Financiarisation de la nature

The document critiques the 'Green Economy' and the financialization of nature, specifically the creation of markets for environmental services. It argues that by dividing nature into measurable units, these markets allow corporations to use 'offsetting' as a 'permit to pollute or destroy' in one area by promising protection elsewhere. The author contends that this process ignores the complex, dynamic nature of ecosystems and the social, cultural, and spiritual values of land. The report highlights the negative impacts on indigenous peoples, who lose control over their territories through restrictive contracts, and provides examples of the failure of biodiversity offsets in the EU, Australia, Brazil, and Costa Rica.

• The 'financialization of nature' involves redefining nature as a collection of 'environmental services' that can be quantified, measured, and divided into units to be sold for profit.
• Environmental service markets and offsetting mechanisms act as a 'permit to pollute or destroy' by allowing companies to bypass legal or moral restrictions in one location by paying for the protection of a similar service elsewhere.
• The report asserts that no nature compensation programs globally have succeeded in stopping biodiversity loss, citing that in the European Union, 52% of species are threatened with extinction and 65% of natural environments risk disappearing.
• Financialization threatens the rights and autonomy of indigenous and traditional communities, often replacing their historical control over territories with restrictive contracts that benefit local elites and limit community access.
• The economic valuation of nature is volatile and fails to protect ecosystems when market demands shift; for example, in Costa Rica, forests once valued for bee pollination became worthless and were cleared when coffee production shifted to pineapples.
• In Brazil, the 2012 Forest Code reform introduced 'forest restoration credits' (traded at the Bolsa Verde in Rio de Janeiro), which allow landowners to avoid restoring illegally cleared land by purchasing credits from regions where deforestation threats are lower.
• Certification standards such as the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Standard (CCB) are characterized as marketing tools for the offsetting industry rather than instruments for protecting indigenous rights.

APA

Kill, J. (2015). Financiarisation de la nature. Friends of the Earth International. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/ATI-financiarisation-de-la-nature-FR.pdf

Chicago

Kill, Jutta. Financiarisation de la nature. Friends of the Earth International, 2015. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/ATI-financiarisation-de-la-nature-FR.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Kill |first1=Jutta |title=Financiarisation de la nature |publisher=Friends of the Earth International |date=2015 |url=https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/ATI-financiarisation-de-la-nature-FR.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{kill2015financiarisation, author = {Kill, Jutta}, title = {{Financiarisation de la nature}}, institution = {Friends of the Earth International}, year = {2015}, url = {https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/ATI-financiarisation-de-la-nature-FR.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }