Latest Articles

It’s essential that we stabilise the global economy. More people understand this every year, but corporations and governments don’t, and so we continue to destroy nature for profit. They’ve built up a bank of myths around the necessity of perpetual growth. Here are 12 common ones, and how to respond to them.

As more and more of Earth’s natural beauty gets paved over each year, one woman has made it her mission to capture the wonder of the world beyond the cityscape and inspire people to venture outside the concrete and steel.

The messages of Hurricane Helene lie inscribed in the muddy debris of Asheville, North Carolina, and other wrecked towns of Appalachia.

In this conversation, Nate is joined by former Congressman Richard Gephardt to discuss the importance of democracy as a system of self-governance, as well as the need for respecting differing views in order to keep that system intact.

What’s clear is that the Colorado River can no longer be relied upon to meet the water needs of an increasing population. If we continue asking so much of it, we have to start easing those pressures. Water reuse is imperative if the driest parts of the world continue growing without destroying the environment that relies as much on water as we do.

Scientists have issued yet another clarion call regarding our seemingly unstoppable momentum toward climate catastrophe. In a recent article, The 2024 state of the climate report: Perilous times on planet Earth, some of the world’s leading climate scientists lay it out.

Enjoy this gallery of cartoons, graciously shared by Polyp and Andy Singer–two artists who are unafraid to unleash their wicked wit, creative talent, and good humor on the topics of capitalism, consumerism, and infantile fantasies of infinite economic growth.

Post Carbon Institute colleagues Richard Heinberg and Rob Dietz discuss the history of economic growth, the rise of ecological economics, the aftermath of the economic turmoil of 2008, and how to go from obsessing over growth to embracing a right-sized economy.

Richard Heinberg reviews the growth-versus-degrowth debate, explores the wide range of degrowth objectives and strategies, and lays out why advocating for voluntary degrowth makes sense now, even if nature-imposed contraction will come first.

Environmental journalist/podcaster Rachel Donald interviews Gaya Herrington, an internationally recognized sustainability researcher and economist, about the limits to growth and the role of businesses in making a global transformation to a wellbeing economy.

Peter Victor is one of the world’s foremost post-growth theorists. In this Q&A article, Richard Heinberg gathers insights from Peter about what will be needed to downsize the economy toward a sustainable scale.

Richard Heinberg traces the intellectual throughline of post-growth concepts and the history of degrowth and related economic movements. He takes a systemic approach that touches on Indigenous economics, ecology, physics, archaeology, energy, cultural history, philosophy, and climate science.