ABSTRACT
It is widely believed within modernity that economic growth is beneficial. This growth is seen as the incantation for national happiness and consequently countries all over the world have tried to make economic growth an overriding priority. For economic liberalism, a large part of the economy is material growth. The contemporary preoccupation with economic growth is also entailed by the logic of capital and the pursuit of profit. Most of the Southern countries on the planet invoke either a form of market liberalism or state-fostered socialism. At the Summit, the recognition that, as George Bush stated, 'Growth is the engine of change and friend of development', was fully enshrined in Principle of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development. The need to realize the limits of growth that Nature may impose is a foundation stone of the Green argument. The steady economic state is advocated because it is believed that many environmental thresholds are currently being crossed by modern society.
