Economic growth in climate imaginaries paper presented at ISQOLS 2026 in Lexington, Kentucky

Today, at the 24th Annual Conference of the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS 2026), «Beyond the Bluegrass: Harnessing Research to Enhance Quality of life», which is held at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky (USA) August 11–14th, I have presented my paper «Climate imaginaries and the contested future of economic growth» as part of Session 4E «Ecological sustainability, agriculture, and wellbeing». Some 11 people attended. The session was chaired by Jane Kolodinsky.

ISQOLS 2026 papers scheduled for presentation in Lexington, Kentucky August 13th and 14th

I have now retrieved information about the scheduled presentation times (see the conference program) for my two accepted papers at the 24th Annual Conference of the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS 2026, «Beyond the Bluegrass: Harnessing Research to Enhance Quality of life», which is to be held at University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky (USA) August 11–14th:

— On Thursday August 13th I will present my paper «Climate imaginaries and the contested future of economic growth» as part of Session 4E «Ecological sustainability, agriculture, and wellbeing» (Gatton Ballroom A at 09.00–10.30)

— On Friday August 14th I will present my paper «Alternative HDI thresholds for maximum income demonstrate significance for policy advice» as part of Session 7A «Well-being policy and measurement» (room 330A at 10:30–12:00)

Two papers accepted for presentation at ISQOLS 2026 (Lexington, Kentucky, USA)

I have been notified by the organizers of the 24th Annual Conference of the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS 2026), with the theme «Beyond the Bluegrass: Harnessing Research to Enhance Quality of life», that my papers «Alternative HDI thresholds for maximum income demonstrate significance for policy advice» and «Climate imaginaries and the contested future of economic growth» have been accepted for oral presentation. The conference will take place at University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky (USA), August 11–14th.

Two abstracts submitted to ISQOLS 2026 organizers

I have just composed and submitted the abstracts below to the organizers of the ISQOLS 2026 Annual Conference, "Beyond the Bluegrass: Harnessing Research to Enhance Quality-of-Life", which is to be held in Kentucky, USA, August 11-14.

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Climate imaginaries and the contested future of economic growth

KEYWORDS: Climate economics; climate imaginaries; degrowth; economic growth; green growth  

Conflicting views on economic growth comprise a controversial issue related to climate economics. While the mainstream of climate economists assert that continued and practically endless economic growth can be taken for granted, critics dispute this and advance alternative economic ideas about a post-growth, degrowth or steady-state economy. Growth of different magnitudes is likewise expected according to most climate scenarios. I assess different ideas about economic growth in the climate discourse by relating them to the notion of climate imaginaries, which can be understood as socio-semiotic systems of shared ideas about issues related to climate change. The powerful influence of climate imaginaries can be decisive with regard to how climate policy and governance is understood and implemented, for instance whether incremental or radical change is pursued. Climate imaginaries range from anticipating apocalypse or radical societal change to relying on business-as-usual scenarios or techno-optimism. Core issues in climate ethics related to equity and intergenerational justice are often framed on the background of the common expectation that future generations will be better off in economic terms. Using climate imaginaries to frame a discussion of conflicting views on the future of economic growth, I will trace the history of green growth and degrowth ideas as applied to the climate issue, with a main focus on the last 30–40 years.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES / TAKEAWAYS  

* Expectations about future economic growth matters for policy discussions 

* Climate scenarios incorporate only one side of the debate (pro-growth) 

* Criticism of mainstream climate economics is required to account for future welfare

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Alternative HDI thresholds for maximum income demonstrate significance for policy advice  

KEYWORDS: human development; Human Development Index; income; methodology, UNDP

For several years, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) misquoted Kahneman & Deaton´s article “High income improves evaluation of life but not emotional well-being” (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), 2010) in its technical notes, which describes its methodology for computing the Human Development Index (HDI). This article was erroneously used as basis for capping Gross National Income (GNI) per capita at $75,000. Since the HDRO23/24 Technical notes, released in Spring 2024, the reference to Kahneman & Deaton has been removed in the UNDP´s methodological descriptions, but when computing the HDI the UNDP still caps Gross National Income (GNI) per capita at $75,000. On the background of how the HDI is currently computed, the UNDP has been criticized for promoting policies that weaken environmental sustainability by presenting rich yet unsustainable Western countries as role models for economic development. I will describe how the HDI´s income metrics have changed over time, and outline what difference it would make for HDI rankings of various countries if Gross National Income (GNI) per capita were capped at a) a level just above extreme poverty ($1.095); b) the world average ($20.327); c) the OECD average ($52.698), or d) kept but without any maximum. As these alternative HDI computations will show, simply changing the maximum threshold for income per capita radically changes what countries appear as role models for human development.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES / TAKEAWAYS  

* The Human Development Index´ maximum income threshold is not justified by current research 

* With a high maximum threshold for income, rich yet unsustainable Western countries appear as role models for human development 

* Alternative HDI computations, with different thresholds for maximum income, demonstrate what difference these metrics make for policy advice

Rejected by Œconomia – History / Methodology / Philosophy

I have been notified that my proposed paper "Climate economics imaginaries and the contested future of economic growth" has been rejected and will thus not be included in the journal Œconomia – History / Methodology / Philosophy's forthcoming special issue "History of Climate Economics".

Abstract for ISQOLS 2024: "Can welfare and environmental concerns be measured in extension of GDP?"

I have just submitted the abstract below to the organizers of the 2024 conference of the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS), which will be held in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, June 24-28th.

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Can welfare and environmental concerns be measured in extension of GDP?  

Morten Tønnessen, Professor of Philosophy, Department of Social Sciences, University of Stavanger 

Jan Karlstrøm, Research assistant, Department of Social Sciences, University of Stavanger  

What the purpose of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is as a measure of economic activity has been debated ever since the term was launched and adopted in the 1930s. In this paper we go through the history of the concept of GDP, the criticism GDP has been met with, and proposed alternatives to GDP. Originally, GDP was constructed based on a need for more overview and a better basis for planned government management of the economy during the Depression and the Second World War. In the post-war period, GDP growth became a central political goal in and of itself. Even though from the very beginning it has been pointed out that GDP is not intended as a measure of welfare, GDP growth has constantly been associated with welfare development. Modern criticism of GDP as a measure of the state of the economy and social development has largely addressed the fact that GDP is poorly suited as a measure of welfare and that the target of GDP growth is unfortunate given the environmental consequences of increasing production and consumption. Several alternative measures of welfare development and environmental concerns have been launched, but none of them have succeeded in becoming as central as GDP. The new measure that has gained the most traction, namely the UN's Human Development Index, has incorporated GDP rather than replaced GDP. We look at alternatives for measuring welfare, alternatives that address environmental concerns, and alternatives that address both welfare and environmental concerns and evaluate these critically.

"Wasted GDP in the USA" mentioned in Counterpunch news story

My article Wasted GDP in the USA, published recently in Humanities & Social Sciences Communications, is mentioned today in an article by the US online news outlet Counterpunch, in the article "Roaming Charges: Politics of the Lesser Exterminators". Excerpts below.

"Wasted GDP in the USA" accepted for publication in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications

I have been notified that my article "Wasted GDP in the USA" has now been accepted for publication in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications. It will appear online in a few weeks.

#44

Today I have had a writing day, with some work done on the GDP review article and the article on Arne Næss and his views on economics, both of which co-written with Jan Karlstrøm. I have also reworked some writing plans before and straight after the summer holidays.

Last day of events in Oxford

As part of my "academic updating" at University of Oxford, yesterday I attended a 2-hour lecture organized by Faculty of philosophy at graduate level on Longtermism, at Radcliffe Humanities, and an open lecture by Robert Costanza titled «Overcoming our societal addiction to growth to build a sustainable wellbeing future» at School of Geography and the Environment, followed by a drinks reception.

I am now on my way home to Norway.

Chronicle in Stavanger Aftenblad: "Vekst i velferdens og miljøkrisens tid"

Today a chronicle written by me was published in the regional daily Stavanger Aftenblad, titled "Vekst i velferdens og miljøkrisens tid" (Growth in the time of welfare and environmental crisis).

#35; plus chronicle

Today I have had an article writing day, with some 400 words written on my wasted growth articles, and one table updated. Total number of writing days so far this Spring is up to 35.

I have also written a chronicle, titled "Vekst i velferdens og miljøkrisens tid" (Welfare in the time of welfare and environmental crisis).

#29

Today I have had half an article writing day, with some thinking done on terminology for our book Semiotic agency (related to the Innenwelt notion), and the manuscript text as of now for a "wasted growth" article divided into three article manuscripts, work-titled:

• “Wasted growth – case study: The American nightmare“ 
• "Inequality-adjusted data on wasted and wasteful growth in the USA and the Nordic countries" 
• "Wasted growth in rich vs. poor countries: The marginal cost of human development"

Total number of writing days so far this Spring is up to 29.

Wasted growth paper scheduled for presentation at virtual ISQOLS 2020 conference

My presentation "Wasted and wasteful growth in the USA" has been scheduled for presentation at the virtual ISQOLS conference (International Society for Quality-of-life Studies) on Thursday August 27th at 14-16 (Rotterdam time), as part of the session “Growth, Poverty and Well-being”. My presentation is for 30 minutes.

Wasted growth paper accepted for presentation at ISQOLS 2020 (Rotterdam)

I have been notified by the scientific committee of the 18th annual conference of the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, to be held in Rotterdam, The Netherlands August 25-28, 2020, that my paper "Wasted and wasteful growth in the USA" has been accepted for oral presentation.

Autumn´s 10th article writing day

Today I have had this autumn´s 10th article writing day, devoted to work on my article "Wasted growth". Some 500 words written, this includes 2 tables generated and work on one more commenced.

Autumn´s 8th article writing day

Today I had the autumn´s 8th article writing day (half writing day, adding to the 7,5 previous ones), with some 3 hours devoted to revising my chapter abstract for a semiotics companion work and doing some work on my "Wasted growth" article. Altogether some 600 words written.

Autumn´s 7,5th article writing day

Today I have had the autumn´s 7,5th article writing day, with some 4-5 hours devoted to finishing the book chapter abstract "Wealth and freedom: Beyond planet B" and restarting my work on the journal article "Wasted growth". Some 1.000 words written altogether.

Lecture on climate change by David F. Hendry attended

Tonight I attended a lecture titled "Climate change: Past, present and future" given by the British economist David F. Hendry of INET, Institute for New Economic Thinking, Oxford University (who is cited some 40.000 times on Google Scholar´s account). The lecture was very informative on certain points - for instance, I learned that UK´s carbon dioxide emmissions per capita was as high around 1860 as it was around 1975 (the second peak in UK history), and that carbon dioxide emissions per capital stock has gone down some 90 % in both the UK and US since its peak by that measure. 

The lecture was arranged by the Oxford Martin School.

Draft paper on scientists´ view on economic growth and the environment

Some time back I responded, upon invitation, to an interesting survey on attitude to economic growth. I have now received a draft paper by Stefan Drews og Jeroen C.J.M. van den Bergh, entitled "Scientists’ views on economic growth and the environment: The role of research fields, expertise, and ideology", which sums up the survey findings.