ABSTRACT
Climate change is a global environmental problem of potentially devastating proportions. Caused by the build-up of greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide and methane, in the earth’s atmosphere, climate change is a global commons issue requiring a coordinated international response. Because greenhouse gases are predominantly produced through activities associated with contemporary industrial economies, however, such a response is constrained by powerful economic and political forces which are unlikely to question the fundamental relationship between capitalism and ecological degradation. As capitalism and its ecological consequences become more universal, ‘a global analysis of the power of capital is essential’ (Gill and Law 1993:102). Such a global analysis of the power of capital is essential for understanding the possibilities for and limits to international efforts to address global environmental issues such as climate change.
