#27 Simon Counsell - The Authoritarian Corporatocratic Commodification of Nature

On this episode of “Death in The Garden”, Jake and Maren share their interview with Simon Counsell, executive director of the Rainforest Foundation UK, an organization “which supports indigenous and traditional peoples of the world's rainforests in their efforts to protect their environment and fulfill their rights.” We were lucky enough to meet Simon at the Our Land, Our Nature congress in Marseille, France. Simon breaks down for us the fallaciousness of “nature-based solutions” and how they serve to consolidate wealth and power and allow polluting industries to continue polluting. We go into detail about how fossil fuel companies, like Shell, Chevron, and Total have been instrumental in pushing this narrative that originated from the Nature Conservancy and the “forgotten solution.” Simon breaks down the impossibility of the climate goals, and how the implementation of such extreme measures like 30x30 or “Spatial Planning” will most negatively affect those who harm the land the least, and will only serve commodify nature and infringe upon human rights due to the dubious efficacy of such proposals.

Please give the Rainforest Foundation a follow on Twitter and Instagram, and please rate, review, and subscribe if you are enjoying the show.

Editing: Parker Burningham

Intro music: Daniel Osterstock

Outro music: “DLZ” by TV On The Radio

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deathinthegarden.substack.com/subscribe