New initiative on transformational economics, EarthforAll, launched  

19 November 2020 – A major new international collaboration EarthforAll was launched today at the UNFCCC Race to Zero Dialogues session on Transformational Leadership

EarthforAll will explore transformational political and economic solutions for the 21st century. It will bring together leading researchers and policymakers to explore political and economic solutions to catalyze transformation along five pathways: energy, food, inequality, poverty and population (including health and education).

The project is led by teams at the Club of Rome, the Norwegian Business School and Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.

“EarthforAll combines a major international commission for transformational economics with cutting edge research to model our economic trajectory in the 21st century and the necessary economic systems shifts to restabilise Earth,” says Sandrine Dixson-Declève, co-president of the Club of Rome. 

The initiative can trace its origins to the iconic Limits to Growth report commissioned by the Club of Rome and published in 1972. EarthforAll will publish its analyses in 2022 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the first “Earth Summit” – the United Nations Conference on the Environment, held in Stockholm. 

“EarthforAll is ultimately about positive trajectories. We can stabilize Earth. Ending poverty is within our grasp. But we need to overcome substantial economic and political barriers immediately, which is what we want this project to contribute towards,” says Per Espen Stoknes who will lead the project at the Norwegian Business School along with Jorgen Randers, an author on the original Limits to Growth report.  

“Ultimately, this is about achieving the Sustainable Development Goals within planetary boundaries,” says Johan Rockström, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.

EarthforAll will assess global catastrophic risks, such as crossing planetary tipping points, and combine this with the quantitative assessment of economic development along the five identified pathways most likely to drive transformational, and systemic change towards sustainability:

  1. Energy: accelerate energy transition along a “Carbon law” path of halving emissions every decade. This will require changing how we use materials and energy and how we process our waste: a closed loop economy. 
  2. Food: Rapid scale-up of regenerative food production and a shift to sustainable consumption
  3. Poverty: Apply new development models in poor countries for rapid, inclusive economic development. 
  4. Inequality: Catalyze unprecedented inequality reduction and ensure proper wealth distribution
  5. Population: Invest in education of women, gender equality, health, and family planning

EarthforAll will produce detailed roadmaps for each transformational pathway, which will be stress tested and further developed into clear policy scenarios for implementation by a multidisciplinary Commission of economic thought leaders. Engagement with all major stakeholders including policy makers, relevant academic institutes, scientists, and business leaders and citizen groups will be fostered from the outset. 

More information:

Till Kellerhoff (The Club of Rome)
tkellerhoff@clubofrome.org

www.earth4all.life

 

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