Why will technology not save our souls?

“The myth of green growth surrounds us wherever we look. Eco-modernisation’s promise that technological fixes will provide us with the efficiency we need to decouple environmental burdens from economic growth suggests that business-as-usual can continue. Today’s guest Timothée Parrique is the best to explain why this is not happening and why relying solely on technological solutions is like betting on green zero in roulette. Hosted by Alexandra Köves. Edited by Aidan Knox."

Comment from our editors:

Neoclassical environmental economics relies on the assumption that technological progress enables green growth by decoupling economic growth from material use and carbon emissions. This podcast debunks this assumption in an accessible way, distinguishing between different types of decoupling and explaining concepts such as the rebound effect or the decreasing energy efficiency of renewable energy compared to fossil fuels. Timothée Parrique also explains why isolated examples of decoupling do not prove that absolute decoupling can work on a global scale, because they mostly focus only on carbon emissions, ignoring material resource use and the fact that absolute decoupling would have to happen very quickly to mitigate ecological crises.

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