Center for Global Agenda: 77th UN General Assembly, Science Summit Statement 4 (Economics)

NEW YORK - July 26, 2022 - PRLog -- This position statement is part of a series of statements from the Center for Global Agenda (CGA) at Unbuilt Labs leading up to the 77th UN General Assembly Science Summit (SSUNGA77) to offer actionable recommendations. CGA Co-Directors Marvin Cheung and Marguerite Van Cook will be presenting at and engaging both fellow presenters as well as the general public at the SSUNGA77 on these recommendations.

Marvin Cheung, Center for Global Agenda at Unbuilt Labs, Co-Director, on economics:

In thinking about the future of sustainable economies, we need to be mindful of carbon inequality. A study from Oxfam in 2015 found that 'the poorest half of the global population [c. 3.1 billion people] are responsible for only around 10% of global emissions yet live overwhelmingly in the countries most vulnerable to climate change – while the richest 10% of people [c. 630 million people] in the world are responsible for around 50% of global emissions'.

The call to action is clear: at a micro level, individuals that have achieved a decent standard of living need to change their patterns of consumption, because nothing other than reducing consumption is sustainable. We recommend working with the culture industry to reshape desire and to create the desire to co-exist with nature. We also recommend investing funds and efforts into research on identity economics and narrative economics to understand the intersections between social identity, stories, and economics. Research in these social science areas will help with the design of evidence-based and science-based programs.

At a macro level and of the emerging economic models available, we find that circular economy has achieved the standard of proof required for us to recommend it with a high degree of certainty. We believe circular economy is effective both as an economic model to deliver a more sustainable economy, and a narrative for driving climate solution adoption - while individuals can contest changes in the air or the sea, the garbage produced by each individual has an undeniable presence.

For more information please see the Center for Global Agenda (CGA) at Unbuilt Labs website: https://unbuiltlabs.com/cga or visit our Pressroom for past announcements statements: https://unbuiltlabs.com/pressroom