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"New jobs and clean growth". That was the cry of British prime ministerA prime minister is the head of government in a country with a parliamentary system.  Rishi Sunak as he arrived at the COP27The 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, known as the Conference of the Parties (COP). climate meeting in Egypt.

But at the summit Sunak will come up against supporters of degrowth: the increasingly popular plan for economic shrinking.

The argument is simple. There can be no growth without constantly increasing how much we produce and consumeUse up. .

And production needs energy, while consumption produces waste - two of the things that are doing most to hurt the planet.

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That is why they think it is simply impossible to keep the economy growing forever.

Should we learn to live with less? 

Yes! Degrowth is the only way of saving the climate, and the best way of improving living standards. It means working less, keeping things for longer and having more time to enjoy life.

No! Degrowth is a recipe for human suffering. It means unemployment, poverty and misery, and it would harm the world's poorest nations.