Resources: Economics and finance, Power Point

The new "nature" consisting of environmental services is being designed to serve existing industrial powers and perpetuate the destructive logic of capital, not to modify or overturn it. Like older capitalist natures of "resources" and militarized "conservation", this new nature is colonialist in numerous respects. This presentation from a recent workshop at the Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar in Ecuador offers visual illustrations of these points.

"Let's internalize the externalities" has become an important slogan of the new "green economy". Its logic is evident in the Kyoto Protocol, the UK's plans for an "ecosystem services economy", countless regulatory projects advised by environmental economists, and even in financial markets' efforts to commodify radical uncertainty. But is this a solution for the environmental and social problems thrown up by capital accumulation, or a perpetual motion machine that functions merely to create more problems and business opportunities?

What does the "green economy" -- and the neoclassical economic thinking that gave rise to it -- look like from the perspective of the commons? This powerpoint presentation from a May 2012 workshop in Quito for activists, indigenous leaders, students and the general public suggests some avenues for exploration. The powerpoint is available  in both English and Spanish.