Neoliberalisation of nature: Conservation, Energy transition, Greenwhasing, commodification, extractivism, colonisation and alteration of land rights and land uses

Abstract

The special issue of Encrucijadas "Neoliberalisation of nature" aims to problematise the new green business strategies that have emerged to mitigate the degradation of natural capital. The articles, classic text, bibliographical essays and interviews that make up the monograph reveal a common thread in which the adverse consequences of these new green businesses are narrated. Firstly, it is stressed that these businesses do not express themselves in ways that change behaviour, lifestyles or much less the production system, in order to reduce the material or carbon footprint. Secondly, the expansion of these businesses not only does not contribute to the mitigation of environmental degradation, but can also be used as mechanisms for the expansion of capitalism. Thirdly, such businesses involve the expulsion of indigenous or peasant communities from the land on which they live, or even the contamination or destruction of that land. In other cases, resource use, authority and management are restructured, potentially and, as has happened in many places, alienating local residents from their own livelihoods and epistemicising local knowledge. Finally, it is emphasised that many of these green deals involve continuing a colonial power structure that involves an ecological transition for the wealthy in the global north at the cost of altering the lives of communities in the global south and many rural communities in the global north.