The Limits of the “Sustainable” Economy

First of all I want to point out that most of these so called "pacts" are nothing but performative action by corporations to give the illusion of change without having to commit to any real change.

The economy isn't going to change because businesses suddenly grow a heart; corporations are for profit and they're going to do anything they can to maximize this. The only way a corporation would be different is if it wasn't a corporation to begin with.

And here comes my next point: the production model will only change from legislation. We won't have a "donut economy", "green capitalism", "circular economy", whatever green-washed meme capitalism if our politics remain the same as they are. As Machiavelli pointed out hundreds of years ago, we shouldn't waste our efforts tearing down the existing structures but instead we should focus on introducing new actors that will change the dynamic of the existing ones. Just think of the way the world changed when corporations became a participating actor in our politics.

These debates on the limits of one or another proposed model are fine, but the reality is that we can't even have what we want. It doesn't matter if the perfect socio-economic system is developed because with our current politics we would never be able to transition into it.

The true limits of the "sustainable" economy come into play when corporation's profits are threatened and under this lens we see that any change, minor whatsoever, that would benefit the environment will clash with the existing profit-driven systems. Don't be fooled by "green energy" most of it is being pioneered and controlled by the same giants that put us where we are right now.

What we need is for the people to take control back of the political sphere, for communities to self-govern, for workers to exercise their rights. We need democracy more than ever.