Rogue Capitalism and the Financialization of Territories and Nature

Climate change, social inequalities and the democratic crisis – the critical global challenges of our times – are all tied to an economic system that is dominated by financial markets.

Today, global finance is not only fueling environmental destruction, but also leading to ever-increasing dispossession of rural and urban communities around the world, destroying their lands, rivers, forests and homes.

This discussion paper intends to provide a basis for people’s movements, grassroots activists and other civil society organizations (CSOs) to build/strengthen their knowledge about the process called “financialization,” and to develop strategies to resist, reverse and prevent it. It has been developed by members of the IPC Land and Territory Working Group, which has defined the financialization of land and nature as a common and critical challenge that its member organizations face.

This paper is a co-publication between FIAN International, the Transnational Institute, and Focus on the Global South.