Degrowth and the Sustainable Development Goals

Explain what the Sustainable Development Goals are, who promotes them, and name three of them, describing their content in one sentence.

The $17$ SDGs are grouped into three broad dimensions: economic, social and environmental. Classify these four goals into their main dimension: no poverty, climate action, decent work and economic growth, and life below water. What does that classification show about how broad the concept of sustainability is?

Sustainable development was defined as "meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own". Explain the definition with a forestry or fishing example: what does exploiting a resource "without mortgaging" those who come after mean?

What is the ecological footprint and what does it mean that humanity consumes "as if it had $1,7$ planets"? Explain which resources are being used up faster than the Earth regenerates them and what "Earth Overshoot Day" is.

What is energy poverty (not being able to keep your home at an adequate temperature or pay for basic utilities)? Describe the case of an affected family and explain which SDGs it relates to (affordable energy, no poverty, health).

What does the degrowth theory advocate? Explain how it differs from an economic recession and why its proponents stress this distinction so strongly.

The figure shows the trend of GDP and CO₂ emissions of an imaginary country over ten years, using index numbers where year $1$ equals $100$.

1. a) Describe what the graph shows: is economic growth "decoupled" from emissions?
2. b) Explain what would need to happen to both curves for growth to be genuinely green.

A country grows by $3\ \%$ a year and manages to make its emissions fall by $1\ \%$ a year. Its climate target is to cut emissions by half within $30$ years.

1. a) Calculate what percentage of the initial level emissions remain after $30$ years of falling by $1\ \%$ a year (you may use a calculator or estimate year by year). Does the country meet its target? Roughly what annual rate of decline would be needed?
2. b) Draw the conclusion for the debate between "green growth" and "degrowth": what does this number say about the necessary speed of decoupling?

What is "greenwashing"? Give an example of a suspicious advertising campaign (an oil company advertising its three planted trees, an uncertified "natural product") and give three clues for detecting it (vague data, invented labels, the real share of "green" in the company).

A fair-trade coffee brand costs $30\ \%$ more than the supermarket's conventional coffee.

1. a) Which SDGs does fair trade promote and through what mechanisms (a minimum price to the producer, working conditions, premiums for the community)?
2. b) Set out the consumer's dilemma (price versus impact) and reason what information you would ask for on the label to decide whether the mark-up is justified.

In a supermarket, you find two laundry detergent options:

• Detergent A (conventional): costs $3,20\text{ €}$ ($0,08\text{ €}$ per wash). It contains non-biodegradable petroleum derivatives, and its virgin plastic packaging comes from a plant located $4.000\text{ km}$ away.

• Detergent B: costs $7,80\text{ €}$ ($0,195\text{ €}$ per wash). It has official EU Ecolabel certification, locally sourced plant-based raw materials, and $100\ \%$ recycled cardboard packaging.

Next to them, a third brand costs $6,50\text{ €}$ and features a label with leaf illustrations and the phrase "natural formula", without any official certification.

1. a) Apply Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to compare detergents A and B: identify the specific negative externalities in the extraction, transport, use, and end-of-life phases, and justify why the $3,20\text{ €}$ price of option A constitutes a market failure due to the underestimation of social costs.
2. b) Interpret the third brand using the economic theory of asymmetric information: explain why greenwashing arises in unregulated markets and what adverse selection effect it can cause for producers who genuinely invest in sustainability.
3. c) Design an economic policy proposal (combining a Pigouvian tax and a mandatory certification standard) aimed at correcting price signals on store shelves to promote responsible consumption (SDG 12).

An industrial estate employs $400$ people but discharges waste into the river and emits large amounts of CO₂. The local council is hesitant between tightening environmental regulations or protecting jobs.

1. a) Frame the conflict as a clash between two SDGs and identify them.
2. b) Propose a solution that does not force a choice between jobs and the planet, and analyse its timescales.

A village is debating whether to install a large solar farm on what is now farmland.

1. a) Which SDGs does the project promote (affordable and clean energy, climate action) and which can it put under strain (food production, life on land)? Identify them and explain the clash.
2. b) What conditions would you set to accept it (agrivoltaics combining crops and panels, residents sharing in the benefits, restoring the land)? Justify each condition.

Observe the following data for an advanced economy: between 2005 and 2023, its GDP grew by $18\ \%$ and its direct CO₂ emissions fell by $22\ \%$. However, its total ecological footprint (which includes the impact of imported manufactured goods) grew by $6\ \%$, and absolute consumption of material resources remained stagnant.

1. a) Critically analyze whether these data support the "green growth" or the "degrowth" hypothesis: distinguish between relative and absolute decoupling, and interpret what role Jevons' paradox (the rebound effect) and the international offshoring of polluting production play in this discrepancy.
2. b) An international committee proposes to legally mandate a GDP growth rate of zero (economic freeze) immediately for all countries in the world. Refute the viability and economic fairness of this proposal, distinguishing its impact on mature high-income economies versus developing economies with high poverty rates.