After a brief euphoria of sustainable change, the socio-ecological transformation project currently appears to be stagnating. Approval ratings are falling and reactionary forces are gaining ground. Has socio-ecological change reached its limit? Is our society currently reaching the limits of its capacity for transformation or is it perhaps already well on the way to falling behind the progress it has made? Is the crisis in our living conditions just one fashionable topic among others?
In the focus section of the current issue of “Ökologisches Wirtschaften”, our authors discuss political, sociological and economic explanations for the phenomenon of stagnation, look at the underlying structural challenges and discuss proposed solutions and strategies. It also becomes clear that some of our own convictions must be critically questioned if the project of sustainable change is to have any chance of success.
Transition in an important phase, blockades and anti-fascist economic policy
Florian Kern, Sabine Hielscher and Helen Sharp see the current political tensions, resistance and setbacks as a sign that transition processes in key areas of social action such as energy, mobility and food have reached an important phase.
Dennis Eversberg and Matthias Schmelzer discuss why transformation efforts are facing increasing resistance. They argue for emphasizing synergies between climate protection and social justice instead of ever new promises of growth.
In their contribution on anti-fascist economic policy, Steffen Lange and Felix Schaffer add an ecological perspective to this economic policy response to the shift to the right in order to make it sustainable in the long term.
Institutional and cultural reboot needed
In his article, Uwe Schneidewind postulates that the actual challenges of municipal transformation are less and less of a technological and economic nature. Instead, they lie at an institutional and cultural level. In order to overcome these challenges, massive changes in political and administrative culture as well as comprehensive spaces for experimentation are needed.
And finally, a team of authors led by Joscha Wullweber calls for a focus on financing. For example, the risk-return profile of financial market players must be changed through financial and monetary policy measures so that green companies and projects become more bankable and highly bankable climate-damaging investments are restricted.
Reading samples (German Language):
► To the online edition of Ökologisches Wirtschaften 2/2025
New for free download: Hydrogen as a beacon of hope
There are many possible applications for hydrogen. It can be used for flexible energy generation and as a fuel, as a substitute for fossil fuels in industrial processes, for energy storage or for generating heat. Unsurprisingly, it has therefore been traded as a wonder weapon for several years. Compared to fully electric processes, however, its production is many times more energy-intensive, imports lead to new dependencies on supplier countries and a nationwide infrastructure remains fraught with uncertainty. In this focus section, our authors paint a balanced picture of this beacon of hope and look at the availability of hydrogen, its socio-ecological production conditions and a sensible usage strategy, among other things.