The social and economic challenges of ecological transformation

The Veolia Institute Review - Facts Reports n.24 | 2022

Ecological transformation consists of radically changing the modes of production and consumption, to put ecology at the heart of every process and every evaluation.

The objective of this Veolia Institute Review is to better understand the notion of ecological transformation throughout the world, to clarify the issues at stake and to identify the conditions for accelerating a virtuous transformation process.

 

Discover:

  • Foreword by Harvey V. Fineberg, Member of the Foresight Committee of the Veolia Institute
  • Introduction by Nicolas Renard, Executive Director, Veolia Institute

 

 

1. Understanding and reconciling the issues

Most people now recognize the urgent need to take action to meet the challenge of the climate emergency: 64% of those taking part in the largest ever survey of public opinion on the climate emergency (50 countries, 1.2 million responses) believe climate change is an emergency*.

*People’s Climate Vote, UNDP, 2021.

Reed the introduction.

Understanding
Iris Levy, Mathilde Martin-Moreau, David Ménascé
Archipel&Co
Understanding
Dominique Bourg
Lausanne University
Understanding
Sébastien Treyer
Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI)
Understanding
Dr. Patrick Schroeder
Dr. Jack Barrie
Chatham House
Understanding
Pascale Taminiaux
King Baudouin Foundation
Understanding
Sara Trærup
UNEP-Copenhagen
Climate Center

2. Reinventing our modes of production and organization

While there is increasing unanimity about the diagnosis, the same cannot be said for the question of how to implement ecological transformation. The debate is intense between those who maintain that it is possible to sever the link between increasing GDP and greenhouse gas emissions, and those who refuse a view they judge unrealistic and likely to keep us prisoner of present-day models.

> Read the introduction.

Reinventing
Fabrice Bonnifet
Bouygues Group
Reinventing
Sangji Lee
UNDP
Reinventing
Maud Texier
Google
Reinventing
Ilan Cuperstein
C40 Deputy Regional Director for Latin America
Reinventing
Pauline Detavernier
Nils Le Bot
AREP
Reinventing
Serge Morand
CNRS-Cirad
Reinventing
Anna Lennquist
ChemSec

3. Accelerating our actions

Our societies’ reactions to environmental challenges appear ambivalent, characterized as much by a form of resistance and denial, as by proactive movements to embrace change. Reflecting the varying forms and timescales of these changes, green solutions tend to be heterogenous and unevenly taken up from continent to continent. There appear to be several keys to embedding them durably, and to switching from sector-led approaches to the sweeping transformation demanded by the systemic nature of the climate emergency.

> Read the introduction.

Accelerating
Laurent Obadia
Veolia
Accelerating
Written based on an interview with Mark Gough
CEO of the Capitals Coalition
Accelerating
Priscilla Negreiros
Climate Policy Initiative
Accelerating
Annika Hedberg
Stefan Šipka
European Policy Centre
Accelerating
Liam Smith
BehaviourWorks Australia (BWA)
Accelerating
Vanessa von der Heyde, Sustainability Institute
Jeremy Doyle, Stellenbosch University
Accelerating
Arie Lengkeek
Carolina Mano Marques
Art Climate Transition

This new issue was produced in partnership with the innovation and impact entrepreneurship agency Archipel&Co.