Projecting win-win situations, new economic opportunities, green growth and innovative partnerships, the green economy discourse has quickly gained centre stage in international environmental governance and policymaking. Its underlying message is attractive and optimistic: if the market can become the tool for tackling climate change and other major ecological crises, the fight against these crises can also be the royal road to solving the problems of the market. But how 'green' is the green economy? And how social or democratic can it be? This book examines how the emergence of this new discourse has fundamentally modified the terms of the environmental debate. Interpreting the rise of green economy discourse as an attempt to re-invent capitalism, it unravels the different dimensions of the green economy and its limits: from pricing carbon to emissions trading, from sustainable consumption to technological innovation. The book uses the innovative concept of post-politics to provide a critical perspective on the way green economy discourse represents nature and society (and their interaction) and forecloses the imagination of alternative socio-ecological possibilities. As a way of repoliticising the debate, the book advocates the construction of new political faultlines based on the demands for climate justice and democratic commons. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of environmental politics, political ecology, human geography, human ecology, political theory, philosophy and political economy. Includes a foreword written by Erik Swyngedouw (Professor of Geography, Manchester University).

Many analysts have pointed to the critical importance of 'democratic deficits' of various stripes, ranging from those in the United Nations and the European Union to the communities in which we live or teach. Do such deficits really matter? For those who believe that they do, we finally have a cohesive edited volume that addresses a complex, but indispensable and often overlooked, challenge for scholars who truly care about the future of global governance, namely its democratic legitimacy. ...If you are interested in democracy and global governance and there should be no one who is not - read this book from cover to cover. It is essential reading for those interested in the future of our troubled and fragile planet.' - From the foreword by Thomas G. Weiss, CUNY Graduate Center, USGlobalization needs effective global governance. The important question of whether this governance can also become democratic is, however, the subject of a political and academic debate that began only recently. This multidisciplinary book aims to move this conversation forward by drawing on insights from international relations, political theory, international law and international political economy. Focusing on global environmental, economic, security and human rights governance, it sheds new light on the democratic deficit of existing global governance structures, and proposes a number of tools to overcome it. This book will be required reading for researchers, academics and students with an interest in political science and law, and indeed anyone concerned with the future of global governance. Contributors: E. Becault, S. Bijlmakers, A. Braeckman, C. Carroll, K. Chan, C. Crombez, H. Hazenberg, T. Heysse, M. Lievens, A. Mulieri, G. van Calster, S. Van Kerckhoven, T.G. Weiss, J. Wouters

The green economy is often presented as the solution to both the climate and economic crisis. The underlying rationale is that if the market can become the tool for tackling climate change, the fight against climate change can be the royal road to solving economic problems. But how green is the green economy? And how social or democratic can it be? This book examines the risk that the green economy is not so much about greening the economy, as it is about economising the green message. In doing so, the authors unravel the myth of the green economy in all its dimensions from emissions trading to sustainable consumption, from population control to technological optimism.

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The Limits of the Green Economy" provides a critical and in-depth analysis of the different ingredients of the green economy project at length: the establishment of new markets (e.g. emissions trading), the privatisation of nature through new forms of enclosures (e.g. the Clean Development Mechanism), the reliance on new and often dangerous technologies (e.g. geo-engineering), the discourse on sustainable consumption and corporate social responsibility, and the stress on population control. The fundamental aim of the green economy, it is argued, is to build a new model of capitalism, attempting to integrate ecological concerns into how the system works. Taking a critical approach, this book offers a highly original perspective on the social and ecological consequences of a global economic system, characterised by international competition, torn by class inequalities and based on endless growth, attempting to tackle climate change within the confines of capitalism. Furthermore, the book advocates an alternative climate justice perspective, arguing that an effective and socially just answer to climate change demands a reduction of the market, a radical expansion of the scope of the commons, and a democratisation and enlargement of the public sphere.

This book should be of interest to students and scholars of environmental politics, political philosophy, political economy and climate change. "