Tony Nowshin, economist and degrowth activist from Bangladesh, and Matthias Schmelzer, German economic historians, argue that climate justice requires an end to the structural repetition of damage by overcoming both the growth-oriented, extractivist economic model and colonial power relations.
A crucial element of climate reparations is the guarantee of non-recurrence: ensuring that the structural causes of the damage do not persist. In the context of climate justice, "recurrence" is driven by the ongoing reproduction of inequalities by a global economic system—a system based on the extraction of resources, labor, and the environment from countries in the Global South. Taking the guarantee of non-recurrence seriously therefore means confronting the economic and political order that generates this damage. It means ending the growth-oriented, extractivist model that underpins the current global economy and enables the continued exploitation of people and the environment. To meet this challenge, post-growth perspectives must be integrated with decolonial approaches. Together, they offer a vision—a world after growth.
