In a letter published today in Nature, STEPS co-director Andy Stirling and Clive Mitchell (Scottish Natural Heritage) suggest that ‘open-mindedness’ is a key principle in making evidence synthesis more useful…
How can we reveal power and bias when synthesising evidence for policy?
New journal ‘Nature and Space’ launched
The links between the environment and justice, past and present, are highlighted in a new article, ‘The antinomies of nature and space’, co-authored by STEPS member Lyla Mehta. So-called ‘natural’…
Landmarks: how to get up close and personal with nature
I’ve just finished reading Landmarks by Robert Macfarlane, and it’s a must-read for anyone interested in sustainability and language. Each chapter focuses on one or two authors who’ve made deep…
The financialisation of nature
Financialization describes an economic system or process that aims to reduce all values into a financial instrument. As part of this process, nature is treated as a private resource or…
Pope Francis’ environmental encyclical
Today sees the publication of “Laudato Si”, the Pope’s encyclical on the environment. Encyclicals are for Catholics (and there are 1.2 billion of them in the world) but in this…
Market-based environmentalism under fire
Last week I was lucky enough to attend the fantastic Financialisation of Nature conference, co-hosted by the STEPS Centre, along with the Sussex Centre for Global Political Economy and Sussex…
“Are you Reg?” The strange and mythical reality of ‘carbon’
Last night’s “Nature As Commodity” debate in Brighton discussed what happens when we treat ecosystems as commodities and ‘carbon’ as something to be traded and offset, among other things. I…
Financialisation of Nature: why we need politics and theory
Guest post by Andrea Brock and Mareike Beck, School of Global Studies, Sussex University In recent years, a broad range of new instruments have been promoted and celebrated to tackle…
Call for abstracts: Critical Perspectives on the Financialisation of Nature
A Call for Abstracts has been issued for a workshop in March 2015 on the financialisation of nature. Update (12 December 2014): The call for abstracts has now closed. Successful…
Nature Not For Sale: Ian Scoones discusses biodiversity & communities
STEPS Centre Director Ian Scoones is on a panel at Nature Not For Sale: 2nd Forum on Natural Commons today in London. The forum brings together NGOs, academics, activists and…