Four pathways to a resilient economy within Planetary Boundaries

“Our dominant economic system needs fundamental change to respond to planetary overshoot while increasing human wellbeing,” says Centre researcher Bianca Voicu, lead author of the report. She continues:

“It is time we moved away from the expectation of single bullet solutions, and instead explore and experiment with multiple approaches which may reinforce each other over time to deliver more just and resilient economies.”

The new report, “Pathways towards a sustainable and resilient economy,” produced by Centre researchers on behalf of WWF, explores four possible and partly complementary pathways towards an economy that meets people’s needs within Planetary Boundaries: the circular bioeconomy, the Laghum economy, the nature-positive economy, and the not-for-profit economy.

• The circular bioeconomy focuses on reducing resource use through circular material flows, reuse and renewable raw materials.
• The Laghum economy proposes a tax shift in which the use of natural resources is taxed more heavily while labour is taxed less.
• The nature-positive economy focuses on reducing negative impacts on nature while scaling up efforts to restore and strengthen ecosystems.
• The not-for-profit economy focuses on business structures in which surplus is reinvested in the organisation and social benefit is prioritised over maximising private profit.

"The future is an unknown territory with a need for a compass to navigate. Our report shows that different perspectives and approaches can complement each other and help find paths towards economies that support human wellbeing, strengthen resilience, and enable societies to operate within ecological limits,” says Centre researcher David Collste, one of the authors.

“The challenge is not a lack of solutions, but scaling and combining them in ways that drive meaningful systemic change."

The report shows that no single solution or actor can transform the entire economy. However, different measures from the four pathways can reinforce one another and increase the possibility of creating an economy that works for both people and nature.

The report is being released in connection with WWF’s Economic Forum.