Not Just Newer, but Fewer: A Bridge Between Ecomodernism and Degrowth?

One of the defining features of degrowth’s ascent in the literature in recentyears is its opposition to ecomodernism. The point of contention between these ap-proaches centres around the desirability for the economy to grow ad finitum. In thischapter, I offer a site of reconciliation between degrowth and ecomodernism by pro-posing theNewer but Fewer (NBF) principlewherein degrowing the economy is con-tingent upon superseding carbon intensive technology with low carbon alternativesat a lower ratio than of its predecessors to ensure a planned reduction in aggregateeconomic activity. Within this view of degrowth, I present three potential challengesthat may be encountered in the transition away from capitalism’s current growth de-pendency, namely: (i) greenflation–inflationary pressures centred around environ-mental policies but also how degrowth is a means to circumvent the fossilflationgripping the global economy, (ii) green finance–in which the issuance of maturity ofgreen debt will be affected by degrowing the economy and (iii) climate justice–inso-far that the previous two challenges will have profound implications for the capacityof Global North and the Global South to begin degrowing their economies