Annual General Meeting and Private Policy Briefing | 20 June 2023, 9.30am
We have pleasure in inviting members of Parliament and the House of Lords to the 2023 Annual General Meeting for the APPG on Limits to Growth. The meeting will be held in person in accordance with APPG rules. Following the AGM, we will be joined online by special guest Philippe Lamberts MEP, who organised the recent Beyond Growth conference which took place in the EU Parliament in May. Please contact appg@limits2growth.org.uk for enquiries.
From the Limits to Growth to Earth4All | APPG evening debate, 19 Oct 2022, 6-8pm
On 19th October 2022, the APPG, together with CUSP and the Club of Rome are hosting an evening event to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Club of Rome’s influential report on the Limits to Growth and the publication of their new book, Earth for All: A survival guide for humanity, to mark the occasion. The evening will bring together the current Director of the Club of Rome, Sandrine Dixson-Declève, authors of the new report, Members of both Houses and invited members of the public in order to examine the legacy of the original Limits to Growth work, to discuss the new book and to explore its relevance for policy making today. Further details can be found on the CUSP website. For inquiries, please email appg@limits2growth.org.uk.
Annual General Meeting | 6 June 2022, 3pm
We have pleasure in inviting members of Parliament to the 2022 Annual General Meeting (AGM) for the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Limits to Growth. The meeting will be held in person this year in accordance with APPG rules. In addition to the election of officers and the formal reconstitution of the APPG, we will take the opportunity to update you on the APPG’s work over the last year and to discuss members’ strategic priorities for the next one. Please contact appg@limits2growth.org.uk for enquiries.
Beyond the Debt Controversy | Pre-spending review briefing on financing, levelling-up and climate goals | 25th Oct 2021, 2.30pm
The roundtable was co-hosted by the APPG on Limits to Growth and the APPG on the Green New Deal and started with a short presentation of a new briefing paper prepared by Prof Tim Jackson and Dr Andrew Jackson at the Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity (CUSP). Beyond the Debt Controversy argues that with appropriate monetary policy and close attention to ‘functional finance’ there is sufficient fiscal space for the Government to meet its goals of levelling up the UK regions and reaching our climate goals without resorting to austerity. Confirmed respondents include The Guardian’s senior economics commentator Aditya Chakrabortty, and UCL’s Emeritus Prof Victoria Chick, one of the world’s leading scholars of Keynes and monetary economics. This is a private meeting for MPs and Peers. For enquiries, please get in touch via email at appg@cusp.ac.uk.
Tackling growth dependency in the welfare system—The case of adult social care | APPG meeting, 13 July 2021
Join us for the launch of a new policy briefing on growth dependency in the welfare system, focussing on adult social care. This draws on in-depth interviews with economists, policymakers and practitioners in social care and other parts of the welfare system.
Rebuilding Prosperity | Annual General Meeting and Private Policy Briefing, 29 Apr 2021, 2.30pm
After private Group business, including the electing of officers, we will be joined by experts on the use of alternative economic models and metrics to define, measure, and deliver sustainable prosperity. Our guest speakers will be Prof Henrietta Moore, Director of the UCL’s Institute for Global Prosperity, who will be presenting recent work on the UK’s first citizen-led Prosperity Index, and Christine Corlet Walker from the Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity who will set this index in the context of broader frameworks for measuring prosperity. This will be an opportunity for MPs to learn about the latest thinking in this area within the UK and internationally, and how it can be applied in public policy. For enquiries, please get in touch via email at appg@cusp.ac.uk.
Video | Shift to a Wellbeing Economy—Campaign launch for the #WellbeingEconomyPetition, 1 Apr 2021
This event marks the launch of a new parliamentary petition, calling on the Government to shift to a Wellbeing Economy. Co-hosted with CUSP, the Wellbeing Economy Alliance and Wellbeing Economics Brighton, the event will be chaired by Caroline Lucas. Speakers include Laura Sharples and Katherine Trebeck. → Watch the video.
A Budget for a Green recovery | Expert Panel, 24 Feb 2021
Ahead of the UK budget announcements on 3rd March 2021, this special parliamentary meeting—co-hosted by the APPG on the Green New Deal and the APPG on Limits to Growth—explores a range of the options available to the Chancellor from government borrowing while interest rates are low, to redirecting de-facto subsidies in fossil fuels to a wealth tax and a new green home for the nation’s savings. The session was chaired by Caroline Lucas MP and Clive Lewis MP.
The Deficit Myth | Lunchtime briefing, 14 Oct 2020
In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, there have been widespread calls for a ‘green recovery’ which protects people’s livelihoods and begins to build the infrastructure of a net-zero carbon economy. The question of how we can afford such a recovery is a vital one. Government deficits have soared to record levels through the coronavirus crisis, and the accumulated government debt is now higher than the UK’s GDP. Do these deficits matter? What impact will they have on a post-pandemic recovery? How will they affect our ability to pay for a fair, green recovery? The US economist Stephanie Kelton, a former member of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisors, will be discussing her best-selling book The Deficit Myth, in conversation with Dr Joshua Ryan-Collins, Senior Research Fellow in economics and finance from UCL’s Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose and Prof Tim Jackson, Director of the Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity. This is a private meeting for MPs and Peers. For enquiries please email appg@cusp.ac.uk.
Details for a public event with Stephanie Kelton will be shared on this website shortly.
General Meeting, 22 Jul 2020
The lessons of the last few months have been profound and at times uncomfortable. But they have also left us better positioned to understand the need for a resilient, sustainable economic system which protects the health of people and planet. Knowing how best to ensure continued social wellbeing when growth itself can no longer be taken for granted is essential. In these circumstances, we believe the work of the APPG on Limits to Growth is more important than ever. Please contact appg@cusp.ac.uk for enquiries.
Reconstitution Meeting and Breakfast Briefing, 26 Feb 2020
Following the 2019 general election, the APPG on Limits to Growth held its Reconstitution and Annual General Meeting on 26 February 2020, 9am in Portcullis House; accompanied by a policy workshop on the Wellbeing Economy. Expert contributions were provided by Peter Schmidt, rapporteur to the European Economic and Social Committee’s recent ‘own initiative opinion’ on The sustainable economy we need, Lisa Hough-Stewart, communications lead for the Wellbeing Economy Alliance (WeAll) and CUSP director Tim Jackson, author of Prosperity without Growth. The briefing paper for the meeting can be found on our publications page. For enquiries, please get in touch via email at appg@cusp.ac.uk.
Beyond Redistribution—Confronting inequality in an era of low growth | Breakfast Briefing, 24 Oct 2018
The second in our series of briefings on building An Economy That Works took place on 24 October 2018, with invited discussants Kerry Kennedy and Miatta Fahnbulleh, exploring inequality in the UK. The briefing paper presented by Tim Jackson to cross-party MPs examines the evidence for rising inequality over the last fifty years, estimates the economic welfare lost to society from an unequal distribution of incomes and addresses the critical question of managing inequality in the context of declining growth rates. Read more.
Annual General Meeting and Breakfast Briefing: Understanding the ‘New Normal’—The Challenge of Secular Stagnation, 10 July 2018
This first in our series of MP briefings on building An Economy That Works explores the underlying phenomenon of ‘secular stagnation’ – a long-term decline in the rate of growth of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The paper examines the evidence, explores the causes and discusses the implications of what some now call the ‘new normal’. Read more.
Social Limits to Growth—Implications for Sustainable Prosperity | Evening debate, 13 Nov 2017
In Autumn 2017, CUSP and the APPG on Limits to Growth hosted a debate to mark the 40th Anniversary of Fred Hirsch’s ‘The Social Limits to Growth’. More than 100 people joined us for this timely discussion on Hirsch’s challenging analysis and its relevance today. The panel discussion was chaired by Caroline Lucas MP and Tim Jackson, with speakers including Lord Robert Skidelsky, Professor Donald Hirsch (son of Fred Hirsch) and Professor Diane Coyle. More information on the event page.
The Precautionary Principle | Breakfast Briefing, 25 Oct 2017
Uncertainties over which EU environmentally-related policies are likely to be culled in the process and aftermath of the ‘Great Repeal Bill’ should be cause for concern regarding the long term health of both humans and the ecosystems on which we all depend. The APPG briefing focuses upon the risk to the viability of Precautionary Principle from the lengthy and involved process of repatriation of EU Law. The Precautionary Principle offers a comprehensive defence against policies which favour ‘growth’ at the cost of potentially irreversible or catastrophic risk. The Precautionary Principle remains on the frontline of the legal-environmental defence and should not be downgraded, but actually if possible enhanced. More information on the briefing page.
The end of growth? | Evening debate, 28 Nov 2016
On Monday the 28th November 2016 we hosted Jørgen Randers, Kate Raworth, Federico Demaria and Graeme Maxton for an evening debate at the House of Commons, chaired by Caroline Lucas MP and Tim Jackson. More information on the event page.
Limits to Growth or Opportunities for Prosperity? | APPG Launch Event
On 19th April 2016, we held our inaugural event Limits to Growth or Opportunities for Prosperity? at the House of Commons, with current Co-Chair of the Club of Rome, Anders Wijkman, as our keynote speaker. The event also marked the launch of Limits Revisited – a new review of the limits debate commissioned specifically for the APPG.