GREEN ECONOMY AND THE FEAR OF DEGROWTH: A SURVEY OF DELTA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The argument against green growth as a sole strategy for
sustainable development has led to a passionate call for global
degrowth as the only way to save the planet. Degrowth is a radical
economic theory born in the 1970s, which requires societies to
abandon the idea that the percentage change in gross domestic
product is an accurate indicator of progress, and instead learn to
live better while producing less. They argued that the only
sustainable growth is degrowth. Degrowth is an ecological
necessity, and possibly inevitable; but under what conceivable
socio-political conditions could such impressive changes happen?
This study investigates the issue of degrowth in the Delta oil-rich
state of Nigeria using primary sources of data by employing online
surveys to send a questionnaire to respondents to gather information on the need and perception of a degrowth economy.
The findings are negative and sceptical contrary to the degrowth
policies of being an effective means of fighting against climate
breakdown and biodiversity loss and securing human needs and
well-being. Leading researchers in ecological economics have
published a strategic policy framework to ensure a just transition to
a degrowth economy globally.