Nature Climate Change, Published online: 13 March 2026; doi:10.1038/s41558-026-02580-6Post-growth scholarship seeks to address the limitations of growth-oriented mitigation scenarios by exploring the potential of profound socio-economic transformations. This Perspective synthesizes core principles for modelling post-growth futures.
BackPrinciples for a post-growth scenario of ambitious mitigation and high human well-being
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Ecosystem Impact
The shift toward post-growth mitigation prioritizes the reduction of total material and energy throughput, which directly lowers the rate of habitat destruction and resource extraction. By decoupling human well-being from industrial expansion, this framework facilitates the restoration of natural carbon sinks and mitigates the pressure on planetary boundaries, ultimately fostering a more resilient and biodiverse ecological state.
Systemic Reality
This scenario requires a fundamental transformation of global economic governance, moving beyond GDP as a primary metric of success toward indicators of equity and sufficiency. It implies a restructuring of financial markets to function without the requirement of compound growth, necessitating aggressive policy shifts in wealth redistribution, the de-commodification of basic needs, and the alignment of international trade with absolute emission reduction targets rather than market expansion.
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