From Rupture to Renewal

At this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos, Canada’s Prime Minister, Mark Carney delivered a striking address that went beyond geopolitics to underline a fundamental truth: our global economic frameworks are no longer serving people or the planet as they once promised to. We are at “the end of a pleasant fiction”.

The idea of “rules-based order” — the economic and political architecture that many nations have relied on since the mid-20th century — a myth or an idea that has ruptured. With powerful actors increasingly wielding economic tools as instruments of coercion rather than cooperation, it is clear that “shared prosperity” is not the feature of this order, rather hierarchy, winners and loser and the right of might are exposed as the key design principles of our economies.

As we think about reclaiming our economies to be green, fair and just economy, we should take three core lessons from his speech — and build on them with clear purpose.

1. Honesty about the system we’re in

Carney’s opening point was stark but liberating: we must stop pretending that the old order is coming back. The narrative that geopolitics and economics inevitably trend toward cooperation has been exposed as a partial fiction — and that fiction can no longer be sustained.

For the green movement, this honesty is crucial. It means acknowledging that:

• economic growth divorced from climate limits has failed our communities and ecosystems;

• dependence on global supply chains built for efficiency, not resilience, leaves us vulnerable;

• and narratives that paint continued fossil fuel expansion as progress are no longer credible.

Truthful analysis is the first step to redesigning economic systems that deliver for people and the planet.

2. Shared resilience a function of strategic autonomy

Building strategic autonomy is a pathway to be less dependent on the whims of the big beasts in the global economy. Vulnerability can be minimised and security created by planning away from dependency and aligning with those who have shared values and interests to diversifying partnerships and capacities in mutually beneficial arrangements.

In our context, strategic autonomy resonates deeply with the green economy’s goals:

• Localised production and resilient supply chains that are ecologically regenerative rather than extraction-dependent.

• Diversified economic partnerships, including South–South cooperation and regional green finance networks.

• Community power over economic decision-making, not just national sovereignty in the abstract.

Autonomy isn’t going it alone- it's independence and at a time when our economies and societies are interdependent it should mean strengthening internal capacities and building networks of mutual support — a green economy approach.

3. Green cooperation over fortress economies

We need to reframe how we think about economic resilience. Rather than retreating into protectionism- “isolated fortresses” that make us “poorer, more fragile and less sustainable.”, we should invest in systemic resilience that:

• Centre planetary boundaries in policymaking.

• Elevate equitable access to resources — from renewable energy to clean water and climate adaptation support.

• Reinforce collective infrastructure for sustainable development (from green grids to universal social protections).

The climate crisis demands not just national action, but cohesive community and global strategies that link economies, people and natural systems.

🌱 A Path Forward: Reclaim, Redesign, Rebalance

We’ve spoken about security and “security framing”, exploring what this means from a green economy perspective but a new narrative is emerging, an agenda of economic sovereignty or a green economy by a different name.

• Reclaim economic narratives

It’s not enough to call out the problems with our current economies, we need a language and vision of bolder, better and brighter economies. We need to champion and create new systems of equity, wellbeing, diversity, ecosystem health, and resilience.

• Redesign economic architecture

Incentivising regenerative industries, equitable employment and climate justice needs to be at the heart of our economies. This includes green fiscal policies, just transition frameworks and democratic ownership models. It also requires exposing the disincentives and externalities of extractive industries and our zero sum economic assumptions.

• Rebalance power globally and locally

Empower the majority to counter the powerful. Economic cooperation doesn’t have to privilege great powers but can be countered by the powerful of the majority, or of regional blocs that activate communities from the local level in the form of energy cooperatives to the transnational, in the form of climate alliances.

The World We’re Building

Carney’s speech was an invitation — not to nostalgia, but to honest engagement with the world as it is and for us, the world it should be.

At the Green Economy Coalition, we see that invitation as a challenge: to lead with clarity, compassion and creativity; to build economies that dignify workers, protect ecosystems and distribute opportunity equitably.

The rupture Carney describes isn’t the end of cooperation — it’s a transition moment. And in that transition lies the chance to reshape global economic life around the very principles we fight for every day: justice, sustainability and shared prosperity.