Abstract:
With the world economic system close to collapse, ‘environmentalism’ is being coopted for a new wave of capital accumulation – a hegemony based on the financialisation of nature. At the first Rio Earth Summit in 1992 the transnational ruling class, steered by the Business Council for Sustainable Development, was already looking into this. More recently, the UN Environment Program’s (UNEP) Green New Deal has paved the way to global commodification of ‘ecosystem services’. The International Monetary Fund is promoting a Green Economy Initiative to be built on the ‘strengths of the market’ with ‘institutional support’; and a book from the World Bank spells out the steps towards ‘Inclusive Green Growth’. No surprise that the official declaration of the Rio+20 Earth Summit – ‘The Future We Want’ – announced its object as a ‘green economy’.
Details / PDF:
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