Is green growth possible? A debate on the macroeconomics of decarbonisation

After a welcome remark from Hertie School President Cornelia Woll, Guntram Wolff, senior fellow at Bruegel and one of the authors of the book Decarbonising the Economy: Understanding the Macroeconomic Implications, addressed the challenge of decarbonisation being a collective and global effort that is happening too slowly in face of current economic growth. In his introduction, Wolff notes that global climate negotiations have been largely ineffective in achieving the goal of rapidly changing the dynamics of emissions. In his view, the key question concerns technological progress and how quickly we can bring down the cost of decarbonisation.  

Moderated by FAZ journalist Hanna Decker, the panel discussion with Elga Bartsch, Head of Economic Policy at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection, Holger Lösch, Deputy Managing Director of the BDI, Christian Flachsland, Professor of Climate Policy, and Guntram Wolff delved into topics such as the ability of technology and the markets to contribute to green growth, the importance of the microeconomic perspective for the climate discussion, and the lack of realism of the degrowth proposition, especially in the context of developing countries.  

The event wrapped up with the panellists sharing their optimism on technology, innovation, and the young generation’s understanding of the urgency, agreeing that there is no alternative to ambitious climate protection efforts in all sectors.