Land-based climate change mitigation, land grabbing and conflict

This is the first Working Paper of the MOSAIC project, a 4-year international research project aimed at studying the interesection between land-based climate change mitigation, land grabbing and conflict, in Asian countries in political transition, i.e. Cambodia and Myanmar. The project involves grassroots civil society organizations, NGOs and academic partners from these two countries, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain and Canada. The Working Paper, led by Carol Hunsberger at the University of Western Ontario, introduces the…

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Valuing nature, paying for ecosystem services and realizing social justice

In the latest volume of the journal Ecological Economics, I contribute to ongoing debates about the role of economic valuation in market-based conservation. I respond to an earlier piece by Brett Sylvester Matulis, nuance some of his arguments and set what I believe should be the new agenda for critical scholarship of market-based conservation. I argue for more precision in the claims we make about the role of economic valuation and the impacts of payments…

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The atmosphere business

Un nou llibre “El negoci de l’atmosfera” ha estat editat per l’Steffen Böhm, l’Anna-Maria Murtola i l’Sverre Spoelstra i publicat a finals de 2012. S’hi poden trobar articles sobre els últims avenços en les negociacions climàtiques i perspectives crítiques sobre diferents instruments per a la mitigació del canvi climàtic, incloent els mercats de drets d’emissions o els mecanismes per a la valoració del carboni forestal (REDD+). Hi contribueixo amb un article publicat a la revista…

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Problematizing REDD+…

In a new paper entitled “Problematizing REDD+ as an experiment in payments for ecosystem services” and published in the leading journal Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, I shed light on a few problems and contradictions of the current global policy framework for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation, and sustainably managing forest (REDD+). I argue that REDD+ promotes the commodification of ecosystems’ carbon storage and sequestration functions on a global scale and it is consistent…

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Cap a una economia real

El meu germà Carles m’ha fet arribar un article de reflexió d’en Kernan Heinz sobre l’economia finançera. L’he trobat interessant i molt divulgatiu. Explica de forma molt simple què fan els bancs amb els nostres diners i com es beneficien mitjançant la concessió de crèdits, i raona sobre perquè cal regular l’economia finançera i refocalitzar-nos en l’economia productiva. Si us interessa la temàtica, féu un cop d’ull a un volum recent de la revista Ecologia…

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