Capitalist development, the impossibility of ‘green’ capitalism, and the absence of alternatives to it

Can a transition to a green capitalism remain within the planet’s ecological and environmental capacities and could such a transition prove socially just? A transition to new sources of energy and new green technologies depend upon the appropriation of new sources of materials from the planetary ecosystem. Reserves and the capacity to process them are highly concentrated spatially in the Global South and in large corporations leading to inter-imperialist struggle as Global North countries seek to develop secure supplies and processing capacity. The demand for these materials and processed outputs is expected to explode. Spatial concentration is a source of strategic risks. The ability of renewable energy sources to provide sufficient stable supplies is questionable, especially given the energy-intensity of equipment and infrastructure industries. All pose challenges. As a capitalist transition run by and for major corporations an energy transition will be subject to the same contradictory socio-spatial relations that marked carbon-based capitalisms, exacerbating social and spatial inequalities, delivering relatively few benefits to places that see growth and generating unjust transitions rather than responsible disengagement from carbon-based economies.