A Doughnut Economy for Trinidad and Tobago
An economy based on continuous growth will deplete the natural systems sustaining life. It’s time for a mindset shift to balance and well-being, according to Kate Raworth’s proposal for a doughnut economy. Anjani Ganase considers the challenge for Trinidad and Tobago. Ideas of the growth economy took hold in the last century; here was a global mission to get people out of poverty and improve social well-being. For the most part, we have been incredibly successful in improving the quality of lives by getting people out of poverty. In 1981, 42.7 % of the world’s population was in extreme poverty; and in 2018, only 9.3 % of the world is still in extreme poverty (World Bank). However, experts have come to realise that endless growth of economies comes at significant ecological cost, especially as many economies are based on extractive industries such as oil and gas, minerals and agriculture . Continuous extractive processes will undermine the very ecolo...