There are two dominant narratives about the sustainability of our planet. One narrative is that with 'Green Growth' and some tweaks to Business as Usual the world can, more or less, continue as is such that we should expect increased prosperity for many (if not most) people in the decades to come. An opposing narrative is that the world is on an unsustainable trajectory and without transformational change there will soon be sharp, if not catastrophic, reductions in well-being in the coming decades in many parts of the world. This talk presents an economic framework and uses country-level time-series data to assess whether or not world human well-being has peaked, or is about to peak in 2024. The talk also uses possible climate change projections to evaluate possible future trends in  human well-being out to 2050.

About the Speaker

Quentin Grafton is Professor of Economics, Chairholder UNESCO Chair in Water Economics and Transboundary Water Governance, and an Australian Laureate Fellow (2020-25). He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia and a former President (2017-18) of the Australasian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society. He is the recipient of several awards for his water-related  research including the Eureka Science Prize for Water Research and Innovation. He founded and is the Convenor of the Water Justice Hub and is the Executive Editor of the Global Water Forum. His work is focused on understanding the state of the world and what we can collectively do to promote a sustainable and just pathway from the present to the future.