titled “ The illusion of degrowth in a poor and unequal world .” He penned it, he says, following a conversation he had with a proponent of degrowth, which was me. I wrote a response, which…

JASON HICKEL · 62 min read

Stories in this directory

Economics·6 July 2026

Taking Stock: How Has the UN Report Informed the Beyond GDP Debate?

When the UN High-Level Expert Group (HLEG) released its report, ‘Counting What Counts: A Compass of Progress for People and Planet,’ it brought decades of critique about the limitations of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to the forefront of…

SDG KNOWLEDGE HUB · 8 min read

Economics·23 June 2026

I am tired of watching powerful men destroy the rules-based international order

Abir Al Sahlani adressing the European Parliament: Abir Al-Sahlani is an Iraqi-born Swedish Member of the

ON Network · 1 min read

Climate·26 April 2026

A Year in a Field : Earth Day Featured Story

“A silent cry about the climate crisis and a penetrating meditation on what life is. A film full of ideas that resonate deeply, told as a penetrating dream that shakes you awake.“

ON Network · 8 min read

Arts & Culture·16 March 2026

Radical Abundance: How to Win a Green Democratic Future

Capitalism has created a world of bullshit abundance, where we have too much of what we don't need and too little of what we truly do. This hollow pursuit, achieved at the expense of both people and the planet, has forced us to confront…

ABUNDANCE · 2 min read

Systems Change·17 February 2026

We can move beyond the capitalist model and save the climate - here are the first three steps

‘Capitalism cares about our species’ prospects as much as a wolf cares about the lamb’s.’ Photograph: Minerva Studio/Alamy ON SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN Thu 12 Feb 2026 13.00 GMT We can move beyond the capitalist model and save the climate – h

5 min read

Economics·18 July 2025

Reorganizing Production to Serve Life, Not Profit

Analysis of Capitalism - Globalization - Socio-ecological Transformation - Democratic Socialism

ROSA LUXEMBURG STIFTUNG · 23 min read

Economics·9 May 2025

Beyond GDP: Measuring Wealth to Address Global and In-country Challenges

The September 2024 UN Summit of the Future (SoF) stressed the need to address well-known shortcomings of gross domestic product (GDP) as an indicator of wealth by developing a framework for measuring sustainable development progress that…

SDG KNOWLEDGE HUB · 5 min read

Economics·24 March 2024

Inter-Parliamentary Union - Martin Chungong: keeping faith with democracy

Martin Chungong, secretary general of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, at the organisation’s villa headquarters known as “Maison des Parlements” in Grand-Saconnex. (IPU)

ON Network · 5 min read

Economics·27 September 2023

UNDP launches innovative e-Learning Programme on sustainable finance

In response to the increasing global need to support and enhance sustainable finance, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) launched a revolutionary e-Learning Programme. This initiative of the Sustainable Finance Hub’s SDG…

ON Network · 2 min read

Economics·19 May 2023

Beyond Growth 2023 Conference

The Beyond Growth 2023 Conference is a multi-stakeholder event aiming to discuss and co-create policies for sustainable prosperity in Europe , based on a systemic and transformative approach to economic, social and environmental…

ON Network · 3 min read

Economics·19 May 2023

Beyond Growth 2023 - @JKSteinberger

As floods & fires rise, oceans boil & ice melts, and 'safe' temperatures are breached, something momentous just happened in the heart of the EU. No one has heard about it: journalists were present, but their editors refused to publish . ,…

ON Network · 2 min read

Economics·4 January 2023

Global Forum for Food and Agriculture 2023

By Federal Ministry for Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection of Germany 04 January 2023

ON Network · 1 min read

Economics·18 August 2022

Beyond GDP: changing how we measure progress is key to tackling a world in crisis

Robert F Kennedy on the presidential campaign trail in 1968. Alamy

ON Network · 22 min read

Economics·13 July 2022

UNICEF: Around 3 in 4 youth lack skills needed for employment, new report says

Recovering learning: Are children and youth on track in skills development? features analyses on skills development in early childhood, and among children of primary school age and youth. The data highlight low levels of skills among…

ON Network · 3 min read

Climate·6 October 2025

Serpentine Galleries: Back to Earth

Seba Calfuqueo, Tray Tray Ko, video, 6’13, 2022, film still, photo by: Sebastian Melo.

ON Network · 3 min read

Economics·22 June 2022

Regenesis: George Monbiot

Britain's leading environmental thinker presents his most audacious idea yet, in this 5 minute short film from the director of THE AGE OF STUPID.

ON Network · 1 min read

Economics·23 May 2022

Millionaires at Davos say 'tax us more'

Millionaires Marlene Engelhorn and Phil White joined a Davos protest calling for higher taxes on the wealthy

ON Network · 3 min read

Economics·26 January 2022

The Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perceptions Index

ON editors note: This was taken from a Guardian newsletter. To read the full story go here: Governments around the world used Covid to erode human rights – report The Transparency International (TI) index is released at this time every…

ON Network · 2 min read

Economics·19 January 2022

Millionaires group calls for wealth tax at virtual Davos

ZURICH, Jan 19 (Reuters) - A group of more than 100 billionaires and millionaires has issued a plea to political and business leaders convening virtually for the World Economic Forum: make us pay more tax.

ON Network · 3 min read

Arts & Culture·12 May 2025

Featured Story: 140 Artists’ Ideas for Planet Earth

A new book inviting artists to re-think the climate emergency

ON Network · 3 min read

Climate·12 May 2025

Beyond Planting Trees: Let Communities Lead Restoration

Restoring degraded land and slowing the pace of desertification is vital for the achievement of the SDGs, including those on hunger, poverty, biodiversity, and climate action, as well as for contributing to the UNCCD goals on land…

ON Network · 4 min read

Economics·9 April 2021

Positive Tech Solutions Will Forge The Recovery: Global Technology Governance Summit Concludes

Alem Tedeneke, Media Lead, World Economic Forum: Tel.: +646 204 9191; Email: [email protected]

ON Network · 7 min read

Economics·30 March 2021

G-7 Coordination Seen as ‘Missing Piece’ for Sustainable Finance

The booming sustainable finance industry needs global standards and upcoming gatherings of world leaders provide the ideal forum for designing them, according to the world’s biggest industry body for sustainable investing.

ON Network · 2 min read

Economics·9 February 2021

New programme to accelerate business action on the Sustainable Development Goals starts with 600 companies in 65 countries

A new programme focused on accelerating business performance on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) starts this week engaging more than 600 companies in 65 countries with a combined annual revenue of US$1 trillion.

ON Network · 2 min read

Economics·26 January 2021

Oxfam: The 10 richest men saw their net worth increase by $540 billion during the pandemic

LONDON, Jan 25 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Billionaires including Amazon's Jeff Bezos and Tesla founder Elon Musk have seen their wealth soar during the COVID-19 pandemic while the world's poor face years of hardship, charity Oxfam said…

ON Network · 3 min read

Economics·24 January 2021

2021: International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour

The International Labour Organization (ILO) , in collaboration with the Alliance 8.7 global partnership, is launching the International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour, to encourage legislative and practical actions to eradicate…

ON Network · 2 min read

Economics·13 January 2021

Big Tech’s attention economy can be reformed. Here’s how.

This week a violent mob mounted the biggest attack on the Capitol, the seat of American democracy, in more than 200 years, driven by the false belief that the presidential election had been stolen. The chief author of that claim was…

ON Network · 10 min read

Economics·27 October 2020

Equality, sustainability should guide COVID-19 recovery, say governments at regional forum

WFP/Morelia Eróstegui - Indigenous women in Bolivia speak to a WFP official about the coronavirus pandemic and healthy nutrition.

ON Network · 2 min read

Economics·14 October 2020

Trust Valley: excellence and innovation for digital trust and cybersecurity

Published on 13 October 2020, 17:32. Updated on 14 October 2020, 12:29.

ON Network · 3 min read

Economics·27 August 2020

COVID-19: UN chief outlines path to sustainable, inclusive recovery in Southeast Asia

UNICEF/Fauzan Ijazah A mother and her two-year old daughter at home in Central Java, Indonesia.

ON Network · 3 min read

New Museum·6 October 2025

Museums Are Experts at Thinking Long-Term. That’s Why They Must Lead the Fight for a Greener Future—Before It’s Too Late

Nick Merriman, chief executive of the Horniman Museum & Gardens. Photo by Tania Dolvers

4 min read

Economics·6 July 2020

From dusted-off bikes to electric dreams: UK green economy booms on back of Covid-19

Lime expects to have attracted 20,000 new riders to its shared electric bike rental scheme by the time lockdown lifts and plans to offer e-scooters in the UK soon. Photograph: London Time/Alamy

ON Network · 6 min read

Economics·6 July 2020

The UN is mobilising for the next quarter-century

With the help of a mass online survey, in-depth polling across 50 countries, hundreds of live “dialogues” and a trawl of research, the plan is to find out what people would like to see 25 years from now, when the un reaches 100. The views…

ON Network · 4 min read

Economics·11 October 2023

Helping youth enterprise take off, will bring sustainable returns, say UN economists

Amid worsening global employment prospects owing to the pandemic, the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) maintained in a new report that unlocking business opportunities for young adults “could lower unemployment and bring…

ON Network · 2 min read

Economics·12 June 2020

UN GENEVA: COVID-19 and inequalities: ‘We must rededicate to the 2030 Agenda’

In the post-COVID-19, the world now faces a “steeper hill” in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, International Labour Organization (ILO) Director-General Guy Ryder warned Tuesday during an online panel discussion focusing on…

ON Network · 2 min read

Economics·5 May 2020

How a one-off tax on wealth could cover the economic cost of the coronavirus crisis

Senior Lecturer at the Future Economies Research Centre, Manchester Metropolitan University

ON Network · 5 min read

Economics·20 April 2020

By invitation: Mark Carney on how the economy must yield to human values

In recent years, the market economy has become the market society. The virus could reverse that trend

ON Network · 5 min read

Economics·26 March 2020

A sustainable global economy must arise once COVID-19 pandemic is reversed, UN chief tells G-20 summit

World leaders at the G-20 virtual summit held on Thursday committed to inject over $5 trillion into the global economy to counteract the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

ON Network · 2 min read

Economics·4 April 2020

Mark Carney on Bloomberg

Mark Carney, the outgoing Bank of England governor, talks about his successes, challenges and Brexit in a wide-ranging conversation with Bloomberg's Francine Lacqua.

ON Network · 1 min read

Economics·11 February 2020

World Urban Forum: cities must be ‘at the heart’ of sustainable development

The official opening of the 10th Session of the World Urban Forum (WUF) took place in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, with UN chief António Guterres telling delegates that cities and towns were crucial to deliver sustainable development across the…

ON Network · 3 min read

Economics·29 December 2019

Firms must justify investment in fossil fuels, warns Mark Carney

Mark Carney will focus on his new role as UN special envoy for climate change and finance after he steps down as Bank governor in the new year. Photograph: Kirsty Wigglesworth/AFP via Getty Images

ON Network · 2 min read

Charities·16 March 2026

Featured Story: Birdsong returns to the hills of Bemolanga

The hills surrounding Ahbohibary Kofay used to be filled with birdsong, says Lydia, who tends a small rice paddy outside the tiny village at the bottom of Bemolanga valley. That was until this area in Western Madagascar was laid to waste…

UNEP · 4 min read

Economics·7 August 2019

How the world’s dirtiest industries have learned to pollute our politics

A fracking rig in the US. Photograph: grandriver/Getty Images

ON Network · 5 min read

Economics·16 April 2019

Mark Carney tells global banks they cannot ignore climate change dangers

Mark Carney arriving for IMF and World Bank meetings in Washington earlier this month. Photograph: James Lawler Duggan/Reuters

ON Network · 3 min read

Dwelling·12 September 2025

The Gardeners' House

The Morrab Botanical Gardens are a sub tropical garden in the heart of Penzance and home to the rare and remarkable Morrab Library. Nestled in the grounds sits a partially-derelict, former stables building...

ON Network · 2 min read

Charities·22 September 2025

Structural Fabric Weaves Tent Shelters into Communities: Abeer Seikaly

Human life throughout history has developed in alternating waves of migration and settlement. The movement of people across the earth led to the discovery of new territories as well as the creation of new communities among strangers…

ON Network · 1 min read

New Museum·27 November 2025

Featured: Utopia For Realists - and how we can get there.

Visited the Wellcome Collection yesterday and came away with Utopia For Realists (ON Ed) Utopia for Realists is one of those rare books that takes you by surprise and challenges what you think you know. Rutger Bregman takes us on a journey…

1 min read

Jason Hickel on Degrowth: A response to Branko Milanovic

Stories in this directory

Taking Stock: How Has the UN Report Informed the Beyond GDP Debate?

I am tired of watching powerful men destroy the rules-based international order

A Year in a Field : Earth Day Featured Story

Radical Abundance: How to Win a Green Democratic Future

We can move beyond the capitalist model and save the climate - here are the first three steps

Reorganizing Production to Serve Life, Not Profit

Beyond GDP: Measuring Wealth to Address Global and In-country Challenges

Inter-Parliamentary Union - Martin Chungong: keeping faith with democracy

UNDP launches innovative e-Learning Programme on sustainable finance

Beyond Growth 2023 Conference

Beyond Growth 2023 - @JKSteinberger

Global Forum for Food and Agriculture 2023

Beyond GDP: changing how we measure progress is key to tackling a world in crisis

UNICEF: Around 3 in 4 youth lack skills needed for employment, new report says

Serpentine Galleries: Back to Earth

Regenesis: George Monbiot

Millionaires at Davos say &#x27;tax us more&#x27;

The Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perceptions Index

Millionaires group calls for wealth tax at virtual Davos

Featured Story: 140 Artists’ Ideas for Planet Earth

Beyond Planting Trees: Let Communities Lead Restoration

Positive Tech Solutions Will Forge The Recovery: Global Technology Governance Summit Concludes

G-7 Coordination Seen as ‘Missing Piece’ for Sustainable Finance

New programme to accelerate business action on the Sustainable Development Goals starts with 600 companies in 65 countries

Oxfam: The 10 richest men saw their net worth increase by $540 billion during the pandemic

2021: International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour

Big Tech’s attention economy can be reformed. Here’s how.

Equality, sustainability should guide COVID-19 recovery, say governments at regional forum

Trust Valley: excellence and innovation for digital trust and cybersecurity

COVID-19: UN chief outlines path to sustainable, inclusive recovery in Southeast Asia

Museums Are Experts at Thinking Long-Term. That’s Why They Must Lead the Fight for a Greener Future—Before It’s Too Late

From dusted-off bikes to electric dreams: UK green economy booms on back of Covid-19

The UN is mobilising for the next quarter-century

Helping youth enterprise take off, will bring sustainable returns, say UN economists

UN GENEVA: COVID-19 and inequalities: ‘We must rededicate to the 2030 Agenda’

How a one-off tax on wealth could cover the economic cost of the coronavirus crisis

By invitation: Mark Carney on how the economy must yield to human values

A sustainable global economy must arise once COVID-19 pandemic is reversed, UN chief tells G-20 summit

Mark Carney on Bloomberg

World Urban Forum: cities must be ‘at the heart’ of sustainable development

Firms must justify investment in fossil fuels, warns Mark Carney

Featured Story: Birdsong returns to the hills of Bemolanga

How the world’s dirtiest industries have learned to pollute our politics

Mark Carney tells global banks they cannot ignore climate change dangers

The Gardeners&#x27; House

Structural Fabric Weaves Tent Shelters into Communities: Abeer Seikaly

Featured: Utopia For Realists - and how we can get there.

Millionaires at Davos say 'tax us more'

The Gardeners' House