The 7% Rule: How Companies Can Grow Without Destroying the Planet

In this episode of Business Talk, Dr. Per Espen Stoknes, psychologist, economist, serial entrepreneur, and Associate Professor at BI Norwegian Business School, Oslo, unpacks the central argument of his book Tomorrow's Economy (MIT Press): that green growth is not only possible, but measurable, actionable, and urgently necessary. At the heart of his framework is a sharp distinction between healthy and unhealthy growth. GDP, he explains, tells us how much an economy produces, but not how. Healthy growth demands two additional productivity measures: resource productivity (generating more value with less material and energy use, targeting 6-7% annual improvement) and social productivity (ensuring that income growth reaches the bottom 40-50% of earners, not just the top 10%). Beyond GDP, Dr. Stoknes calls for a planetary balance sheet that accounts for four forms of capital, human, natural, social, and productive, where a healthy economy is one in which all four improve net-positively year over year. He further argues that the biggest barrier to this transformation is not technological, but psychological: since double-entry accounting was introduced in 1494, we have been conditioned to measure success in short-term monetary terms alone. From a six-step corporate green growth model, spanning outreach, house cleaning, procurement, operations, product portfolio shifts, and business model innovation, to the structural protection offered by Benefit Corporation structures, Dr. Stoknes offers business leaders and policymakers a clear, science-based roadmap. And for India, he reserves particular urgency: with its vast workforce and rapid growth trajectory, he calls it "the most important country in the world right now" to demonstrate that resource-productive, inclusive economic development is not a trade-off, it is tomorrow's only viable path forward. This podcast is brought to you by Global Management Consultancy. Disclaimer: 1. The background music incorporated in this video is the intellectual property of its respective developer and is protected under applicable copyright laws. Notwithstanding that it is a free-to-use version, Business Talk, Global Management Consultancy, and Deepak Bhatt do not own, and expressly do not claim, any rights, title, or interest in or to this music. 2. Dr. Per Espen Stoknes shared key insights from his book, ‘Tomorrow's Economy’, in an engaging episode of the Business Talk podcast. The uploaded video contains copyrighted content, so changing any graphics, music, or on-screen appearance of the author or host is not allowed.