The Value of a Whale: On the Illusions of Green Capitalism

Public concern about climate and environmental crisis has reached unprecedented levels, and political leaders across the spectrum now claim commitment to climate action. Yet despite growing pledges, policies, and summits, meaningful progress remains elusive. Nature continues to be destroyed at accelerating rates, and current trajectories point toward 3°C of warming. In this critique, Adrienne Buller examines the fundamental biases shaping institutional responses to climate and environmental breakdown. She questions whether proposed solutions will actually address the crises. Tracing connections between financial power, economic injustice, and ecological crisis, Buller critiques the economism and market-centric thinking that currently dominates environmental response. The book analyzes problems in mainstream climate and environmental governance, including carbon pricing, offset markets, green growth initiatives, nature commodification, and finance industry influence on policy. Buller exposes the self-defeating logic of solutions built on creating profit opportunities while ignoring the inequalities and injustices underlying these crises. Ultimately, the book asks what we truly value in the face of crisis.