Buying our way out of pandemic malaise is hurting the planet, experts say
Some say the emphasis should be on well-being rather than economic growth
Back in the spring, Canadian politicians spoke optimistically of a “two-dose summer,” signalling that a robust COVID-19 vaccination rollout would enable people to fully enjoy the warmer weather.
As COVID-19 infection numbers eased in recent months, provinces have relaxed restrictions and encouraged people to spend again.
While this was meant to provide a collective boost in the middle of a stubborn pandemic, this summer has put on another horror show of extreme weather — including a deadly heat dome and rampant wildfires in British Columbia and northwestern Ontario and drought in the Prairies.
Earlier this week, the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued a dire report that stated unequivocally that climate change was human-made and that some of its catastrophic effects were already on view.
The destruction we’re seeing now is fuelled by decades of environmental harm, but it is also coming at a time when politicians and marketers alike are prompting us to spend — whether it’s at the mall, at the car dealership or on so-called revenge travel.
Mass consumption inevitably adds stress to the natural world, in the form of resource extraction and carbon emissions.
“There is always discussion that we should as consumers spend money to fuel up businesses,” said Bengi Akbulut, assistant professor of geography, planning and environment at Concordia University in Montreal.
“But I think the broader tension [right now] is whether we can grow our way out of the ecological breakdown.”
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