The neoliberal development of nature

The current climate crisis represents a world in which capital is not limited to appropriating nature, but transforms it into commodities for long-term exploitation. The industry created traps to reach its full functioning, pretending to leave the neoliberal economy through the so-called “green economy”, “environmental modernization” and “green capitalism”.

There is hard work in the industry to internalize natural resources as part of production, preaching the sustainable management of resources in the long term. Neoliberalism seeks to find new ways of exploiting nature that are more efficient and that intend to be a sustainable development for the environment.

The commodification of nature builds new spaces for investment, trade and speculation. It is a dominant approach that governs people’s relationships and activities with the environment. Neoliberalization does not consist in leaving the State, but changes its role to guarantee the functioning of markets when they are in danger and it does so through the entry of market entrepreneurs in strategic sectors of the government area. It is a neoliberal social and environmental project promoted by the IMF and the World Bank. Through the use of the State, it modifies goods that were not commercial, such as nature, and transforms them into new interchangeable commodities.

Society’s resistance

The real resistance to the massive neoliberal development of nature has been social, which acts as the only brake on the advance of markets.

The intense use of nature and hyper-urbanization produce a visible tension in the depletion of natural resources and the lack of resilience to dissipate the contamination generated by agribusiness, the oil and mining industry and excessive consumption.

Read Also:  Taking an aspirin a day isn't as good as you think

The largest consumption of water in the world is done by industrial agriculture, followed by mining. The current numbers of water resources show that the situation is very delicate, knowing the demographic projections and the future demands for water. Water scarcity affects 40% of the world’s population and, according to United Nations forecasts, drought could put 700 million people at risk of displacement by 2030.

Distribution of resources around the world and neoliberal development

All over the world, population and resources are unevenly distributed, the situation is critical in several countries where social inequality is greatest. Water scarcity and competition for it are increasing.

The famines of recent years and the environmental crises were socially generated and not caused by nature. The ruling classes, who own the land, patents on transgenics, the media for agriculture, agro-export companies, ports, supermarket chains and food brands, control resources and are responsible for generating scarcity, poverty and hunger.

Source

Recent Articles

Related News

Leave A Reply

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here