The-Ecological-Limits-of-Work-final.pdf

As a society, we’re overworked, have too much belongings, yet crave for more and companies only exist to grow indefinitely. This is how we kick-started climate change in the past century and this is how we got more people than ever into burn-outs, depression, and various other health issues, including increased work-based suicides around the world. Philipp Frey has a bold theory that breaks with our current system: A research by Nässén and Larsson suggests that a 1% decrease in working hours could lead to a 0.8% decrease in GHG emissions. Taking it further, the paper suggests that working 12hrs a week would let us easily achieve climate goals, if we’re also changing the economy to not entirely focus on growth anymore. An interesting study to read as it explores new ways of work, living and consuming things.