SWS - Study

Introduction

The central challenges of our time are closely interconnected and can only be solved together. Pope Francis made this clear in his encyclical Laudato si' (LS) published in May 2015. He urges a comprehensive analysis of the problem and calls for a new, integral idea of progress so that "our common home" has a future. As different as the causes of global poverty and social inequalities on the one hand and the causes of the ongoing destruction of livelihoods through climate change and other environmental problems on the other hand may be, the manifold links between these are now obvious. Poor people, regions and countries that consume the fewest resources and have contributed the least to climate change are already today and will in future be even more disproportionately affected by its negative consequences and have significantly fewer opportunities to adapt to the changed conditions.


With the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the international community has taken up this issue and in September 2015 committed itself to jointly laying the foundations for sustainable development worldwide. The states acknowledge that there are not only widespread forms of underdevelopment, but also of undesirable development that need to be corrected through appropriate reforms. At the same time, they have agreed to concretise individual goals (cf. Fig. 1) and to initiate suitable political reforms to achieve them.


Unfortunately, the conflicting goals between the individual SDGs, especially with regard to the role of economic growth, are usually not given sufficient attention. With the study Raus aus der Wachstumsgesellschaft? A Socio-Ethical Analysis and Evaluation of Post-Growth Strategies, the Group of Experts (SWS)1 presented an orientation for this in 2018 with the result that it is neither justified to pursue growth as a primary economic policy strategy, nor to reject it in general. Rather, a socio-ecological transformation of the economy and society is necessary.

Figure 1: The Global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

According to the German Advisory Council on Global Environmental Change (WBGU Wissenschaftlicher Beirat der Bundesregierung Globale Umweltveränderungen), "the German terms 'transition' and 'transformation' are usually used synonymously to describe far-reaching processes of social, economic, cultural and political change". With regards to the necessary "great transformation", the WBGU speaks of a "fundamental change that envisages a restructuring of the national economies and of the global economy within the [planetary] boundaries in order to avoid irreversible damage to the Earth system and to ecosystems and their impacts on humanity.”2 The central goal is to achieve a net zero global greenhouse gas emission by the middle of this century. Depending on how ambitiously current emissions are reduced and how quickly the point of global climate neutrality is reached, it may be possible to limit the progressive warming of the planet to 2 degrees, or better still 1.5 degrees, by the year 2100. To realise this, the SWS study formulates the following guidelines (cf. Fig. 2):


1. Rapid introduction of comprehensive structural reforms to decouple growth and resource use. Central to this is a fair pricing of environmental use so that the social and ecological costs caused by production and consumption are not passed on to third parties, especially to the socially weaker and future generations ("externalisation of costs"). This also creates effective incentives for technical innovations, strengthens competition between suppliers as well as transparency and freedom of choice for consumers.

Figure 2: Guidelines of a socio-ecological transformation of the economy and society

2. These structural reforms are associated with considerable distribution effects and corresponding conflicts of interest. As supporting pillars, they therefore need appropriate social cushioning and effective international coordination. Only in this way is it possible to achieve the necessary broad consensus among the population and to successfully protect against "free riders" who want to gain competitive advantages with lower environmental and social standards.
3. A policy of socio-ecological transformation of the economy and society must also be prepared, supplemented and accompanied by a far-reaching change in culture, awareness and values.


Due to growing social imbalances and the increasing destruction of our natural livelihoods, the timeframe for the necessary socio-ecological transformation is extremely limited. It is therefore all the more important to initiate the necessary changes immediately and with great vigour, to shape them in a participatory manner and to ensure a fair distribution of benefits and burdens (of change as well as of inaction).


The COVID-19 pandemic has, as Pope Francis states in his recent encyclical Fratelli tutti, "exposed our false securities" (FT 7). It is to be feared that social inequalities will be further deepened and entrenched by the pandemic both globally and within many countries. In addition, there is a danger that the uncertainty caused by the crisis will reduce the acceptance of ecological and social reforms or that political measures will be limited to short-term crisis intervention. However, political interventions and economic stimulus programmes must be used consistently to promote the necessary structural change for a socio-ecological transformation, also in order to prevent future crises.


In this context, the group of experts would like to use the present study to explain which parameters and adjusting screws promote the necessary change and, in doing so, also shed light on the specific contribution of the Catholic Church as a world church. At the beginning (Chapter 1), three examples central to the socio-ecological transformation (energy, mobility, agriculture) will briefly illustrate how urgent rapid changes are and how closely intertwined the essential goals of sustainable development (SDGs) are. The selected examples illustrate clearly that the socio-ecological transformation offers great opportunities, but also requires social efforts.


In order to motivate people and societies to change, it is not only crucial to understand the necessity of change, but also to have a positive target perspective that develops motivating power as well as orientation (Chapter 2). In a third step, the factors that hinder the necessary transformation processes are analysed in more detail (chapter 3), in order to then name parameters and paths that can quickly initiate and effectively advance innovations (chapter 4). Finally, the significance of the churches and religious communities for the change is examined (chapter 5). As a global learning community, the church has special potential to contribute to the necessary transformation. For this, however, it is also imperative to analyse where, how and under which circumstances the churches hinder transformative steps and how these barriers can be overcome.

Comments (3)

15.10.2021 / 11:44 Uhr

hinterstoiser-f@web.de

Rolle der Demokratie und Zivilgesellschaft

Bei näherer Betrachtung der Global Development Goals fällt auf, dass ein Bekenntnis zur Demokratie fehlt, auch wenn sie (vermutlich) Grundlage und Ermöglicher vieler Einzelziele ist. Die Studie spricht im Folgenden viel von Transparenz und bürgerlicher Beteiligung, aber ein wirklich starkes Statement zu mehr Demokratie und Verantwortung der Regierenden gegenüber den Regierten fehlt mir. Schade, denn die Weltkirche hätte hier viel zu sagen (und intern noch viel nachzuholen)! Aber insgesamt danke für die interessanten Anregungen in diesem Text!

08.11.2021 / 13:18 Uhr (> answer to hinterstoiser-f@web.de)

Schulte-Maier@freenet.de

Vereinte Nationen sind kein demokratisches Gremium

Lieber Herr Hinterstoiser, Sie haben Recht mit Ihrer Kritik - unter den Vereinten Nationen sind aber doch "lupenreine Demokratien" (wie es unser Altkanzler Schröder so untreffend formulierte) in der Minderheit; die Mehrzahl sind doch eher Plutokratien oder Oligarchien mit gewissen demokratischen Beteiligungsmäntelchen. Es ist schwer genug, dass die sich auf Nachhaltigkeitsziele einigen, da braucht man auf ein Bekenntnis zu demokratischen Beteiligungsstrukturen nicht auch noch zu hoffen. ABER: davon sollten wir demokratisch-bürgerliche Minderheit nicht abschrecken lassen und weiterhin mehr Mitbestimmung fordern und bieten!

18.11.2021 / 14:40 Uhr

Anonym

Mir gefällt die Darstellung der verschiedenen Sphären der sozial-ökologischen Transformation. Dabei frage ich mich immer wieder, ob alle diese Bausteine "gleich groß" sind, aber das ist vermutlich schwer abzuschätzen... Falls es dazu genauere Zahlen oder eine Prioritätenliste gibt, dann bitte informieren Sie uns darüber!