Recent study proves 1) overshoot true and 2) only degrowth solves

CONTEXT NOTE: The doughnut combines two core concepts: (1) an ecological ceiling that avoids critical planetary degradation, which is informed by the planetary boundaries framework for Earth-system stability; and (2) a sufficient social foundation that avoids critical human deprivation, which is closely aligned with the 12 social priorities of the Sustainable Development Goals. The doughnut visualizes the goal of meeting the needs of all people within the means of the living planet

Overall, we find no evidence that any country is currently moving towards the doughnut-shaped safe and just space. Current trends are likely to deepen the climate and ecological crisis while failing to eliminate social shortfalls. Despite decades of sustainable development rhetoric, countries with high levels of social achievement have levels of resource use far beyond anything that could be sustainably extended to all people, and their extent of ecological overshoot has generally been increasing. Although low-income countries have shown progress in reducing social shortfalls, they have generally been transgressing biophysical boundaries faster than they have been achieving social thresholds. The slow rate of social progress is coupled with ecological overshoot at the global scale, which is already overwhelming the regenerative capacity of the biosphere35 and exposing humanity to a high risk of destabilizing the Earth system4 . Previous research has shown the unsustainability of current development trajectories18,37. Where the doughnut provides new insights is that it contains plural and non-substitutable goals for which absolute (not relative) performance matters, both socially and ecologically. Building on the doughnut, our analysis shows that past, current and business-as-usual future levels of resource use associated with meeting basic needs are too high. To meet the needs of all people within planetary boundaries, current relationships between social performance and biophysical resource use must be radically transformed in all countries, albeit in different country-specific ways depending on the extent of social shortfall and ecological overshoot2,21,38. For wealthy countries with high ecological overshoot, resource use needs to be dramatically reduced to get within fair shares of biophysical boundaries—a transition that is unlikely to be accomplished with efficiency improvements alone39. It may also require post-growth and degrowth policies that redesign current growth-dependent economic systems and reduce the overconsumption of resources directly40,41. Simulation models have shown that it is possible for wealthy countries to improve social outcomes without growth by reducing inequality and prioritizing social provisioning16,24. Given our finding that current trends in collective social indicators, such as social support, democratic quality and equality, are most in need of transformation, and given that these social indicators are only weakly coupled to resource use2 , there is broad scope to improve them by transforming provisioning systems in non-materialistic ways (for example, by distributing income more fairly and universalizing access to basic goods and services). However, a growing body of research shows that such transformations must confront powerful industries and other vested interests that benefit from the unequal and extractive status quo both within and across countries42