The Value of a Whale: On the Illusions of Green Capitalism

by Adrienne Buller

Public understanding of, and outcry over, the dire state of the climate and environment is greater than ever before. Parties across the political spectrum claim to be climate leaders, and overt denial is on the way out. Yet when it comes to slowing the course of the climate and nature crises, despite a growing number of pledges, policies and summits, little ever seems to change. Nature is being destroyed at an unprecedented rate. We remain on course for a catastrophic 3 DegreesC of warming. What's holding us back?

In this searing and insightful critique, Adrienne Buller examines the fatal biases that have shaped the response of our governing institutions to climate and environmental breakdown, and asks: are the 'solutions' being proposed really solutions? Tracing the intricate connections between financial power, economic injustice and ecological crisis, she exposes the myopic economism and market-centric thinking presently undermining a future where all life can flourish. The book examines what is wrong with mainstream climate and environmental governance, from carbon pricing and offset markets to 'green growth', the commodification of nature and the growing influence of the finance industry on environmental policy. In doing so, it exposes the self-defeating logic of a response to these challenges based on creating new opportunities for profit, and a refusal to grapple with the inequalities and injustices that have created them. Both honest and optimistic, The Value of a Whale asks us - in the face of crisis - what we really value.

Genres: Nonfiction, Economics, Environment, Politics, Climate Change, Sustainability, Ecology

350 pages, Paperback

First published July 26, 2022

About the author

Adrienne Buller is a senior research fellow at Common Wealth. Her work focuses on the relationships between the finance and the climate crisis.

Reviews

[Sarah Clement · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am really quite surprised by the good reviews, but I need to be self-reflective about this: maybe this is new information for many people, and if this book gets to those people, then there are benefits. The book covers very well-travelled territory: traditional economic metrics don't capture the true value of the environment, and the methods for capturing the value of important environment values, losses, and gains are thus de-valued under capitalism and its measures. In reading the book, I found myself shocked that these ideas were presented as new and revolutionary. People have been writing about this for many decades. Many alternative approaches have been offered. But I kept reading. We have information about carbon pricing and offsetting and their problems as they do not challenge existing structures or development patterns and are prone to perverse incentives and questionable outcomes. This is also well worn territory, covered for several decades, which is fine because there are always new ways of looking at things but this book doesn't offer new perspectives or solutions. The revolutionary idea that global targets are undermined "because money" is, I hope not surprising for any readers (there is literally a "follow the money" section that could have been pulled directly from a Naomi Klein book and a big about greenwashing in investment that is so commonplace that it is covered in Forbes.) The idea that green capitalism is not the solution has been around since solutions were proposed. We had entire publications devoted to the idea that you cannot buy your way to a better world, and the issues with monetizing nature emerged from the very beginning of the concept. Just because it mentions things like Trump doesn't make it new, so I did feel a bit surprised that so little new evidence, ideas, and so few new solutions were provided. I don't want to give the impression that this is a bad book. It definitely isn't. I am just not sure why it was commissioned in a world when there are more unique contributions that could be made. Ultimately, I think maybe this is a book for people who are new to the environmental dimensions of economic thought. The author is very young and I appreciate her passionate and enthusiastic approach, but I wonder if the book would have been better if it explicitly acknowledged the fact that these are quite old ideas and then explained the fresh perspective that was needed. As is, this is a well written even if not original rehashing of why capitalism (even if green) and its metrics and "solutions" fail to account for both the value of and the damage to the environment, and in this failure do not address the root of environmental issues.

[Saba Houmani · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so unpleasant but I can’t fault the author because she did what she had to do! Every word of that was so necessary idk. Exactly what it says on the can. Let’s all grow up and read this book. I don’t want to imagine the math teacher I’d be if I never read this book :/

[Tedmarriott · Rating 5 out of 5]

@Bill Gates

[Rob Harvey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a hard book to read if you don't have a background in economics, but worth it if you want to understand why green capitalism isn't the answer to the climate crisis.

[Allison T · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book did a great job going in depth on popular (or previously popular) green capitalist ideas: carbon offsetting, carbon trading, the carbon price, and ESG. As someone who works in climate tech, I'm coming away armed with much more background on why these solutions are distractions from actual, direct investment in known solutions and building community resilience.

One thing this book doesn't cover (understandable, there's so much that could be discussed) is the more positive facets of green capitalism. It was nice to have read John Doerr's Speed and Scale as well, which includes many specific examples of people/companies helping massively scale known solutions. If I had only read this book as a primer on green capitalism, I may have come away feeling hopeless/cynical. Take this book as a starting point to figure out the red herrings of the climate space, and then refocus your attention on building what actually matters, what has material impact!

I need to turn all my highlights in the physical book into notes + part of an essay soon, but this is what's on my mind now.

[Thijs · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

Powerful book about the distractions and futile attempts at tackling climate change. The author gives insights into the world of economy and finance I didn't have before. The book tackles some complex economic concepts, so if you're not a grounded or versed in economics some parts may get kinda tough.

Although she says so in the beginning, it can get hard to read all of this without any perspective. There are no offered alternatives in this book, there is no clear option B. This can be disheartening, but this book has given me a new way of seeing things that allows me to wonder whether something will actually make climate impact.

Very very very interesting book for anyone learning the political and economic machinations of the climate crisis.

[Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

writing 10/10 takeshi would love this

bit technical at parts, esp chap.3 - flew over my silly head

got the impression this was meant to be an accessible layman read - wasnt really, primarily due to writing style. lots of flair in the writing but in this case does take away from the clarity of points and arguments when the technical detail (which is the most important part of the book imo) is kinda foreign to me

some takeaways:
- asset managers are assholes
- be super skeptical and critical of celebrated political "achievements" eg the debt suspension by g20 back in 2020
- finance cannot be reformed to be a transformative force for good - finance framework will always put money first, no matter the presentation eg ESG investing
- there is no real separation between private (firms/corporations) and public (gov) powers. follow the money

[Hugo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Convincing but depressing, would have liked to know about some of the new perspectives on climate change policy that have the potential to be more successful

[Mehtap exotiquetv · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kann grüner Kapitalismus funktionieren?
Kleiner Spoiler? So wie es momentan umgesetzt wird, nein. Denn schaut man im Detail in die „Projekte“, die umweltfreundlich sein sollen, dann erkennt man, dass es sich eher um Greenwashing handelt als effektive Maßnahmen, die den CO2 Ausstoß reduzieren. Auch ist die Autorin der Meinung, dass Maßnahmen, die auf Effekte abzielen, die die Folgen von CO2 minimieren sollen, nicht effektiv genug sein sollen.
Das Buch ist sehr realistisch aber auch von der Sichtweise sehr negativ.

[Yvo Hunink · Rating 4 out of 5]

After I have professionally been guided towards the world of carbon markets by a bunch of corporates, and doing my research in what this market entails, this book by Buller came up as a welcome critique to the ideology that so many companies and governments are appearing to follow. Using capitalism to drive ecological conservation and restoration.

The book has left me with a bitter taste and a feeling of near defeat. How can it be that the majority of our climate efforts are based in such activities that not only fail to deliver results, but also have such negative impact. Especially considering Buller's age, it is quite impressive how she has captured immensely complex systems and concepts, from the worlds of asset management, emission trading systems and inter-country debt becoming privatized as well.. A bleak vision for the future of a world governed by institutions that eventually just want to make money.

The gap that the book left for me, although transparently mentioned by Buller as being out of scope, is what else can we do. If we are on the pathway of market driven conservation and restoration and there seems to be no other solution on the horizon, can we not only just try to improve those market driven forces until we see some impact being made and drive all money towards those projects. Although I see the negative externalities in privatization of public goods throughout society, I also have to think back about the book of Hans Rosling, Factfulness, that actually showed that the introduction of capitalism has lifted millions out of poverty. Buller has left me no other option than to keep hoping for improvements in the status quo, since no alternative seems to be available to have impact at scale.

Another critique is that the language used, especially for non-native English speakers, is at times full of words that require a second or two to realize what is being meant. This does not help the readability or the effective communication of the content.

[Charlie Steel · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The state of warming in which we now live is the cumulative history of industrial capitalism”

Wow. This was a serious eye opener.
I think it’s pretty obvious to everyone right now that preventing ecological crisis is very much not working.
But I did not realise how shallow and just insane the current proposals for protecting the environment actually are (maybe I just hadn’t done enough research).
I think this might be my favourite non-fiction book. It’s written in a way that is both extremely informative while also being mostly easy to read, with many follow up sections devoted to ensuring the reader understands what is being argued. It also managed to interest me in finance, something that I never thought would happen.
While I understood the grand majority of arguments, I don’t think I’m smart enough (or brave enough) to summarise the main points here. All I will say is that this book is a revelatory guide to how the global north and private finance is currently failing to achieve ecological preservation, instead continuing to practice neo-colonial forms of coercion and extraction in the global south (all the while exploiting their own populations), and yet managing to convince western populations that they are doing all they can to protect the planet. What’s more, it effectively demonstrates how only a comprehensive and radical restructuring of the worlds economic systems and social relations is the only way to not only prevent environmental destruction, but also ensure a just, equal and prosperous world (outside of the scales of material wealth and consumption).
An essential must read.

[Daan Welling · Rating 3 out of 5]

It really is easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism, and Buller's book is essentially a long footnote to that line, applied to the specific machinery we use to not address ecological collapse. Carbon markets that don't price carbon. Offsets that don't offset. ESG funds that don't redirect capital. Net-zero pledges held up by technologies that don't yet exist at scale.

The title comes from an IMF exercise that valued each great whale at around $2 million for its carbon sequestration services, which Buller takes (rightly) as the emblem of the whole intellectual project: save the living world by turning it into a portfolio.

The empirical chapters are where the book is strongest. The walkthroughs of the EU ETS, the voluntary offset markets, and the sleight of hand inside "sustainable finance" are careful, specific, and damning. She's especially sharp on how net-zero accounting smuggles in huge amounts of speculative negative emissions to make the math close, and on how ESG measures risk to the firm rather than harm done by the firm.

I'm less convinced by the bigger argument. There's a real gap between "these instruments aren't working" (increasingly mainstream) and "the framework is fundamentally incapable" (which the book mostly asserts). The positive vision - democratic public ownership, planning, redistribution - is sketched rather than built. And it doesn't really reckon with the awkward fact that several of the world's biggest fossil fuel operators are already state-owned.

I'm glad I read it. Lucid, properly angry, sometimes too quick to its own conclusions. She's right that the spreadsheets don't add up. I came away less sure than I expected about what replaces them.

[valentejas · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 stars

Finally I finish this book!!!

Ok this book is very good - I am so impressed by the author’s capacity to gather all this information presented in such a clear way. The book is all about the troubles of green capitalism (think market-based solutions to climate/nature crises like carbon credits, etc.) which is a topic that I am very much interested in, and it was very very insightful and confirmed all my (bad) feelings about the topic.

Butttt, at some point she goes super deep and technical into financial mechanisms and she kinda lost me a bit cause I ain’t no economist! Although was still interesting to see how much BULLSHIT there is in that world.

So yeah, the book generally brought some new light for me into the topic, but - as tends to happen with these kind of books - it was a bit too long for the point she was trying to make.

And yes folks green capitalism will lead us nowhere but to extinction! Any solution that does not entail major restructuring of our social and economic systems is a false! and! distracting! solution! And that’s that! 🤠

Besos

[Charlotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super interesting and a bit shocking

[iina · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great and comprehensive read about why we can’t in fact solve the climate crisis with market-based solutions. Quite laborious for me to get through as I have zero background in economics and the text is rather dense, but I’m glad I made it through!

Thank you to the publisher (Manchester University Press) for sending me a review copy of this book.

[Jarrod Cottrill · Rating 2 out of 5]

not enough whale facts. very dense subject matter that I can only pretend to understand. more a me thing than the book itself but my rating stands

[Luca Lollobrigida · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
Libro interessante, ma un po' pedante. Ammette onestamente di non trattare le soluzioni al problema, in questo volume, ma in ogni caso lascia un senso di impotenza difficile da superare.

[Summer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provides a critique of many of the common solutions that have come to dominate global discussions on climate change, in particular sustainable finance, carbon offsets, asset management, ESG, and valuing natural assets (reflected in the title the value of a whale). The book looks at how these solutions have been uncritically mainstreamed, allowing actors to creatively amass profits at the expense of the environment.

[Sam Orndorff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this critique of green capitalist solutions. I think it is well sourced and opens a lot of engaging debates beyond an academic audience. That said, I do think the financial aspects could have been more clear. Overall, the book well written for a broad audience and vital for the discussion on climate justice.

[stephanie udzielak · Rating 3 out of 5]

too much jargon for the average public readers and i felt like it could’ve been way shorter. Overall a good book w an important message but i think it got very technical super quick in which was hard to grasp at some points

[Wallbrock · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was a phenomenal book. It sets out to detail and explain the various ways in which market-friendly 'solutions' to the climate and environmental crises are not only ineffective in their stated aims, but will likely exacerbate the violence inflicted on poorer nations and peoples.

Briefly, chapters 1 and 2 mostly focus on introducing and criticising carbon pricing, both in theory and based on empirical analysis of existing schemes, particularly the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme. Chapter 3 provides an overview of the rise of the asset management industry, and how the way that large asset management firms operate mostly increases inertia in the economy, rather than accelerating decarbonisation. Chapter 4 then goes on to discuss ESG investing - both how it is an exercise in greenwashing and how it is more concerned with reducing investors' exposure to climate-related risks (including a sudden improvement in governments' environmental policy) than diverting funds towards greener endeavours. Chapter 5 then discusses how the transfer of wealth from the Global South to the Global North is ongoing, and jeopardises the chances of meaningful climate action on a global scale and a liveable future for many of the inhabitants of former colonised nations. Chapter 6 discusses efforts to commoditise ecosystems, which ties in nicely with the first chapters' criticism of carbon pricing, before the the book concludes in the following chapter.

The book is extremely well written: perhaps a little dense at times, but overall the author covers many topics in considerable depth, while taking pains to keep the book accessible and properly explain her reasoning at every stage. The returning example of the plight of whales made for quite difficult reading, but I think it's only right that a book like this makes the reader feel as well as think.

[Kai · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is a pretty good overview of the contemporary state of green capitalism from a critical perspective (not exclusively or overwhelmingly marxist). i'm not sure why there's the expectation that the book is a novel intervention (as another reviewer laments); to me, it's useful as a synthesis of existing literature in a presentation that is somewhat less theoretically/academically jargony. it still concerns global political economy, so it's quite complicated - but not because of the analysis which is clarifying, to me. beyond earlier approaches and updates for 2023, the significance of the book for me was the devotion of two chapters to understanding the ecological impact of asset-concentrating index funds, and the insufficiency of ESG funds to augment their ecological impact. i think the nuts and bolts of this are actually quite important, as calls for "divestment from fossil fuels" are often times operationalized by universities, for example, through just redirecting endowments towards ESG. what's missing in the critical but non-marxist perspective presented here, as one might anticipate, is labor. and in that regard it didn't quite meet my expectations...

[Eitan Hershkovitz · Rating 5 out of 5]

"At the core of neoliberal thought is the argument that the global economy is so complex as to render any attempts to plan or even fully measure it futile, giving birth to the price system as the ideal arbiter of information. There is a certain irony to be found in the fact that the same humility about the inherent unknowability of the biosphere and dazzling web of lifeforms with it is distinctly absent. There is also irony in the fact that the enormous effort required to fully quantify natural capital and ecosystem services and agree unified methods for their trade in newly constructed markets is likely to be immeasurably more complex than the supposedly bulky direct regulatory approach it is meant to avoid."


One of the most important books of our lifetime...

[Nathaniel Fousek · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The use of the mainstream economic discipline - its prestige, the ostensible objectivity of its analysis and sober authoritativeness of its prominent figures and institutions - has been among the most potent forces in the delay, dilution and overt obstruction of the political and policy programmes requires to both mitigate catastrophe in the future, and strive for justice in the present.”

A great breakdown of all the ways we continue to fuck ourselves searching for "market-oriented solutions" to the climate crisis

[Niklas Witt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I mostly enjoyed the author's sharp and concise analysis of the normativity in the neoliberal political economy since the 80's. towards the end of the book I would have wished her critique to be more nuanced and constructive. it is easy to discredit everything as "commodification of nature" (and yes, her critique is very convincing), but then so what? and what about environmental destruction under different socioeconomic regimes?
but great read overall, well written, and nice Introduction for readers new to environmental economics

[Dean Tebbe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book that lays out how the market is not solving and will not solve our ecological crisis. The power of the asset management "industry" dictates that any policy intended to improve the situation must first provide significant profit, with the technical success almost beside the point.

Trying to solve a problem with the thinking that created it has left us with a predicament that now requires a response that our capitalist politics will not accept.

[Viktor Van Trimpont · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eye opening. Must read!

[Sophie Mirgaux de Pina · Rating 5 out of 5]

World view altering

[Cleo Rank · Rating 3 out of 5]

the sort of book i wish i could write

[Anna Purchase · Rating 3 out of 5]

falsely advertised as a conservation economics book but no substantive evaluation of a lot of critical conversation bits and pieces 30x30.