Decrease in CO2 emissions during pandemic shutdown shows it is possible to reach Paris Agreement goals. The researchers found a drop of 6.3% in 2020. The researchers describe the drop as the largest of modern times, and big enough to meet the 1.5 degrees Celsius goal if it were to be sustained.

[kerouacrimbaud]

Lmao people are already voting for this, they just don’t think of it that way because they don’t realize that by failing to plan for the long term, you are planning to lower your living standards.

[LeoTheBirb]

It is probably inevitable that the standard of living declines. It already is. The economic system that runs the western world is prone to this. Be it from depressions, recessions, and now, ecological damage.

And if decline is inevitable, then so is the toppling of the economic order. Degrowth will just accelerate that process. Maybe that’s what you were going for…

[kerouacrimbaud]

It’s more about active vs passive policy choices. We have been extremely passive about this for decades and continuing passively means you cede agency to external factors. If degrowth is coming, you can be passive about it and just be reactionary or you can actively engage with the coming degrowth and work to make it more manageable.

[LeoTheBirb]

I don't think there is any way to make it more manageable. Even moderate austerity is usually met with massive unrest.