Degrowth & The European Green New Deal w/ Riccardo Mastini, PhD Candidate In Political Ecology

In today's episode I have the pleasure of talking to Riccardo Mastini - Riccardo is a a PhD candidate in Political Ecology and Ecological Economics at the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA) at the Autonomous University of Barcelona.

The topic sounded extremely interesting, particularly since Riccardo is at the forefront of academic research into degrowth - the idea that we need to transform our society to optimize the well-being of everybody and sustain the natural basis of life.

Apart from studying degrowth, Riccardo is a Member of the Green New Deal for Europe and the Wellbeing Economic Alliance. He has also consulted the United Nations Environment Programme, several environmental agencies across the world and a lot of international NGOs.

Our podcast was quite detailed and had an academic feel to it. It does require a bit of focus, but the explanations are so nuanced and in-depth that it's a worthy listen. 

We discussed how his PhD intersects with climate change, we delved deeper into degrowth, we looked at why we cannot continue to grow and decarbonize at the same time (at a meaningful rate anyway) and we explored the intricacies of the Green New Deal with a focus on Europe.

Hope you enjoy this episode, let's dive right in!

RICCARDO'S RELEVANT LINKS

Riccardo’s website: https://rmastini.wixsite.com/degrowth

Riccardo’s Facebook account: https://www.facebook.com/r.mastini

Riccardo’s Twitter account: https://twitter.com/r_mastini

EPISODE TIMECODES

3:47 - Riccardo's background, PhD & how it intersects with climate change

10:50 - Defining the concept of degrowth

21:04 - Is degrowth necessary to decarbonize?

32:24 - The European Green New Deal & its challenges

50:09 - Science vs Business vs Politics vs Society

RESOURCES MENTIONED

Friends of the Earth Europe’s report ‘Sufficiency: Moving beyond the gospel of eco-efficiency’: http://www.foeeurope.org/sufficiency

Post-Growth Conference 2018 at the European Parliament: https://www.postgrowth2018.eu/

Institute of Environmental Science and Technology, Autonomous University of Barcelona: https://ictaweb.uab.cat/

Green New Deal for Europe: https://www.gndforeurope.com/campaign

Research & Degrowth: https://degrowth.org/

Wellbeing Economy Alliance: https://wellbeingeconomy.org/

Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy: https://steadystate.org/

Degrowth.info: https://www.degrowth.info/en/

Is Green Growth Possible?: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/59bc0e610abd04bd1e067ccc/t/5cbdc638b208fc1c56f785a7/1555940922601/Hickel+and+Kallis+-+Is+Green+Growth+Possible.pdf

Decoupling debunked: https://eeb.org/library/decoupling-debunked/

A Good Life For All Within Planetary Boundaries: https://goodlife.leeds.ac.uk/

The EU needs a stability and well