Nature, the latest whim of financial markets

The report critiques the extension of market economies to ecosystems, specifically targeting carbon markets, biodiversity offsets, and water trading. It argues that these mechanisms allow corporations to avoid genuine emission reductions and environmental protection by paying for compensation certificates. The text highlights the role of financial institutions like the World Bank and Caisse des dépôts et consignations in structuring these markets, and warns that such financialization leads to land grabbing, the marginalization of indigenous populations, and the deregulation of environmental laws.

• The author contends that carbon markets have failed to reduce greenhouse gases, instead resulting in over-allocated quotas, price collapses, and massive fraud, while benefiting polluters and bankers.
• The report claims that biodiversity compensation schemes, such as those managed by the Caisse des dépôts et consignations (CDC) in the Plains of Crau and for the Pau-Langon Motorway project, legitimize the destruction of ecosystems by treating different areas as interchangeable.
• Water markets in Australia and Chile are criticized for enabling speculation and concentrating water rights in the hands of large companies, which reduces access for indigenous people and small-scale farmers.
• The document argues that the 'green economy' is used by multinational corporations to maintain business-as-usual practices, with some using carbon credits to promote GMO seeds and herbicides, such as Monsanto's use of 'non-till farming' and Roundup©.
• Financialization of nature is described as a threat to democracy that encourages deregulation and the sidelining of social and environmental legislation, as governments become obsessed with 'market ratings'.
• The report asserts that integrating nature into markets increases social injustice by creating new property rights that exclude the poorest and marginalize communities, sometimes leading to the expulsion of people from their territories.

APA

Friends of the Earth International (n.d.). Nature, the latest whim of financial markets. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/nature_is_not_for_sale.pdf

Chicago

Friends of the Earth International. Nature, the latest whim of financial markets. n.d. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/nature_is_not_for_sale.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Friends of the Earth International |title=Nature, the latest whim of financial markets |url=https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/nature_is_not_for_sale.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{friendsoftheearthinternationalndnature, author = {{Friends of the Earth International}}, title = {{Nature, the latest whim of financial markets}}, institution = {Friends of the Earth International}, url = {https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/nature_is_not_for_sale.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }