Unravelling the Geographies of the Green Transition: Understanding the Finance-Extraction-Transitions Nexus 

By Tobias Franz and Angus McNelly

The transition from fossil fuels to green energy in the 21st century – driven by the urgent need to address anthropogenic climate change – represents a monumental shift in not just global energy systems but generally within global capitalism. This transition mirrors historical transformations in energy systems, such as the emergence of fossil capital in northern England or the shift from coal to oil in the 20th century, which have had profound impacts on the world economy. The ongoing green transition presents similar unique challenges and opportunities, requiring a fundamental reconfiguration of energy production and consumption patterns to avoid catastrophic climate collapse.

Continue reading “Unravelling the Geographies of the Green Transition: Understanding the Finance-Extraction-Transitions Nexus “

Why might Green Finance and Sustainable Blended Finance be needed under the Global Plastic Treaty?

By Daniel F. Akrofi

The proposed global plastic treaty currently being negotiated seeks to end plastic pollution by regulating the entire lifecycle of plastics. To end global plastic pollution and decarbonize the global plastic economy, financial flows that fuel the global plastic industry must truly be tailored towards transitioning away from the current models of economic development, consumption, and overreliance on fossil fuel-derived virgin plastics – considering that 98 percent of plastics produced globally are fossil fuel-derived. This will require a 360-degree shift from the current mode of financing in the global plastic industry that encourages overreliance on fossil-fuel feedstock to produce excessive plastics (in some cases non-recyclable plastics) to green financing aimed at ending global plastic pollution.

Continue reading “Why might Green Finance and Sustainable Blended Finance be needed under the Global Plastic Treaty?”

Debt and green transition: An Introduction

By Tomaso Ferrando and Giedre Jokubauskaite / Debt and Green Transition blog series

This post introduces a blog series where multiple authors explore the role of debt as one of the most popular financial tools behind the ‘green transition’. Green and sustainability bonds, green microfinance, insurance and loan-enabled ‘loss and damage’ finance, are but a few of many variations of the governance logic, which uses debt to ‘green’ the economic system, while at the same time fuelling the financial and economic structures that lead to ecological destruction and a breakdown of social cohesion in the first place. If debt is so key, it must first of all be understood in its legal or financial construction and, more importantly, in the material and ideological implications that its use produces and consolidates.

Continue reading “Debt and green transition: An Introduction”