Learning what we already know on the 50th anniversary of The Limits to Growth

By Mamphela Ramphele, Carlos Alvarez-Pereira, Trans-edited by XU Yanjun

Abstract: The Limits to Growth is an economics book co-authored by Donella H. Meadows, Dennis L. Meadows, Jørgen Randers and others. This book, which was first published in 1972, contains 5 chapters besides the introduction: The Nature of Exponential Growth, the Limits to Exponential Growth, Growth in the World System, Technology and the Limits to Growth, and the State of Global Equilibrium. By discussing the issue of “growth”, the book intends to open the space of possibilities for humanity to decide on its course. On its 50th anniversary, Mamphela Ramphele, co-president of the Club of Rome and Carlos Alvarez-Pereira, vice president of the Club of Rome, co-authored “Learning what we already know on the 50th anniversary of The Limits to Growth”. This article points out that human beings have not learned their lessons when they foresee the current socio-ecological catastrophe, nor have they disengaged from linking “development” with ever-increasing consumption of energy and materials. Human beings are still in dire straits. The two new reports, Limits and Beyond and Earth for All, published by the Club of Rome in 2022, also strongly recommend a radical redefinition of human development in order to create equitable human well-being for a healthy planet.

Key words: Healthy planet, The Limits to Growth, human and nature

Mamphela Ramphele, Carlos Alvarez-Pereira. Learning what we already know on the 50th anniversary of The Limits to Growth. Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development. XU Yanjun, trans-edited. Volume 1, Issue 13. December 2022. ISSN2749-9065

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