Confronting climate change is now understood as a problem of 'decarbonising' the global economy: ending our dependence on carbon-based fossil fuels. This book explores whether such a transformation is underway, how it might be accelerated, and the complex politics of this process. Given the dominance of global capitalism and free-market ideologies, decarbonisation is dependent on creating carbon markets and engaging powerful actors in the world of business and finance. Climate Capitalism assesses the huge political dilemmas this poses, and the need to challenge the entrenched power of many corporations, the culture of energy use, and global inequalities in energy consumption. Climate Capitalism is essential reading for anyone wanting to better understand the challenge we face. It will also inform a range of student courses in environmental studies, development studies, international relations, and business programmes.
Author(s): Peter Newell, Matthew Paterson
Year: 2010
Language: English
Pages: 222
Contents......Page 9
Preface......Page 11
Acknowledgements......Page 13
Abbreviations......Page 15
1.
Introducing climate capitalism......Page 19
2.
Histories of climate, histories of capitalism......Page 29
3.
Climate for business: from threat to opportunity......Page 54
4.
Mobilising the power of investors......Page 78
5.
Searching for flexibility, creating a market......Page 96
6. Caps, trades and profits......Page 112
7.
Buying our way out of trouble......Page 126
8.
The limits of climate capitalism......Page 147
9.
Governing the carbon economy......Page 159
10.
What futures for climate capitalism ?......Page 179
Conclusions......Page 200
Glossary......Page 207
Index......Page 217
