Carbon Capitalism, the Social Forces of Annihilation, and the Future of Energy

Abstract

In the first nine months of the Covid-19 pandemic, dominant oil and gas corporations saw their market capitalisation collapse by roughly half. Before the pandemic, there was a growing amount of literature predicting that the world order was transitioning towards a new global energy order. This new energy order is hypothesised as one where fossil fuels are/will be abundant, their demand has peaked, and the renewable energy upheaval is coming. Contrary to these perspectives and assumptions, this chapter will demonstrate that the current neoliberal carbon capitalist world order has structured and even intensified the global political economy’s reliance on the mass production and consumption of fossil fuels. As there are two fundamental social-structural impediments that may prevent this transition towards renewable energy and low-carbon forms of development and social reproduction that will be discussed. The first structure is how neoliberal carbon capitalism reinforces centrality and dependency on fossil fuels for government debt servicing, repayment, and economic growth. The second structure is how the social reproduction of life and physical infrastructure, especially in the Global North, is reliant on a petro-market civilisation and that there are a growing number of social and market forces that want to preserve this way of existence by any means necessary. This chapter concludes by suggesting that unless the world’s countries can reach a binding Global Carbon Non-Proliferation Agreement, a new global energy order remains doubtful.