Éric Pineault: Energy transition through the lens of degrowth [video]

The NB Media Co-op is a partner in the new five-year research project CEDAR (Contesting Energy Discourses through Action Research) that was launched at St. Thomas University on Oct. 12.

This video is the first of two from the recent CEDAR event that followed the launch: A Dialogue on Decolonization, Degrowth and Energy Transitions.

Éric Pineault is a professor of sociology at the Université du Québec à Montréal and an active member of the Quebec provincial social movement The Common Front for an Energy Transition.

In his new book, A Social Ecology of Capital (Pluto Press), Pineault critiques contemporary capitalist growth and its socio-ecological contradictions.

A serious debate is occurring among climate policy researchers about ‘green growth’ and the extent to which economic growth can be ‘decoupled’ from energy use.

The implications are profound. As Pineault explains, the degrowth perspective challenges the idea that we can “electrify the status quo.”

In fact, the degrowth perspective is no longer on the fringes of climate policy thinking.

Recent research that surveyed almost 800 climate policy researchers globally for their perspectives on future growth found that most are skeptical of “green growth” scenarios and believe we will need to reduce our level of consumption or keep it neutral.

However, talking about degrowth is not yet happening in the mainstream.

The CEDAR team at St. Thomas invited Éric to join us by zoom and share his perspective on degrowth and how the concepts can help mobilize action.