Kees Klomp: “It’s time to relearn how to think as Earth citizens”

Your new book Ecoliberalism is about to be released. Why did you write it?

“Last year, I was invited to deliver the ‘Sustainable King’s Speech’ – one of the main speeches on sustainability in the Netherlands. This confronted me with an important question: what does ecological collapse mean for the economy? The data was alarming. Even in the best-case scenario, climate change will shrink the global economy by 20 percent by 2050. Central banks warn that the contraction could be even worse – 30 to 35 percent, wiping out a third of the economy. That is seven to nine times the impact of the 2008 financial crisis. But unlike that crisis, this one will not be a temporary disruption. It will define the coming decades. Restoring the biosphere takes time. It’s a shock no bank will be able to survive.

At the heart of this all lies a neoliberal economic system that has completely detached itself from ecology. There is no ecological crisis that is not directly linked to the economy – climate breakdown, biodiversity collapse, and environmental pollution are all consequences of economic activity. If we want a liveable future, we need to rethink everything – economically and politically. We need a system in which ecology is not an afterthought, but the foundation of everything we do. That is what Ecoliberalism is about.”

What exactly is ecoliberalism?

“Ecoliberalism is a political and economic ideology that re-centers the true nature of humanity. To transform the economy, we must ask ourselves: what does it mean to be human? It begins with the understanding that we are deeply interconnected beings. Our bodies are a complex symbiosis of cells, organs, and microbes. On a larger scale, our very existence depends on a vast, immeasurable web of life. Try to imagine the organisms – both directly and indirectly – that make your presence here possible. In this awareness, in knowing we are carried by a web of life, we find true happiness – a kind of happiness that is far from the superficial satisfaction of buying a new pair of jeans or an electric fat bike.

At our core, humans are not consumers, not even global citizens. We are Earth citizens, part of a broader species society. This is the only ecologically sustainable way to view ourselves. If we accept this truth, we must rebuild our economy on this foundation: an economic system rooted in ecology, and a political system based on an ecoliberal constitution, where all forms of life are treated as equals – free to express their true nature and unhindered by a humanity that has come to resemble a plague.”

Is the idea of freedom for all living beings the foundation of the liberalism in ecoliberalism?

“Exactly. Many people associate liberalism with neoliberalism, but they forget that the original liberal thinkers saw freedom as being inextricably linked to responsibility: one person’s freedom ends where it infringes on another’s.

Neoliberal freedom – the kind that perpetually restricts the freedom of others, both human and non-human – is not true freedom. It’s an illusion, designed to let the market grow without limits. In this system, people are pushed into debt just to purchase the latest consumer products. Mentally, we are enslaved –we feel compelled to acquire things we cannot afford. The so-called free market is nothing more than a gilded cage, a treadmill that leaves corporate capital as the only winner.

At the same time, we force all other life forms into that same cage – restricted, displaced, or driven to extinction. This is why my book calls for an ecoliberal constitution and democracy, in which all life forms can be truly free. We consider our own self-determination sacred, but a tree, a bird, or a dolphin has just as much right to it. There is no being on Earth that is not oriented towards life: we just fail to recognise this. It’s time to relearn how to think as Earth citizens and forge agreements that reflect this realization.”

What kind of agreements are you talking about?

“We need to rebuild our economy around the universal ecological principles that have guided life for nearly four billion years – the deep, unspoken laws that govern all living beings. You might call them the principles of Earth citizenship. When we follow them, life flourishes.

The first principle is regeneration. In nature, life continuously creates conditions for more life to emerge – that’s what regeneration means. It’s what we, too, should aspire to. Yet instead of embracing regenerative agriculture, we have built an industrial food system that smothers life with pesticides, only to ‘rescue’ it with synthetic fertilisers. It’s not just unnatural – it’s anti-natural, a violation of nature’s most fundamental rule. And why? Because food is no longer grown to nourish, but to generate profit. We live in a fully economised society, when we should be moving towards an ecological one. The same principles that have shaped the natural world for billions of years should guide us – and form the foundation of an ecoliberal constitution.

Another core principle is adaptation. In nature, species adapt to one another, creating balance. But we expect all other species to adapt to us. It’s a distortion of the natural order. The same is true of communication: within ecosystems, species are in constant dialogue, yet we fail to listen to trees, rivers, or the sea. And so, we have reached the edge of what our environment can tolerate. We have become a plague – and a plague is tolerated, until it is not. When that moment comes, nature corrects itself.”

You also discuss ‘un-growth’. How does that work?

“Across the world, people are speaking about degrowth and post-growth. Degrowth calls for governments to impose restrictions on economic expansion. Post-growth suggests that the market, through interventions like a carbon tax, will naturally contract. Then there is ‘un-growth’ – a different approach entirely. It does not rely on external controls but on an internal shift in how we relate to the world.

I do not believe people will accept the state determining what they can or cannot buy. Nor do I trust the market to resolve this crisis. That leaves only one path: change must come from within. And it can. We are meaning-seeking beings. Yet despite all our material wealth, we lack meaning. We have everything, and yet it is not enough. This is no surprise – goods are meant to serve a function, not to bring us happiness. For decades, we have mistaken consumption for fulfilment, confusing short-lived pleasure with something deeper. But as a Buddhist, I know that true happiness – true stillness – comes from within. For that, you don’t need consumption at all.

The question, of course, is whether people can restrain themselves on a large scale. My expectation is that the economic collapse we are heading towards by 2050 will force us to recognise that the era of limitless consumption is over. When your pension savings have evaporated and your house no longer holds value, your relationship with material wealth inevitably shifts.”

That sounds as though the situation is beyond saving.

“The reality is that we are heading toward a permanent crisis – one driven by the ecological and economic impacts of climate change. This is not a matter of opinion: the scientific data is undeniable. But that does not mean we are powerless. On the contrary, there is much we can do to build a society that is more resilient, more capable of withstanding the shocks that lie ahead. A crucial step is to reinvest on a large scale in the local, in the commons.”

What does that look like?

“In the commons, the focus is not on capital goods but on shared resources that meet real needs – managed and distributed collectively. This creates an immense sense of freedom, which is why the commons play a central role in ecoliberalism. Through the commons, people can provide for themselves collectively, without being dependent on the market. Right now, we must first earn money to access our basic needs through the market, but many of these needs can simply be organized together. In such a system, we live with less money, but with far more freedom.

Consider energy cooperatives, where communities generate their own power, or housing models where homes are built at cost rather than at today’s inflated market prices – where even a modest starter home can cost half a million euros. By democratizing ownership and production, we create the space to work from intrinsic motivation – not because it yields the highest profit, but because it holds meaning.

Commons-based initiatives offer another major advantage: they operate independently of the global economy and are therefore resilient to economic crises. On a local level, life simply continues.”

How do we actually get to an ecoliberal system in which all life is free?

“As a Professor of Purpose Economy, I have spent the last few years going back to the fundamentals, researching what we, as humans, need in order to transform our economic system. That process unfolds in three phases.

It all starts with immersion – fully immersing yourself in the reality of the situation and grasping its severity. This may seem obvious, but it isn’t. When confronted with painful truths, many people instinctively retreat into denial. Only when you truly acknowledge the state of things can you take action and change your behaviour – this requires intrinsic motivation.

The second phase is dissolution – dismantling the power that capital holds over us. Because ‘the system’ only exists in our minds. The idea that we need an uprising of thousands with pitchforks to drive off the rich is absurd. All we really need to do is ‘unthink’ the system that enables the elite. The economy is a construct – it exists only because we believe in it. A dolphin or a tree has no concept of an economy. It is a story we have invented, and therefore, a story we can rewrite.

Once you grasp this, you can move to the third phase: amplification – channeling your energy toward the undercurrent, toward the people and initiatives already building an ecoliberal society. You begin to embody the future you wish to see, in the present. Over time, the undercurrent will grow strong enough to replace the mainstream, dissolving the power of the current system.”

How realistic is it to ‘think away’ and ‘dissolve’ the system?

“I often have conversations with people who say: ‘Kees, your ideas sound great, but in reality, they’re completely unworkable.’ That scepticism comes from a deep belief that the world as we know it is a law of nature. But it isn’t. It is a human-made story – a dark story – and we have the power to rewrite it.

Power only holds sway over us because we believe in it. We believe that we, too, could become billionaires, that billionaires must be happy, and that by buying more things, we can free ourselves from our longings for happiness, security, and belonging. But the moment we let go of this neoliberal illusion, we create space to see entirely new possibilities – and to bring them to life. If enough of us do this, the old system will naturally become obsolete.

So even if you think: ‘Who am I, with my small commons initiative?’ – know that what you’re doing is incredibly important. You are creating something new. And thanks to people like you, the undercurrent will eventually become strong enough to replace the mainstream. When that happens, it won’t be a battle between the old and the new – the shift will already be underway. And as the system begins to support the transformation, it will become easier and easier for others to join in.”

A focus on changing the world around you, rather than trying to transform ‘the world.’

“Exactly. You can directly and profoundly influence the world around you. Trying to change ‘the world’ is an impossible task. The food forest we created in our village isn’t going to ‘save biodiversity.’ But for the life that exists here, it makes a real difference every single day.

That is my most important message: free yourself from the mental stronghold of the system and reclaim your imagination, so you can begin organising on a local level. After all, all our small worlds together make up ‘the world’.”

Becoming part of the undercurrent also creates what you call ‘active hope.’

“Yes. In essence, it’s about action-thinking – not doom-thinking. False hope is useless, as is blind optimism. And despair – collapsing into lethargy and giving up – serves no one. Action-thinking holds the middle ground. It asks us to respond to what the world around us demands, without grasping for certainty, without needing to know if our efforts will be enough. This is the essence of active hope.

I cannot say whether what I do will secure a future for the next generations. But what I do know is that, in this moment, I can act. And when we act, light finds its way, even through the deepest darkness.”

What personally drives you?

“My three children, without a doubt. The thought of leaving them behind in this world is almost unbearable. For now, I can still protect them, offer them some semblance of safety. But I know that one day I will have to let them go. The birth of my youngest son deepened that awareness – I was already 45 then. And now, as I move towards 60, that sense of urgency has only grown. The only certainty I have is this: in the time that remains, I can do what I am able to do. There is nothing more than that.

There’s a teaching from Thich Nhat Hanh, my beloved Buddhist teacher: ‘My actions are my only belongings.’ I came into this world with nothing, and I will leave it the same way. All that exists in between is the work I am called to do – the work the world asks of me. Everything else – possessions, wealth, the illusion of permanence – can be released. That too holds its own freedom.”

The book Ecoliberalism: A Transformative Story About True Freedom will be published on the 8th of May 2025 by De Geus in Dutch.