Would a low level of economic growth or zero growth be solutions for reducing the impact of man's actions on nature? Do the current parameters for evaluating the economy's performance accurately portray the bonuses and burdens provided by the capitalist model adopted in most of the world? These are some of the questions raised this Monday (27) during the Capitalism and Environment, Zero Growth and Sustainable Development Forum, which brought together experts from economic, social and environmental sciences at the Unicamp Convention Center.
Since the beginning of the 1970s, humanity has annually used more resources than the planet is capable of regenerating, according to the concept of ecological footprint. The United Nations (UN) predicts that the world population will reach 9,7 billion people by 2050, having an even greater impact on this deficit. The data was presented by economist Junior Garcia, professor at the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), who addressed the topic of ecological macroeconomics and sustainable development.
Garcia highlighted that the benefits of technological development in recent decades were not enough to offset the increase in greenhouse gas emissions, the increase in consumption standards and other consequences of human action on the environment. "We lost efficiency gains due to the scale effect."
According to the UFPR professor, "technology alone is not enough, because until now it has not shown itself to be a real contribution to the problem." As a researcher, he proposes the creation of theoretical and methodological instruments for the debate on zero or low growth in macroeconomics, in order to consider the limits of this growth, from an environmental perspective, and the qualitative benefits of this expansion. "Otherwise, we will be discussing growth without actually social transformation."
An environmental collapse is on the horizon and we can already see some signs of it, such as increasing rates of atmospheric CO2 concentrations and the rise in global average temperatures. This statement comes from professor at the Institute of Philosophy and Human Sciences (IFCH) at Unicamp Luiz Marques. According to him, "the chances of us deviating from the current trajectory of socio-environmental collapse have now become null or are quickly heading towards zero", because "when the cause ceases, the effect does not cease".
USP economics professor Ricardo Abramovay agrees with Marques and adds that "there is no doubt that contemporary societies are doing much less than they could and, above all, than they should to face major socio-environmental problems." For him, the quality of growth is what should be important, and technology must be at the service of human needs and the environment. However, he believes that there are social forces combined with technology capable of changing the course of things.
More optimistic, José Eli da Veiga, professor of economics at USP, questioned methodological criteria for calculating the environmental footprint and argued that there is a need to reassess the real environmental risks. "There is no scientific evidence, in my view, that says environmental collapse is on the horizon." For him, it is possible for capitalism to be sustainable, however, not through zero growth, a "very problematic and unfortunate idea, which should not be followed". Veiga argues that the economy's performance should not be measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which calculates a country's production, but rather based on household consumption.
Economist Ademar Ribeiro Romeiro, one of the organizers of the event and professor at the Unicamp Institute of Economics, was emphatic in arguing that there is a limit to the use of natural resources, but it is not yet known what it is. Regarding the excessive use of fossil fuels, the IE professor pointed out its importance as one of the sources of anthropogenic pressure. For Romeiro, it is necessary to increase ecological efficiency, that is, to produce the same thing with fewer resources and fewer impacts. "It will be possible to considerably alleviate the anthropogenic impact with these technologies." Capitalism or not, for the professor, the name of the system does not matter, but the process.
One of the researchers interested in assessing the impacts of reduced growth is Peter Victor, professor of Environmental Studies at York University. Victor - who participated in the event directly from Canada, via teleconference - presented studies on the effects that low growth would have on the Canadian economy. Employing a modeling tool based on system dynamics, he showed that it is possible to combine full employment, poverty elimination and environmental protection in a low-growth situation in a developed country.
The Capitalism and Environment, Zero Growth and Sustainable Development Forum was held by the Strategic Thinking Forum (Penses) at Unicamp. Penses is an academic space, linked to the Rector's Office, responsible for promoting discussions that contribute to the formulation of public policies aimed at the development of society in all its aspects.
