Growth in Transition

On the 8th of July 2024 the Austrian Chapter of the Club of Rome presented the Report „Earth4All Austria“ at the wonderful location of the first Climate Biennial in Vienna.

„Earth4All AUSTRIA“ is based on a participatory stakeholder journey which over 12 months involved some 100 people and reached several thousand.

The fastest transformation in history requires fundamental policy changes beyond growth in the fields of poverty, inequality, empowerment, food and energy towards a doughnut/wellbeing economy for all. 

Since the first publishing of “The Limits to Growth”, the Club of Rome has become synonymous with forward-thinking and scientifically rigorous policy advocacy. Building on this legacy, the Earth4All Initiative – created by the Club of Rome – published another report in September 2022 entitled “Earth4All: A Survival Guide for our Planet”.

The report further expands on the concepts defined in “The Limits to Growth” and further discusses two different scenarios based on current scientific research:

  • Too Little too late – business as usual, We continue on the same path as the last 40 years. 
  • Decisive action is taken in the form of a “giant leap.” A comprehensive plan for a sustainable global society at the end of this century.

The Austrian Chapter of the Club of Rome in collaboration with the PEP Network in Kenya, will fight for the implementation of policies recommended by Earth4All. We will take up this vision and help to ensure that the 5 turnarounds described in the report together with the 15 proposed measures can be discussed at a national level.

Growth in Transition („Wachstum im Wandel„) has a long tradition in Austria. On the 5th of December 2023 we celebrated the 15th anniversary of the initiative lead by the Austrian Climate Ministry. The initiative had organized three major conferences – the last of which took place in 2018 as part of the Austrian EU Council Presidency.

Another activity was the publication of an article in the Austrian Newspaper „Der Standard“ in 2010 by 15 renowned economists questioning the prevalent growth paradigm, saying that

Taking growth limits into account requires an economy that is geared towards optimising the quality of life in an environmentally friendly way in the long term. In fact, we still know far too little about how an economy with little or no growth can create jobs, eradicate poverty or invest in education and care while keeping climate change within tolerable limits. It is therefore high time for a new economic focus.

Josef Baum, Andreas Breitenfellner, Stefan Bruckbauer, Ulla Hlawatsch, Friedrich Hinterberger, Michael Getzner, Christine Jasch, Angela Köppl, Kurt Kratena, Fred Luks, Reinhard Mechler, Walter Otto Ötsch, Elke Pirgmaier, Christine Polzin, Gerhard Reitschuler, Stefan Schleicher, Johannes Schweighofer, Michal Sedlacko, Sigrid Stagl, Karl Steininger, Andrea Stocker, Martin Wagner, Norbert Wohlgemuth

Today, „Growth in Transition“ creates the consolidation of a network in whose connections/interdependencies a positive future and a good life can succeed. In this way, we connect organisations, institutions, companies, individuals, simply actors who, despite their different perspectives on growth issues, turn to each other and walk common paths.

Being part of the initiative right from the start, I am now a member of the board of the newly founded association „Growth in Transition“ and we are happy to have the Austrian Climate Ministry (BMK) as one of our other founding members on board.

On the 5th of December 2023 we were delighted to have Janez Potocnik at our re-founding after 15 years of successful work, who convinced us (again) that a „system change approach is useful and also absolutely needed“.! Video:

As part of the UniNEtZ project, a network of 15 Austrian universities on the implementation of SDGs in Austria I was coordinating the work on SDG 8 „Decent work and Economic Growth“ and developed a special focus on „Monitoring of Progress beyond GDP“ (lead: University of Salzburg).