From ecological transition to ecological transformation: consensus and fault lines

Abstract

At a time when there is growing consensus in international policy-making about the urge to act on climate change, debate continues to rage over the approach and mechanisms to adopt for implementing the ecological transition. The events of 2022, including the rising number of environmental disasters during the summer, have served as a wake-up call, heightening the sense of urgency. But ecological transition is a complex matter, raising issues that involve more than just environmental and climate challenges. It is also vital to look at how such a transition interacts with the fight against inequalities, the realities of crises and geopolitical relationships, and the specific growth — or degrowth — model that we collectively wish to put in place.