Riel Bessai a,*, Roy Bendor a, Ruud Balkenende a
a Delft University of Technology, Delft, Netherlands
* Corresponding author
Abstract
This article introduces the Carbon Commons as a theoretical and practical framework for reimagining carbon sequestration within a post-growth context. Although carbon sequestration is central to most climate mitigation pathways, it has received little attention in post-growth discourse, where it is often overshadowed by critiques of green-growth strategies and their limited capacity to challenge the social and economic forms driving emissions. Instead, we argue that organising sequestration as a commons can address these limitations by rooting climate mitigation in community-defined values, needs, and aspirations rather than the profit-oriented logics of the market. We then present findings from a living lab in Amsterdam—an experimental carbon-sequestering public garden co-created with a community centre—which demonstrates how sequestration can become meaningful when woven into everyday practices that meet immediate social needs. Across provisioning, social life, and governance, sequestered carbon operated as a shared material, a social mediator, and a political catalyst. While modest in scale, the living lab revealed how community-embedded sequestration can cultivate belonging, agency, and stewardship. We conclude that carbon commoning offers a post-growth pathway in which ecological benefits emerge through the collective shaping of place and the strengthening of communal life.
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References
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APA
The Carbon Commons: Carbon sequestration for a post-growth society . (2026). In Degrowth Journal (Vol. 4). https://doi.org/10.36399/Degrowth.004.01.08
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“The Carbon Commons: Carbon Sequestration for a Post-Growth Society .” Degrowth Journal, vol. 4, Oct. 2026, https://doi.org/10.36399/Degrowth.004.01.08.
Chicago
“The Carbon Commons: Carbon Sequestration for a Post-Growth Society .” 2026. In Degrowth Journal, vol. 4. https://doi.org/10.36399/Degrowth.004.01.08.
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“The Carbon Commons: Carbon sequestration for a post-growth society ”(2026) Degrowth Journal. Available at: https://doi.org/10.36399/Degrowth.004.01.08.