The End of Big Solutions
The world has changed dramatically since the start of the second Trump administration. But how best to describe this shift? Many see it as potentially the end of American democracy,…
Counter Solutions
Sustainable Development: Implications and Consequences
Amongst the many related categories of development, ‘human development’ ‘political development’, ‘economic development’, ‘social development’ or ‘cultural development’, human development is the most important to all of us. Human…
A Different “Abundance Agenda”: Avoiding Delusions and Diversions
For the next few weeks, the buzzword in US debates on the liberal/left about economics and ecology will be “abundance” after the release of the book with that title by Ezra Klein (New York…
The Evolution of Modernity
The human world of the early 21st century is dominated by science, cities, and high technology. However, both our modern way of life and our way of thinking about the world…
Orchards and Vegetable Gardens–Reducing Poverty, Protecting Environment
In a county where most villagers have very small farms, a significant way of reducing poverty can be to convert a part of these farms into small orchards and vegetable…
What if we could uncancel the future?
Rob Hopkins, a pioneer in sustainability and community-driven change, believes that the future isn’t something we stumble upon—it’s something we actively create or fail at. At the heart of his…
Living Like a Fungus
Since its creation I have supported Rupert Read’s Climate Majority Project as the answer to achieving the climate action we need. Read observes that the majority of people are concerned…
Local, Vernacular, and Alive
Local landscapes were once powerful forces in their own right, shaping how people lived, farmed, traded, and made sense of the world. The land created people, and as people worked,…
Ghoomar Brings New Hope by Strengthening Livelihoods Based on Forest Produce
One of the most important means of improving the livelihood base of tribal communities is to increase the income they can derive on sustainable basis from non-timber forest produce, also…
Hall of Mirrors
The shock being experienced in Washington D.C. since January 20 is exposing gaping holes in the fantasies we told ourselves were rock-solid truths—lasting for whole (gasp) generations!. It is also…
Tribal Community’s Family Farm Shows the Way Forward with Highly Creative Natural Farming
Maali Ram’s small home and farm may appear to be very ordinary to outsiders, but local people who know better are increasingly attracted by what this bheel (tribal community) farmer…
Improving Livelihoods and Nutrition, Protecting Environment in Remote Villages
Ezan, a woman from Meena adivasi community, is tired yet happy. “Yes, I have been working very hard in my new orchard, as I must make a success of this.…
Inspiring Effort to Green both Urban and Rural Areas
When Bajrang Sharma retired from government service in India after serving very capably for decades in senior positions in the state of Rajasthan, he could take particular satisfaction from two…
Realistic Alternatives that can Inspire People for Change
Whether we examine the present-day conditions at the village level or city level, national level or world level, the existing situation generally falls far short of the ideal based on…
What hinders the adoption of path based on justice, peace and environment protection?
The most rational path for humanity and the one most guaranteed to reduce distress (in the short-term as well as the long –term) as well as to increase welfare is…
Divergence between need and deed increasing in a world driven by greed
At a very crucial time of world history when the present and the upcoming generations face nothing less than a survival crisis, there is increasing urgency of aligning the world’s…
Resolving the Most Serious Issues of a Deeply Troubled World with JEPPS Approach
In the middle of all the controversies and confusions of a world in turmoil, two big truths stand out which must never be neglected or ignored. Firstly a very real…
Putting Nature at the Center
Life may be unique to Earth. Even if single-celled organisms can readily evolve in conditions that exist on millions or billions of other planets, we have no actual evidence that complex, multi-cellular…
An Economics of Love
In early 2024, I offered an online 12-week course called “An Economics of Love” under the auspices of Biodiversity for a Livable Climate. I hosted an introductory session to describe…
Simplicity and Complexity
It seems to me that when people talk about voluntary simplicity, they are talking about refusing to engage with wasteful lifestyle patterns. Which is well and good at face value.…
To confront the oligarchy, we need to build power at the community level
Wrong way world A consistent theme through my life has been to understand our world, to assemble a comprehensive picture the best I can, respecting the world’s boggling complexity and…
Pope Francis still advocates for Degrowth
There is a somewhat tired saying, which holds that “first they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win”. The claim is probably not…
A Dialogue That Spreads Message of Swaraj and Links this to New Concerns
A recently organized national dialogue in Delhi called Swaraj Samvad linked the concept of Swaraj to current concerns particularly climate change. In the course of the dialogue several important messages…
Can the Swaraj Path be India’s Answer to Climate Change?
As climate change intensifies and the inadequacy of the west-driven climate response becomes clearer by the day, it is helpful for the entire effort if countries of the global south…
Towards Comprehensive Food and Farming Policy
There is increasing realization that while various countries have varying levels of success in their food and farming policies, on the whole, at world level, the existing farming and food…
Protective Agenda for World Must Emphasize Resolving the Survival Crisis in Time
Most thoughtful people are likely to agree that what the world needs most is a protective agenda—protective towards vulnerable and poorest people as well as protective towards environment. However in…
Beyond Growth: The promise of a wellbeing economy
In this article, econometrician and sustainability researcher Gaya Herrington considers whether a transition to a Wellbeing Economy is possible and what that would mean for our society and how we…
Food: from commodity to commons
Below I republish an article I wrote almost ten years ago. It can give new readers a summary of my perspective on the food system. For those interested in even…
Economic Growth Is the World’s Most Dangerous Game
In Richard Connell’s popular short story “The Most Dangerous Game,” hunter Sanger Rainsford goes overboard while sailing to the Amazon, washing up on an island owned by deceivingly charismatic General Zaroff.…
Odyssey: Hopes and dreams
Societies around the globe face multiple crises. In this context, is marshaling hope and dreaming up beautiful futures—imagining a world that could be—a useful response, or is it escapism? Our…
Some thoughts on Richard Heinberg’s ”Envisioning a Livable Future”
Few in recent years have made a more significant contribution to our ecological salvation than Richard, and in my dogmatic opinion his most recent essay is stating many of the lessons we…
Farmers Unite in Groups to Increase Income, Yield and Innovation
Several small farmers of an OBC community in Mahuari village have formed a group called Pragtisheel (translated as progressive). In the course of just three years or so they have…
Doubling Down on Regeneration
If you’re anything like me, over the past few weeks since Donald Trump’s sweeping election victory, you’ve been engaged in deep and prolonged reflection about what it means that such…
Reflections on the just transition discourse in India from a feminist and decolonial perspective
Last week, I spent some time in dialogue with some brilliant minds on the potential framework and pathways for a gender just energy transition in India. But before I share…
Small farming, urbanisation and climate migration: beyond the stereotypes in Bangladesh
Bangladesh is a small country that sits within the Northeast of South Asia with India wrapped around it, and Myanmar to the South. Despite its small size and relatively recent…
Model of Facilitating Cultivation of Abandoned and Neglected Land in Eco-Friendly Ways Evolving in Karauli
Efforts to increase food production generally emphasize intensively developed areas which already have high levels of production. On the one hand many areas recording much lower levels of food production…
Human Progress in the Trump Era
by Tawakkol Karman, Saul Perlmutter, and Brian Schmidt SYDNEY – Having just been elected president of the United States for a second time, Donald Trump is poised to reshape international…
An Emerging Third Option: Reclaiming Democracy from Dark Money & Dark Tech
Seven Observations On 2024 and What’s Next In 2024, over 2 billion of us voted in national elections. So what have we learned so far this year, in general and…
Decoupling ‘The Good Life’ from Capitalism
Rethinking abundance, wellbeing, and security in a post-growth world. To offer a meaningful alternative economic system, I believe it is essential that we engage with what we dream of as…
Envisioning a Livable Future
Sir David King, former chief scientific advisor to the UK government, recently wrote that, “On our present path, civilization as we know it will disappear.” More than a century’s worth…
Resolving Environmental Crisis Needs AWAIG–Avoiding Wars, Inequalities and Greed
The environmental crisis is a many-sided crisis which has many important and inter-related aspects including air pollution, space pollution, freshwater shortages and pollution, climate change and increasing disasters, pollution and…
Education that Helps to Create and Maintain a World Based on Justice, Peace and Protection of Environment
Education reform has been discussed a lot but has been seldom taken forward in the true spirit. All too often, this has been discussed in very narrow contexts with a…
The Sustainability Scam: How Self-Interest Ruins Good Ideas
by Esther Afolaranmi, Carter Dillard, Beatrix Homler and Mwesigye Robert We have laws to ensure children are born into a safe, sustainable, and unpolluted environment. These laws are also meant…
Unleashing Solar Power’s Bright Future
Co-written by Fatih Birol and Ajay Mathur PARIS – Solar power has been the star of the clean-energy transition, delivering major benefits for the climate, the cost of living, and…
12 economic growth myths and how to counter them
It’s essential that we stabilise the global economy. More people understand this every year, but corporations and governments don’t, and so we continue to destroy nature for profit. They’ve built up…
Localization: A Strategic Alternative to Globalized Authoritarianism
For those who care about peace, equality and the future of the planet, the global political swing to the right over the past few years is deeply worrying. It has…
Beyond Growth: A Journey through the Landscape of Sustainable Economics
Growth is a story of success—until it isn’t. In most people’s minds, “growth” is inevitably associated with biological development: food crops and babies grow. In those instances, growth is understood…
Sustainable Development, the Path Yet Not Taken Seriously! – Part II
We will continue with our exploration of the sustainable development journey in this part. Our Pressing Problems Because in nature, as well as in our global systems, everything is interconnected,…
Sustainable Development, the Path Yet Not Taken Seriously! Part I
An in-depth look at the issues surrounding the Sustainable Development Goals for the world. I was born and raised in the city of Indore in the central part of India.…
Why any further delay in the utilization of Mangal Turbine will be a great loss to farmers and to environment
Mangal Turbine is a highly praised innovation by a farmer scientist of India which makes it possible to lift water without diesel and electricity from small rivers, streams and canals.…
Ask (Not) What You Can Do for Your Planet
No one wants a nuclear reactor in their backyard. It’s an eyesore and a health hazard, not to mention the hit to your property values. And don’t forget the existential…
On Jugaad
Jugaaḍ is a non-conventional, frugal innovation, in Indian subcontinent. It also includes innovative fixes or a simple workaround, solutions that bend the rules, or resources that can be used in…
How Increasing Self-Reliance of Villages Can be a Very Useful Part of Climate Response
Climate change mitigation and adaptation are two very important challenges of our times, important for all countries, regions and people. However the response must be in tune with the livelihood…
Certainty
I struggle to strike a balance between certainty and circumspection. Our culture has a tendency to favor certainty, while one of my favorite and frequent fall-backs—seldom wrong—is: “we don’t know.”…
Ancient settlements show that commoning is ‘natural’ for humans, not selfishness and competition
When I’ve had conversations about the commons with right-leaning people (and sometimes cynical people on the left too), a typical response might be something along the lines of: ‘don’t waste your time…
On Composting Space
Oh! Shit! Yes, let us talk some shit! All animals shit, including human beings. What happens to the shit? It gets composted and goes back to soil. That is until…
Money is a Social Agreement—Let’s Start Treating It That Way
Like most people, I usually mute and ignore advertisements; however, one caught my attention. It was the new Barclays advert—have you seen it? Well, whether you have or you haven’t…
“Post Growth”—Why and How?
People against destroying our planetary home often favor “No Growth”—“steady as she goes”—or even the rhetorically catchier “DeGrowth”—“shrink baby shrink.” Their pro-growth opponents sometimes say, “grow baby grow,” or more…
Will science and technology save us?
This is the third article in a series discussing the “curse of the straight line”, which is shorthand for the polycrisis of modernity and the industrial civilization. In the previous article, I…
Criminalisation of Alternative Politics
The working masses are now seeking alternative political, cultural, social, and economic systems that work for all, irrespective of any form of discrimination on the grounds of gender, class, race,…
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