The world is in a ‘polycrisis’ of inequality, climate chaos, environmental collapse, mass population movements, rising far-right authoritarianism, internationalized conflicts, and geopolitical instabilities. Threading through and linking these existential health threats is capitalism, most recently its toxic neoliberal form but with a robust 400 year history of exploitation of people and planet. This presentation describes how the covid pandemic led many countries to consider reforms to their economic policies, which some did but insufficiently so. It argues that capitalism’s continued reliance upon cycles of growth and accumulation remains unsustainable and disequalizing, and is a system no longer fit for purpose. It identifies some of the more radical yet attainable and essential post-pandemic policy reforms that can substantially mitigate capitalism’s threats to health. It concludes by considering whether the recent concept of ‘wellbeing economies’ might entrench these reforms to an extent that however the resulting economy might be labeled, it no longer rests upon capitalism’s predatory and accumulative past.

This presentation will focus on the importance of exiting the consumptogenic system - the web of institutions, actors, policies, commercial activities and norms that have encouraged and rewarded the exploitation of natural resources, excess production and hyperconsumerism of fossil fuel reliant goods and services. This system has resulted in the equitable enjoyment of good health in a stable Earth system being in crisis. After discussing the consumptogenic system pathologies, the presentation will explore ways to rebalance dominant and harmful economic ideas, interests and institutions in ways that advance planetary health equity.