The Indian Vandana Shiva, winner of the 1993 Alternative Nobel Prize, said that economic growth alone would not get you anywhere. "Nature and society must be brought to the fore," said the Nobel Prize winner. In her opinion, "the people must reclaim their democracy", otherwise poverty and hunger cannot be overcome. "We are currently witnessing the financial, ecological and political collapse of the world economic system."
Manfred Konukiewitz from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and Klaus Rudischhauser from the European Commission contradicted this in the forum "Political responsibility: concepts for a sustainable development policy" with the words "Without growth there is no way". They are of the opinion that growth is the prerequisite for prosperity. In their opinion, Europe would otherwise not be able to raise the 50 billion euros per year for development aid. Jürgen Baisch from the Institute Water for Africa replied that it would only take an annual amount in the per mille range of the BMZ budget to lay the foundations for sustainable water management in Africa. As an example he cited the fact that Africa has only 888 measuring stations. Germany has 1150 measuring stations in a comparably small area.