ABSTRACT
This chapter explores and critiques the financialization of nature through a critical theoretical lens that is rooted in the Marxist tradition. The concepts of rentierism, finance capital, and neoliberal debtfare states are used herein to help frame financialization as an attempt to manage the persistent capitalist crises of over-production, class struggle, and environmental degradation. The financialization of nature is then introduced through an exploration of Environmental Finance, its governance technologies, risk management practices, and investment products. This chapter concludes by arguing that Environmental Finance and its sustainability discourse distract political attention away from capitalism’s tendency to over-produce money at the expense of both labor and nature.
