Green Capitalism describes a new form of capitalism that seeks to incorporate environmental concerns into market logic and profit processes. Promoting the idea that economic growth and ecological responsibility can coexist, it operates under the banner of ‘sustainability’. Examples of green capitalist development include carbon trading, ‘eco-friendly’ products, ‘green’ technologies and investments in renewable energy. While these developments are presented as progress, the real goal is to open up new markets and achieve even more economic growth. Rather than improving or limiting production, Green Capitalism therefore merely reproduces exploitative and extractivist dynamics in a new guise. While green capitalist development may reduce environmental harm in some cases, existing inequalities and immense resource overuse are maintained because capitalist logic remains intact. Furthermore, Green Capitalism development often leads to Green Grabbing. Other connected forms of allegedly sustainable but in fact highly harmful economic dynamics are Green Extractivism and Green Colonialism.
