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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Olivier De Schutter

Obsession with growth is enriching elites and killing the planet. We need an economy based on human rights

A crowded market street with some women carrying a large containers of goods on their heads
People displaced by conflict near the town of Goma in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, February 2024, where many lack food or shelter. Photograph: Guerchom Ndebo/AFP/Getty Images

Economic growth will bring prosperity to all. This is the mantra that guides the decision-making of the vast majority of politicians, economists and even human rights bodies.

Yet the reality – as detailed in a report to the United Nations Human Rights Council this month – shows that while poverty eradication has historically been promised through the “trickling down” or “redistribution” of wealth, economic growth largely “gushes up” to a privileged few.

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