The political feasibility of Degrowth and the Green New Deal: Swedish politicians on the relation between economic growth and climate policy

Abstract

This paper examines the short-term political feasibility of degrowth and Green New Deal (GND) approaches to climate policy in Sweden, focusing on politicians as change agents within representative democracies. While feasibility debates often emphasize biophysical and technological constraints, this study investigates how elected politicians understand the relationship between aggregate economic growth and climate policy. Based on interviews with Swedish politicians across national, regional, and municipal levels, the findings show that respondents typically frame aggregate economic growth not as a barrier to mitigation, but as a political buffer that makes climate policy electorally acceptable. Growth is understood to protect living standards, public spending, employment, and Sweden’s international demonstration role, thereby allowing climate action to proceed without visible sacrifices or trade-offs. The results suggest greater short-term compatibility with GND approaches than with degrowth-oriented critiques of growth dependence, but also show that some respondents do not reject the possibility that reduced aggregate growth may eventually be necessary. The paper therefore develops the notion of ‘sequential transitioning’, arguing that politically feasible pathways beyond aggregate growth may depend on identifying early-stage decoupling measures that reduce the dependence of electoral acceptability on economic growth.