Doughnut Economics: A Framework for Just and Regenerative Economic Thinking

What would an economic system look like that neither overburdens people nor nature, but instead achieves balance between them?

This question has fascinated me since last semester in my International Cultural and Business Studies programme, where I explored different approaches to ethical economics in depth. To pursue this interest in practice and gain insights into an organisation that combines social and ecological issues, I became a member of Generation Restoration. What particularly interests me is how just and regenerative approaches can function within our current economic system, which continues to pursue the goal of unlimited growth.

These reflections repeatedly brought up the same questions: How can resources be distributed more fairly? How can we create circular systems that generate sustainable social benefits without putting pressure on the environment? And how can the damage already caused by climate change not only be limited but also reversed in the long term?

These questions become even more significant when considering how unevenly the causes and consequences of climate change are distributed around the world. Wealthier countries contribute disproportionately to global environmental degradation and the transgression of planetary boundaries, yet they experience fewer of the associated social consequences. Poorer regions, on the other hand, benefit the least from the underlying economic activities while suffering the most from their impacts, such as rising sea levels and extreme weather events. Responsibility for causing climate change and vulnerability to its consequences are therefore structurally disconnected and unequally distributed.