Many banners critical of capitalism can be seen on “Fridays for Future” demonstrations.

Why is that?

Philipp Krohn

Editor in business, responsible for “People and Business”.

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Carla Reemtsma: We are experiencing that from many directions this hope in technological progress and this unconditional adherence to ever further growth is presented as unalterable.

This notion of unlimited growth on a planet with limited resources is an illusion.

So far there is not a single example of a state or a nation or even of an industry that has managed to absolutely decouple its emissions and resource consumption from growth.

But we see a partial dematerialization in industrialized countries.

Reemtsma: But an absolute decoupling, that is, a declining consumption of resources or an exclusion of emissions with simultaneous economic growth, is not possible to date.

And what goes with that is the question of how do we organize certain basic needs?

Doesn't there have to be political decisions for areas such as housing or energy supply that we democratically determine in society?

What should our energy supply look like?

The status quo is unfair and unsustainable; that has to change.

But why is capitalism the enemy, instead of recognizing decoupling as a human task?

Reemtsma: That has been discussed for decades, and for decades there has not been a single example that it can succeed.

And also studies that exactly prove that this is an illusion, especially in the remaining time that we still have.

The emissions budget remaining in Germany will be used up in less than seven years with the current emissions.

In a society that organizes its economy capitalistically, a large share of power lies with companies.

Ms. Pflaum, we are seeing that the financial market is adjusting to the topic of ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance), that billions are being diverted.

Is that a promise: we can do it differently?

Petra Pflaum: What the EU Action Plan wants is precisely a reallocation of capital.

This is not just about climate neutrality, but more broadly about sustainable investments.

Also because politicians have clearly recognized that it cannot be achieved with public investment alone.

That is why you have to encourage and encourage the capital market to move in the right direction.

It is a political process in which there is a goal for politics and investors.

Pflaum: The EU Commission is developing a taxonomy in which it is first defined what is actually green, because there is actually no clear opinion about it.

Nothing is black and white, everything is more in the not gray, more in the green area.

But how green is a company or a plant?

We're going to see a huge shift.

We had the industrial revolution 150 years ago, now we are moving into green industrialization.

There will always be winners and losers in ESG and sustainability.

As a fund company, we have to take a closer look at companies that are innovating.

The energy transition will involve huge investments.

Certain companies will continue to grow here.

Others will have a business model that is about to expire.