<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">Harvard Business Review <span style="font-kerning: none; color: #666666; background-color: #ffffff" class="">February 14, 2020</span></div><p style="margin: 0px 0px 9px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(40, 40, 40); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(40, 40, 40);" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #ffffff" class=""><b class="">Why “De-growth” Shouldn’t Scare Businesses</b></span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(40, 40, 40); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(40, 40, 40);" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #ffffff" class="">Thomas Roulet Joel Bothello</span></p><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-family: Times; color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 238);" class=""><span style="text-decoration: underline ; font-kerning: none" class=""><a href="https://hbr.org/2020/02/why-de-growth-shouldnt-scare-businesses" class="">https://hbr.org/2020/02/why-de-growth-shouldnt-scare-businesses</a></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); min-height: 17px;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class=""></span><br class=""></div><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(40, 40, 40); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(40, 40, 40); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class=""><b class="">Excerpts</b></span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(40, 40, 40); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(40, 40, 40);" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #ffffff" class="">The concept of degrowth dates back to the 1970s, when a group of French intellectuals led by the philosopher Andre Gorz proposed a simple idea: In response to mounting environmental and social problems, they suggested that the only real solution was to produce and consume less — to shrink our economies to cope with the carrying capacity of our planet. The proposal was considered by many at the time to be too radical. </span><span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #fffb00" class="">But with today’s climate crisis, </span><span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #ffffff" class="">debates around degrowth have been reinvigorated, and many major figures such as Noam Chomsky, Yanis Varoufakis and Anthony Giddens have, to varying degrees, expressed support for the idea.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(40, 40, 40); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(40, 40, 40); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class="">The prevailing view is that growth is an economic necessity, and any threat to that not only undermines business, but basic societal functioning. For instance, the CEO of H&M Karl-Johann Persson <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-27/h-m-ceo-sees-terrible-fallout-as-consumer-shaming-spreads" class=""><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; color: rgb(7, 135, 177); -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(7, 135, 177);" class="">recently warned </span></a>about the dire social consequences of what he perceives to be a movement of “consumer shaming.”</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(40, 40, 40); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(40, 40, 40); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class="">The third and most fundamental issue is that the degrowth movement has already begun: at a grassroots level, consumer demand is actively being transformed, despite political and corporate reticence. A recent <a href="https://www.latribune.fr/economie/france/l-envie-de-consommer-moins-croit-nettement-en-france-828457.html" class=""><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; color: rgb(7, 135, 177); -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(7, 135, 177);" class="">YouGov poll</span></a> in France highlights that 27% of respondents are seeking to consume less — double the percentage from two years prior. The number of people eating less meat or giving it up altogether has been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/10/huge-reduction-in-meat-eating-essential-to-avoid-climate-breakdown" class=""><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; color: rgb(7, 135, 177); -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(7, 135, 177);" class="">rising exponentially</span></a> in recent years, too. Similarly, the <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-14/as-flying-shame-grips-sweden-sas-ups-stakes-in-climate-battle" class=""><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; color: rgb(7, 135, 177); -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(7, 135, 177);" class="">movement of <i class="">Flygskam</i></span></a> (literally “flight shaming” in Swedish) has had early successes in reducing pollution: 10 Swedish airports have reported considerable declines in passenger traffic over the past year, which they attribute directly to Flygskam. In the apparel industry, fast fashion is still popular, but garment manufacturers like H&M are preparing for a backlash as consumers voice <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/dec/29/fast-fashion-giving-way-sustainable-wardrobe" class=""><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; color: rgb(7, 135, 177); -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(7, 135, 177);" class="">growing criticism</span></a> of the ecological impact of clothing. Accounts such as these indicate how consumers in many contexts are increasingly conscious of the negative consequences of consumerism and are seeking to change their habits. We are witnessing the emergence of consumer-driven degrowth.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(40, 40, 40); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(40, 40, 40); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #fffb00" class="">As we continue to grapple with climate change, we can expect consumers, rather than politicians, to increasingly drive degrowth by changing their consumption patterns.</span><span style="font-kerning: none" class=""> Firms should think in an innovative way about this consumer-driven degrowth as an opportunity, instead of resisting or dismissing the demands of this small but growing movement. Businesses that successfully do so will emerge more resilient and adaptable — instead of necessarily selling more, they will sell <i class="">better, </i>and grow in a way that satisfies consumers while respecting the environment.</span></p><div class="">
<div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;">\————————————</div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;">“Booms have consequences.”</div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"><br class=""></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;">Grant, James. Money of the Mind : Borrowing and Lending in America from the Civil War to Michael Milken. Farrar Straus Giroux. 1992</div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"><br class=""></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;">\————————</div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;">“It is no coincidence that the deepest and most protracted recessions in recent decades have taken hold in countries that experienced booms …” </div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"><br class=""></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;">The Economist, July, 2001 </div></div></div></div></div></div>
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