Abstract

This chapter looks at some ways in which capitalism impacts the natural world. While capitalism and markets can never be solely to blame in general for environmental harms, there are some specific objections to markets that call for special attention. It is important to distinguish between the role of markets in causing environmentally destructive human conduct and the role that markets could and, in a few cases, might already be playing in bringing about a constructive response. There’s no getting away from the fact that an effective global response to climate change is both urgently needed and distressingly hard to achieve. The goal here is to help avoid distracting conclusions about what’s to blame for this and to acquaint readers with a more robust approach to the problem as one of political economy.