ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author draws on ecofeminist theory to challenge claims that sustainable development (SD) and the green economy will create social and gender equality, reduce poverty, confront ecological destruction, and combat climate change. She presents ecofeminist critiques of capitalism and SD that offer valuable insights into the processes of enclosure and appropriation on which capitalism is based and which have led to the exploitation of nature and women. The author applies these insights to analyze a case study of the debt-for-nature exchanges between Canada and Costa Rica that were delivered from 1995 to 1999 by two environmental non-governmental organizations operating in the Arenal-Tilaran Conservation Area. She documents 'a war against subsistence', by examining the triple crisis brought about by the debt-for-nature exchanges: crises with extremely negative effects on the lives of women and children, on peasants and Indigenous peoples, and on nature itself.
