The ETC Group is an international organization dedicated to the analysis of socio-economic and ecologic issues and their link with new technologies. They especially focus on the impacts of technology on indigenous peoples, rural communities and biodiversity.

On April 13 and 14 a seminar called “Green Capitalism, Agriculture and Forest” was organized in the Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar, in Quito, Ecuador, by the Third World Environmental Research. Real World Radio’s correspondent in Costa Rica, Henry Picado, participated in the activity and recorded parts of Silvia Ribeiro’s presentation.

The seminar focused on analyzing the environmental, economic and political scenario at the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change, to be held at the end of the year in Qatar.

Another important issue was the “reordering of discourse” in the international environmental debates ahead of the UN World Summit on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro, also known as Rio+20. The conference marks the 20th anniversary of the UN conference on Environment and Development held in the same city, also known as the Earth Summit or Eco 92.

According to the analysis of the seminar, at multilateral level there is a financial-speculative approach of nature, dubbed as “green economy”, which is promoted by big transnational corporations, international financial institutions and several governments. From this point of view nature offers a wide variety of businesses, which are seen in a positive way at a time of economic crisis. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report on green economy focuses on three main subjects: “investment in natural capital”, which includes agriculture, forests, water and fisheries; “energy efficiency and resource use”; and “transition to green economy”.

In interview with Real World Radio, Ribeiro said these approaches to commodify nature translate into the displacement of communities and the exploitation of natural goods by big corporations and governments. She talks about how these actos use new technologies, such as geo-engineering, nanotechnology and biochar for this purpose.

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