🔎 What’s going on?
Amsterdam is the first city in the world to adopt doughnut economics into public policy.
🍩 So what is the ‘doughnut’?
British economist Kate Raworth came up with a framework called Doughnut Economics, which was published in a widely acclaimed book in 2017. The doughnut essentially has an outer ring with 9 planetary boundaries (i.e. climate change, ocean acidification, biodiversity loss, air pollution, etc...). And an inner ring which comprises of 12 minimum social standards (i.e. water, food, health, education, housing, etc...). Between the planetary and social boundaries lies an environmentally safe and just space for all humans to thrive within. One of the core assumptions of this framework is that economic growth (i.e a growing Gross Domestic Product (GDP)) is not a sign of economic health.
🏙 Let’s explore Amsterdam, a city doughnut...
As countries and cities battle with Coronavirus, there is a collective sense that going back to business, as usual, is not an option. Amsterdam as a city hopes to embrace a new purpose with this economic experiment, one that will help it thrive and become resilient to future shocks. Within the doughnut framework, four lenses were adopted to analyse the city: Local, Global, Social and Ecological. Then for each social and planetary boundary, a city snapshot (where they are today) and target (where they need to be) has been calculated. Take a closer look at all the snapshots and targets here.
❓Why should I care?
As Kate Raworth pointed out in her TED talk, even though GDP has grown 10 times since the 1950s, bringing with it prosperity to billions of people - it has also brought vast wealth inequalities and destruction to the environment. The doughnut provides a framework to rebalance planet and human needs.
🚦 Where do we need to be?
As the doughnut highlights, at a global level, we are already overshooting four planetary boundaries: climate change, biodiversity loss, land conversion and nitrogen & phosphorous loading. And there are inequalities across all twelve social minimum standards. Rebalancing these shortfalls will return the planet and humanity back to a safe place is where we need to be.
👤 What can I do about it?
If you are not already familiar, then educate yourself and learn what this new economic model entails by watching the TED talk or read the book.