Rethinking growth in a world of limits

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Shaken Not Burned
May 29, 2025

Shaken Not Burned

Climate, society, sustainability literacy and transforming our world

Welcome back to Shaken Not Burned! 

While we take a short break from new episodes, we’re curating some of the most thought-provoking past conversations: this week we focus on how economic paradigms are shifting in response to deep systemic crises.

These episodes explore the growing call to rethink our definitions of growth, value, and progress as climate impacts accelerate, biodiversity collapses, and global governance frameworks strain under pressure.

Sara Mahdi from the Autonomous University of Barcelona lays out how the degrowth movement challenges economic orthodoxy and offers a blueprint for wellbeing within ecological boundaries.

What does it take to put people and planet on equal footing with profit? In this episode, Rob Karpati from The Blended Capital Group explores the shift to a more inclusive, stakeholder-oriented business model.

Professor Mark Maslin unpacks why climate change is uniquely intractable – intertwining political, scientific, and behavioural complexities – and why that matters for business leaders.

As temperature targets drift out of reach, in this episode Dr. Harald Heubaum at SOAS, University of London, asks hard questions about the power and limitations of global treaties like the Paris Agreement.

Why do these issues matter?

These aren’t abstract policy debates – they’re signals of the future:

  • Degrowth is gaining traction in academia and activism as planetary boundaries harden.

  • Stakeholder capitalism is reshaping ESG, regulation, and investor expectations.

  • Global governance strains show why voluntary targets might not be enough – and why companies may need to lead ahead of policy.

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