Donut Economies
First published August 2020
Donut Economics: The Food to Save the Future?
Donuts are perhaps not the first thing that spring to mind when you think about economics. However, for Oxford based economist and author Kate Raworth, they have become a metaphor for a transformative new vision of contemporary capitalist society.
Raworth coined and popularised the term Donut Economics with not just her book (consistently well reviewed and commonly found within the recommended section in popular bookshops) but with her accompanying proposal for a new and more balanced economy. Touching on the failings of economists to prevent financial crashes and achieve relative economic equality, Donut Economics highlights seven main faults with contemporary economics systems and policies, and sets out a hypothesis for rectifying the growth focused model that currently dominates.
What is the donut in Donut Economics?
The donut in donut economics resembles a ‘life raft’ or safe space for humanity, akin to Rockström’s planetary boundaries[1]. This safe space lies between the social foundations (the conditions that need to be met in order for life to be equal and fair) and the ecological ceiling (natural ecosystem specific limits, such as greenhouse gas concentrations and ocean acidification), with underprovision leading to a shortfall in social benefits (i.e. falling into the hole of the donut) and an overshoot leading to a transgression of ecological boundaries (i.e. extending our reach beyond the very donut).
Sketched out as a donut, this model places an emphasis on balance between socio-ecological systems and highlights the importance of serving one without excessively damaging the other, remaining within the safe and just space for humanity[2].
‘The Donut’: the light green area is considered the safe and just space for humanity. Under-provision of resources such as energy, water, food and education results in a social shortfall. Excessive generation (often under the guise of economic growth) results in ecological overshoots, such as air pollution, biodiversity loss and climate change. Significantly, these overshoots also do not mean that everyone has abundant resources, but rather represents heightened inequality, both within countries and across countries. Between this ecological ceiling and the minimum needed for a social foundation lies the safe and just space for humanity.
Implementation
Donut economics has been used to map shortfalls and overshoots in numerous cities and local areas, with China, South Africa and the UK all utilising its model to assess socio-environmental and economic performance. Whilst donut economics was conceived as a planetary assessment, its applicability to localised ecosystems and cities means that it can be easily adopted by forward-thinking locales in search of a new approach to economics. Most recently, Amsterdam City announced its uptake of the donut model in its post COVID-19 recovery[4], placing an emphasis on green growth as opposed to re-growth. The potential for donut economics to shape the way in which the world reacts to the current financial downturn is massive, and it could have a hugely transformative impact, both locally and globally.
What does this mean for the future?
Arguably the current global economy has already failed. Given rising inequality and the economic impact of a pandemic, many countries are reaching a breakpoint, beyond which they can continue with the current economic system or take a new path. A window of opportunity has been created by the current situation, and donut economics offers a way forward that focuses on meeting the needs of humanity without transgressing planetary limits and further heightening ecological and socio-environmental inequalities.
[1] https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol14/iss2/art32/
[2] Raworth, K. (2012). Donut Economics.
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doughnut_(economic_model)
[4] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/08/amsterdam-doughnut-model-mend-post-coronavirus-economy
