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Trevor Hancock: Reclaim the economy for people and the planet

31 13
28.01.2026

As readers of this column know, I often refer to a piece of wisdom put forth by the World Wide Fund for Nature in 2014: “Ecosystems sustain societies that create economies. It does not work any other way round.”

The root of many of our problems, of course, is that we keep trying to make it work the other way round. Our current society and economy too often prioritize the economy over people and the planet, putting both in service of the economy.

But as the WWF notes, it is society that creates the economy, which is — or should be — a tool to improve the wellbeing of all, now and in the future, while also ensuring we remain within planetary boundaries. That, not coincidentally, is pretty much the definition of a wellbeing society put forward by the World Health Organization.

So it is not surprising that the second of five action areas identified in WHO’s Geneva Charter for Wellbeing is to design an equitable economy that serves human development within planetary and local ecological boundaries — what increasingly is being called a “wellbeing economy.”

Which brings me to Reclaim the Economy Week, which runs........

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