Lift-Off Without a Landing: Rocketing GDP, Plummeting Planet

For decades, world GDP skyrocketed, driving technological advances and prosperity-but the planet paid the cost. New research threatens that uncontrolled climate change may cut world GDP by as much as 50% between 2070 and 2090, as extreme weather, food shocks, and water insecurity undermine the very foundations of our economies. Conventional economic models underestimated these risks, ignoring cascading supply chain breakdowns and irreversible environmental harm.

 

The pursuit of growth, typically measured in terms of GDP, has swelled emissions and resource consumption, pushing the Earth's systems to catastrophic tipping points. Now, scientists and economists speak as one: only through swift decarbonization and restoring nature will future prosperity be secure. The message is out: genuine progress means aligning economic aspiration with the Earth's limits so that the growth rocket doesn't leave Earth behind.

 

Source: Euronews, Inside Climate News, UNSW, Green Central Banking