06.03.2024
Can Capitalism Solve the Climate Crisis?
w/ Brett Christophers
What if we fundamentally misunderstand the economic principles that are supposed to help us create a better world? On Wednesday 6 March we welcome professor Brett Christophers on the occasion of his powerful new book The Price is Wrong: Why Capitalism Won’t Save the Planet.
Note: the location of this event has changed. It will now take place at Kantine Walhalla, Veerlaan 11, Rotterdam.
“This book is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand why capitalism poses such an extraordinary obstacle to real progress against climate breakdown”, says Jason Hickel, author of Less is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World.
When we first met Brett Christophers, on the occasion of his book The New Enclosure: The Appropriation of Public Land in Neoliberal Britain (2018), we instantly became a fan. A book a year, the political economist and professor of social and economic geography, provides a forensic examination and sweeping critique of early-twenty-first-century capitalism.
Christophers’ work – he went on writing Rentier Capitalism: Who Owns the Economy, and Who Pays for It? (2020) and Our Lives in Their Portfolios: Why Asset Managers Own the World (2023) – revolves around one single question. How can we expect public interest to be served, if every concerning asset (land, housing, natural resources, electricity, intellectual property, digital platforms) is in the hands of private companies?
In his latest book, The Price is Wrong: Why Capitalism Won’t Save the Planet (2024), he offers an essential intervention in times of climate crisis. What if the problem is not that transitioning to renewables is too expensive, but that saving the planet is not sufficiently profitable? And how do we take back control?
Participants
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Brett Christophers
Brett Christophers is a professor of Social and Economic Geography at the Institute for Housing and Urban Research of Uppsala University (Sweden). He studies various aspects of Western capitalism, such as privatization, financialization, asset management and rentier capitalism. His latest research is focused on the role markets, governments and private companies play with regard to climate change mitigation.
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Sandra Phlippen
Prof. dr. Sandra Phlippen is a Dutch economist and sociologist, currently Chief Sustainability Officer at ABN AMRO (previously Chief Economist), and Professor of Sustainable Banking at the University of Groningen. She holds a PhD in economics from the Tinbergen Institute, and previously worked as editor-in-chief of ESB and head of economics at Algemeen Dagblad, while remaining an active public commentator on economic policy.
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Geert Maarse
Geert Maarse is a journalist and programme-maker. Having worked for Erasmus University for over five years, he is specialized in connecting scientific research to public debate. He has a background in Business Administration and Cultural Studies. He is the founder and regular host of Studio Erasmus, a monthly science magazine broadcasted by OPEN Rotterdam. He worked on a documentary and published in a number of online and offline media (de Volkskrant, Vers Beton, Erasmus Magazine).