Global South&North: Collaboration on Equal Footing

Doughnut Economics offers a completely new basis for collaboration between countries of the global south and north. Although it is often emphasised that nowadays collaboration is done “on equal footing”, it’s actually not, because it usually comes along with the idea of the north being more advanced and somehow helping the south to attain the same status. 

But with Doughnut Economics, we get a new idea of the state that is desirable: Achieving all social thresholds without transgressing any biophysical boundaries.

So we find that both countries from the global south and north are similarly far away from this objective. They just miss the target from a different sides. So the strength of the global south in sticking to the planetary boundaries is the weakness of the global north while their strength in reaching the social thresholds is the weakness of the global south. Therewith, we get a completely new narrative and a serious reason to collaborate and mutually learn from each other. 

And while development cooperation, that is heading southbound is done regularly, its counterpart – northbound development cooperation - with the objective of bringing the north’s way of life under the ecological ceiling is missing almost completely. But by doing so, we get the opportunity to really change it into collaboration on equal footing and work together towards the common goal of a safe and just future for everyone on this planet.