Prosperity without growth may be the way forward - but are we ready for it?
At this rate of progress Net Zero will never be reached, certainly not by 2050. Dr Alan Jones, PhD. CEng. FIET. I’d like to make clear to readers that I’m not a climate change cynic. On the contrary, I firmly embrace the argument that anthropogenic (human induced) greenhouse gas emissions is the cause of the present rise in average global temperature. What I am cynical of, and I speak as someone constantly looking to reduce my carbon footprint, is the combined ability of the nations of this one planet Earth to make a significant difference. To my mind, national wealth, or GDP/capita, and the search for the continual growth of it, seems to trump universal survival at every turn. I was starkly reminded of this in reading Volume 18, Issue 7 (August 2023) edition of the E&T Magazine in which a small graph under the heading - Did you know? … Fossil fuels still dominate, was displayed. A copy of this graph is shown below and the copyright ack...