There is today growing consensus that the climate crisis is also a crisis of capitalism. Regardless of one’s political persuasion, it is incontrovertible that capitalism’s MO (of converting “natural resources into fungible commodities and monetary wealth”[1]) has been a primary driver of ecological change over the last 200 years. Jason Moore, an environmental historian at Binghampton University, has gone as far as to call our current epoch the Capitalocene, preferring this to the more common Anthropocene, which fails to capture how the costs and benefits of “the Age of Man” have been distributed unequally.[2] It is not humans, in general, who are to blame for this crisis, but rather, and more specifically, capitalist systems. (Indeed, as the 2017 Carbon Majors Report revealed, just 100 companies were responsible for 71 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions since 1988.[3])
“Capitalism has produced a plethora of socioeconomic benefits”, writes Jonathan Park, of the University of Utah, “[but] it has generated a correspondingly monstrous amount of waste…, atmospheric pollution and other forms of environmental degradation”, of which global climate change has been the most severe consequence.[4]
All this begs the question: can capitalism and climate consciousness co-exist? Or does ending the climate crisis necessarily entail ending capitalism?
Position 1: Capitalism must fix this (aka “Capitalism got us into this mess…”)
If capitalism has caused climate change, could it also solve it? Humans, it is reasoned, are endlessly creative, and capitalism is a seedbed for innovation. Eventually, then, we will “crack” climate change, just as we’ve cracked other environmental challenges. This view is exemplified by the MIT scientist Andrew McAfee, who predicts that “the two forces of capitalism and technological progress will continue their [extraordinary] track record of providing for our wants and needs”. Paraphrasing Abraham Lincoln, McAfee frames this as “the fuel of interest” meeting “the fire of genius”,[5] echoing what the economist Joseph Schumpeter referred to as “the gale of creative destruction”. As Jonathan Park notes, this is inherent to the logic of capitalism: “when a commercially viable resource is exhausted, the market will produce an alternative. Thus, capitalism is a supposedly indefatigable method for perpetually generating more wealth and greater social prosperity.”[6]
Position 2: Capitalism must die (aka “System change not climate change”)
But here’s the catch. Capitalism may promote innovation, yet it does so in the name of growth, not of sustainability. Thus, “while capitalist economies are able to spin off improved renewable-energy systems or energy-efficient technologies,” as the author Stan Cox writes, “they’re even better at producing new energy-consuming technologies and products”.[7] Again, this is central to the logic of capitalism: extraction, production, consumption, repeat. And since this process is driven by (short-term) economic goals rather than (long-term) ecological ones, it cannot be part of the solution.
Capitalism, it has been argued, has a parasitoid relationship to the Earth:[8] it will feed off its host until the latter ultimately expires. For this reason, the fight against climate change is seen by many as a fight against capitalism itself – “the capitalist system as it currently stands is neither designed for nor capable of consciously inhibiting its own propensity for unsustainable growth”.[9] Instead, as the Guardian journalist Phil McDuff puts it, “[w]e need to fundamentally re-evaluate our relationship to ownership, work and capital”.[10]
Position 3: Capitalism must change (aka “The baby, not the bathwater”)
Clearly, unfettered capitalism has been bad news for the environment. But what if we could harness capitalism, tame it, and put it to work for the climate, rather than against it? This is not simply a matter of investing in green technology; instead, it’s about restructuring the economy, and redefining growth. There are growing calls for “a greening of capitalism through large scale [sic] environmental and socialist reforms”.[11] This so-called Green New Deal allies efforts to address climate change with other social aims, such as job creation and reducing economic inequality.[12] Such structural change, critics argue, must go hand-and-hand with a wholesale recalibration of economic performance measures. Many businesses are already incorporating Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors in their annual reports. However, this shift must be mirrored by governments, for whom GDP remains the predominant indicator of economic performance. And since GDP is a purely monetary measure, not a social or ecological one, it fails to capture the costs of development – to people and the planet.[13]
What are the alternatives? One option is the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI), a means of measuring economic growth that takes into account both social and environmental factors.[14] Actions that boost GPI include generating more power from renewables, preserving natural habitats and increasing energy efficiency. By pursuing such aims, governments can harness capitalism for holistic ends, rather than solely economic ones.
So, is capitalism, in one shape or another, the solution to the climate crisis? Or does its underlying logic of exploitation, consumption and growth render it fundamentally incompatible with environmental goals?
There is no one answer here; no single truth. “Capitalism”, said Marx, “is the religion of everyday life”.[15] And this is a matter of faith. Readers must decide for themselves where salvation lies.
What cannot be denied, however, is that capitalism has long been complicit in the destruction of the natural world. It is incumbent on capitalism to rectify this, or face extinction of its own.
[1] Park, J. T. 2015. Climate change and capitalism. Consilience: The Journal of Sustainable Development 14(2): 189-206.
[2] https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/jcde-2020-0003/html
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03066150.2016.1235036
[3] https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2017/jul/10/100-fossil-fuel-companies-investors-responsible-71-global-emissions-cdp-study-climate-change
[4] Park, J. T. 2015. Climate change and capitalism. Consilience: The Journal of Sustainable Development 14(2): 189-206.
[5] https://www.wired.com/story/technology-will-keep-us-from-running-out-of-stuff/
[6] Park, J. T. 2015. Climate change and capitalism. Consilience: The Journal of Sustainable Development 14(2): 189-206.
[7] https://www.yesmagazine.org/opinion/2018/09/01/heres-why-capitalism-cant-fix-climate-change
[8] See e.g. https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/oureconomy/fight-against-climate-change-fight-against-capitalism/
[9] Park, J. T. 2015. Climate change and capitalism. Consilience: The Journal of Sustainable Development 14(2): 189-206.
[10] https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/18/ending-climate-change-end-capitalism
[11] https://www.humanrightspulse.com/mastercontentblog/capitalism-and-the-green-agenda-a-green-new-deal-or-green-neo-colonialism
[12] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_New_Deal
[13] https://earth.org/change-capitalism-for-climate-action/
[14] The system is already in use in 20 US states, with more set to follow.
[15] Marx, Karl. 1894 [1998]. Capital: A Critique of Political Economy, Vol. III. In Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 37. Moscow: Progress Publishers.