Green Grabbing Research Articles

Tourism-induced land acquisition in protected areas: Land rent dynamics and state monopoly rent around the Wulingyuan world heritage site in China

Tension between nature conservation, green grabbing, land acquisition for tourism, and value grabbing highlight a significant yet understudied area: the underlying land rent mechanisms and the state's role in driving green land acquisition for tourism. Using Marxian land rent theory, we explored how ‘state monopoly rent’ is produced by tourism-induced green land acquisition and the consequent displacement and resettlement of communities in and around the Wulingyuan World Heritage. State actors actively acquired land and land use rights for tourism development to maximise the rent gap despite, and perhaps because of, national nature conservation priorities and restrictions. State actors are a key player in the political economy of tourism by directly capitalizing on potential land rent in China.

The political ecologies of "green" extractivism(s): An introduction

What is so-called 'green' extractivism and where did it come from? The introduction to this Special Section examines the origins and implications of the concept, linking it to a long history of exploitation, dispossession and (neo)colonialism under the guise of green-washing notions such as 'sustainable development.' Conducting an in-depth literature review, we first revisit the concept of extractivism, exploring its origins, development and analytical purchase. We link extractivism to 'extra-action,' implying taking more than what is viable for ecosystems and argue for a supply-web oriented, rather than a point of extraction-focused understanding. Subsequently, we examine key theoretical frameworks in political ecology that paved the way to the study of 'green' extractivism, notably Ecological Distribution Conflicts (which we argue could better be labeled Ecological Destruction Conflicts) and green grabbing. Based on this, we discuss the core features of green extractivism, which are twofold: (1) the use of socioecological and climate crises to reinforce existing or generate new markets and profit-generation opportunities; and (2) the mobilization of claims of ecological sustainability and 'carbon neutrality' to legitimize and rationalize extraction. After outlining the Special Section contributions, we end by considering gaps in existing scholarship on green extractivism and suggest ways forward.

Large-scale green grabbing for wind and solar photovoltaic development in Brazil

Large-scale green grabbing for wind and solar photovoltaic development in Brazil

People of the sun: Local resistance and solar energy (in)justice in southern Portugal

This paper explores a public controversy surrounding a large solar power plant planned for the village of Cercal, in Alentejo, southern Portugal, mobilizing energy justice literature to shed light on the contradictions and injustices (re)produced by hegemonic energy transitions. Drawing on qualitative data from interviews, fieldwork and document analysis, this controversy is unpacked through three main tenets of energy justice: distributional, procedural and recognition, contributing to current research on solar energy justice.Our empirical findings indicate that the local population and environmental movements are concerned that Cercal might become a “green sacrifice zone” for the sake of the hegemonic energy transition. Procedural injustices were of particular concern, with interviewees claiming that the public consultation process failed to involve the local community, indicating that the State and corporate actors do not recognize residents as legitimate stakeholders, disregarding protest and active discord as legitimate forms of political participation.This original case study, unfolding in a country currently experiencing a significant lithium mining controversy, is a flagship example of how top-down and corporate energy transitions are major drivers of energy injustices, enforcing green grabbing and the enactment of green sacrifice zones under the aegis of carbon reductionism. In order to address these contradictions, a radical shift in the socioeconomic and political dynamics underlying the hegemonic energy transition is urgently needed, alongside the meaningful involvement of local communities in decision-making processes directly affecting their territories and livelihoods.

Global land deals: what has been done, what has changed, and what's next?

ABSTRACT In 2010, we formed the Land Deal Politics Initiative to study the rising number of large-scale land deals taking place around the world. We organised small grant competitions and conferences to generate more empirical research and debate. In this article, we take stock of the current state of knowledge, as well as the ways in which the context has changed since 2010. We identify seven themes: the evident variety of land deals; the role of financial capital; new technologies; institutional reforms; green grabbing; authoritarian populism; and violence, consent, and resistance. Ongoing climate politics and profound geopolitical shifts demand further research.

Improved green and red GRAB sensors for monitoring spatiotemporal serotonin release in vivo.

The serotonergic system plays important roles in both physiological and pathological processes, and is a therapeutic target for many psychiatric disorders. Although several genetically encoded GFP-based serotonin (5-HT) sensors were recently developed, their sensitivities and spectral profiles are relatively limited. To overcome these limitations, we optimized green fluorescent G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR)-activation-based 5-HT (GRAB5-HT) sensors and developed a red fluorescent GRAB5-HT sensor. These sensors exhibit excellent cell surface trafficking and high specificity, sensitivity and spatiotemporal resolution, making them suitable for monitoring 5-HT dynamics in vivo. Besides recording subcortical 5-HT release in freely moving mice, we observed both uniform and gradient 5-HT release in the mouse dorsal cortex with mesoscopic imaging. Finally, we performed dual-color imaging and observed seizure-induced waves of 5-HT release throughout the cortex following calcium and endocannabinoid waves. In summary, these 5-HT sensors can offer valuable insights regarding the serotonergic system in both health and disease.

Making space for community energy: landed property as barrier and enabler of community wind projects

Abstract. Renewable energy infrastructures, such as wind and solar farms, require land on which they can be deployed. While politics and conflicts over accessing land for renewables are well documented, the role, conditions and potential agency of landownership have been often overlooked or oversimplified as a powerful terrain in the field of renewables development. In this paper, we explore the relationship between landed property and community renewable energy projects. In particular, we focus on how landed property variously influences the development modes of renewables by acting as a mediator, barrier and enabler for different types of wind energy projects. We show how this takes place through appropriation of rents in processes of assetisation and value grabbing by landowners. In this way, value grabbing acts as a vital intermediary process to understand green grabbing and wider processes of capital accumulation through renewables. We draw on insights from the Netherlands and Scotland to illuminate different mechanisms, social and historical conditions, and policies through which landed property constrains or enables community wind energy projects. The paper finishes by sketching out some alternative ways of allocating land for the deployment of renewable energy projects, which could help shift the balance of power in favour of community energy developments.

THEORIZING ENVIRONMENTAL MEDIATION THROUGH IRELAND'S PEATLANDS

In colonial and postcolonial Ireland, boglands were seen as "wastelands" to be "improved" by large-scale enterprise. Today, they are strategic landscapes for carbon sequestration and climate solutions, both for the state and multinationals located in Ireland. Various contemporary projects, co-funded by industry and state partners, have facilitated the expansion and proliferation of sensing, monitoring, and mapping technologies across Ireland's bogs to measure and maximize their value in these economies. However, by doing so, they are laying the foundations for a "green grab" of Ireland's land resources by tech companies. This paper situates the historical resource and conservation landscape of Ireland’s peat boglands within their emerging role in datafied “green” revolutions. Emphasizing the stakes of land, resources, technologies, and research institutions within green transitions, the paper theorizes peat bogs an emerging site of digital climate solutionism. In doing so, I offer a framework for understanding resource landscapes in so-called “post-extractive” contexts where networked forms of extraction are innovated through public/private technoscientific research at the intersections of digital technology and ecosystemic interactions between geologies, atmospheres, and cultures. Bringing together literature from environmental media studies, STS, and geography, and performing participant observation and discourse analysis on emerging projects of peatland science in academic and industry settings, I theorize how “environmental mediation” offers an aperture for understanding how digital technologies network landscapes towards “ecosystem services” and other capital-driven climate projects.

Green Grabbing and “Weak Land Governance” in Matopiba's Agricultural Frontier

This article contributes to the current debate on the violation of human rights through the practice of green grabbing. The study reflects upon the situation of territorial insecurity and the struggle for territorial rights of the Akroá Gamela people, who live in the south of the State of Piauí, characterized by what is called here weak land governance. The indigenous territory studied does not have its homologation process finalized, which means that it does not officially exist, nor does it allow its boundaries to be added to most of the official databases of different governmental spheres. The region where the Akroá Gamela people are located is also situated within an area of advancing agricultural frontier known as Matopiba, located in the Cerrado area, the second largest biome in Brazil and South America. The main goal is to think on how green grabbing wickedly uses legal problems of communication between entities and governance to foster deforestation. To do so, we analyze two land regulation tools: the Rural and Environmental Registration (CAR) and the Vegetation Suppression Authorization (ASV), to understand this process of traditional population and peasants' land rights encroachment.

Improved green and red GRAB sensors for monitoring dopaminergic activity in vivo.

Dopamine (DA) plays multiple roles in a wide range of physiological and pathological processes via a large network of dopaminergic projections. To dissect the spatiotemporal dynamics of DA release in both dense and sparsely innervated brain regions, we developed a series of green and red fluorescent G-protein-coupled receptor activation-based DA (GRABDA) sensors using a variety of DA receptor subtypes. These sensors have high sensitivity, selectivity and signal-to-noise ratio with subsecond response kinetics and the ability to detect a wide range of DA concentrations. We then used these sensors in mice to measure both optogenetically evoked and behaviorally relevant DA release while measuring neurochemical signaling in the nucleus accumbens, amygdala and cortex. Using these sensors, we also detected spatially resolved heterogeneous cortical DA release in mice performing various behaviors. These next-generation GRABDA sensors provide a robust set of tools for imaging dopaminergic activity under a variety of physiological and pathological conditions.

Disentangling the asymmetric effect of financialization on the green output gap

Insufficient green output can lead to environmental degradation while overinvestment may result in economic imbalances, social inequalities, and opportunity costs. Thus, sustaining an optimal level of green growth could restrict both green neglect and green grabbing. A higher level of financialization is believed to be an efficient allocation mechanism for green development. This research provides empirical insights into how financialization helps narrow the green growth gap. Using various estimation techniques such as the Hodrick-Prescott (HP) filter, Hamilton's filter, and the super-efficiency slack-based model, we examine the heterogeneous effects of financialization on the green growth gap by utilizing unbalanced panel data from 124 countries spanning the period 1980–2020. The results, obtained through bootstrapped quantile regression, indicate that financial access, depth, and efficiency contribute to improving insufficient green growth levels and curbing excessive investment in green initiatives. However, we find little or no evidence that financial stability or liberalization restricts overinvestment in low-carbon economic development or improves environmental stewardship when green neglect is observed. Additional analysis suggests that business cycle fluctuations, especially during recessionary periods, adversely affect the ability of financialization to optimally allocate green resources, but this effect is mitigated if financial development is countercyclical. Policymakers should prioritize promoting financial depth and efficiency, as well as provide access to finance, in order to support sustainable green growth and to avoid overinvestment in low-carbon economic development.

Green Grabbing in the Matopiba Agricultural Frontier

This article discusses grilagem (land grabbing) in the Cerrado, particularly in Matopiba territory, which is seen as the newest and largest global agricultural frontier. It examines how the Rural Environmental Cadastre (CAR), created in 2012, has become an instrument for land and green grabbing. The analysis draws on empirical evidence on overlapping land cadastres and conflict in Piauí. The CAR has favoured green grabbing due to weak land governance, allowing the appropriation of land and nature through claims of environmental protection. The article highlights resource appropriations on the frontier that reflect the ‘unequal ecological exchange’, and the ‘metabolic rift’, that characterises the global capitalist system. It contributes to a highly topical debate on green grabbing, in the context of climate change and environmental sustainability. Crucially, it offers a perspective of the global South, on how the green agenda is being used through legal tools as a mechanism of resource appropriation.

Brazilian Agricultural Frontier: Land Grabbing, Land Policy, and Conflicts

This article sheds light on the forms of land appropriation in the agricultural frontier regions of Brazil in line with the concepts of land and green grabbing. With less stringent environmental laws, the Cerrado presents itself as a ‘sacrifice zone’, where grabbers and large agricultural producers have sought to register lands of the Amazon biome as ‘Cerrado’ or an undefined biome zone land. It seeks to understand what happens in territories when power technologies, that is, disciplinary mechanisms such as the Rural Environmental Cadastre (CAR), are activated and how the state has regulated land appropriation and green grabbing as a new meaning of appropriation of nature. This has created obstacles for the struggle and resistance of socio-territorial movements for land distribution, as confirmed by the growing lethality of conflicts in Brazilian frontier zones that are coveted by the grabbers.

A green economy failure? Italian investors in Senegal between green grabbing and development promises

The article draws on land and green grabbing debate to critically interrogates the failure of ?eight ?Italian investment in agrofuel production in Senegal. It focuses on the characteristics of the ??Italian investors who ?were drawn to agro-energy ?production and of the incentives struc-tures that ??motivated them. Once ?on site, multiple management problems and conflicts with the ?local population ?arose. The ?article argues that this is not solely attributable to a lack of respon-sibility, bad ?governance ?and ethics of ?individual firms: the green economy and its speculative arrangements must be ?considered.

Renewable energy expansion or the preservation of national energy sovereignty? Norwegian renewable energy policy meets resource nationalism

Proponents of renewable energy often argue that renewables bolster national energy sovereignty. Most of the scholarship however focuses on security of supply, imports and enhanced domestic production, not on exports. How does exporting renewable energy resources affect sovereignty? Here, we turn our attention to Norway, a country that is already self-sufficient in renewables, and where renewable energy expansion is primarily directed at exports. Drawing on resource nationalist scholarship we empirically scrutinize key Norwegian renewable energy debates and show how the Norwegian renewable energy debates do not include notions of renewables bolstering sovereignty. On the contrary, they vary between portraying the relationship between renewables and sovereignty as a non-relationship, where renewables are immaterial to sovereignty, or an adverse relationship, where renewable expansion is perceived to weaken, rather than strengthen, sovereignty. The fear of being locked into an asymmetric dependency relationship with an EU that gradually wrests away Norwegian sovereignty over natural resources triggers resource nationalist imaginaries and is a powerful brake on renewable energy expansion. Resource nationalism is also fueled by claims of green grabbing and attacks on local self-determination. Our findings signal that renewable expansion may trigger political and popular backlashes, and that resource nationalist claims about abstained sovereignty may constitute considerable obstacles to renewable energy transitions.

Linking actors and scales by green grabbing in Bozbük and Kazıklı

This paper provides perspectives on the processes and consequences of large-scale ecotourism development for environmental ends in Bozbük and Kazıklı, two small forest communities on Turkey's West Southern Aegean coast. We employ a green grab framework to link various actors' operations and various scales operating in communities. To unpack these treatments, we asked two questions: 1) How do various actors negotiate green grabbing to subordinate indigenous land claims to their interests? 2) How do various scales arrange green grabbing to mediate indigenous land claims? In addition to these questions, we try to understand how green grabs are motivated by political networks, labor-capital mobilization, and environmental regulations. This model provides more specific treatments of economy and policy orientations on various scales and more detailed empirical examinations of actor orientations in resource transformations.

Conservation frontiers: understanding the geographic expansion of conservation

ABSTRACT Land-use frontiers, such as agriculture expanding into forests, remain a major driver of biodiversity loss, and often lead to conservation responses. To better understand the geographies of conservation, connecting conservation with tools used widely in Land System Science – particularly the frontier concept – allows assessing the patterns, actors, and drivers of conservation. We propose that land conservation can be analysed through three different perspectives. First, conservation can be framed as efforts to slow or stop other frontiers. Second, the expansion of conservation could itself be described as a frontier process, similarly leading to institutional and cultural reorganization, and sometimes conflicts (e.g. green grabbing). Third, frontiers can be seen as spaces where multiple land uses, including conservation, interact. Analysing conservation through these perspectives could be particularly powerful to thoroughly consider the social-ecological contexts in which conservation happens, and thus to bridge the disciplines of Land System Science and Conservation Science.

Green Grabbing and Primitive Accumulation

Green Grabbing and Primitive Accumulation

Urban green grabbing: Residential real estate developers discourse and practice in gentrifying Global North neighborhoods

In the movement towards building greener and more sustainable cities, real estate developers are increasingly embracing not only green building construction but broader strategies and action related to urban greening. To date, their motivations and role in this broader urban greening dynamic remains underexplored, yet essential to dissect how greening is sustained and real estate development legitimized in revitalizing neighborhoods. With an eye to better understand green urban capitalist development processes underway amidst financialized nature and urban growth, and the equity impacts they entail, we explore residential real estate developers urban greening discourses and practices. Through a novel dataset of 42 interviews with private and non-profit residential real estate developers in 15 mid-sized American, Western European and Canadian cities, we uncover three differentiated but interconnected discourses around (i) financial benefits, (ii) consumer- or investor-driven demand and (iii) social dimensions behind developers’ interest in urban greening. We argue that developers embark on urban green grabbing through “green” discursive and material value appropriation and rent extraction strategies. Urban green grabbing is conceptually useful in depicting who benefits and how/when developers extract additional rent, surplus value, social capital and/or prestige from locating new residential projects adjacent to new or up-and-coming green amenities. Our work contributes to debates about urban greening's perceived position as a value-producing and rent-extracting good from both a political economy and political ecology perspective.

Examining the Gender Dynamics of Green Grabbing and Ejido Privatization in Zacatecas, Mexico

The ejido is the most important form of collectively owned property in Mexico; approximately half of the country's territory belongs to ejidatarios of whom women make up roughly 20%. Recent legal reforms aimed at privatizing the ejido are forcing ejidatarios/as to sell or rent their lands to corporations seeking to invest in oil, mining, and energy production. This paper examines the gender impacts of land privatization for renewable energy generation in two ejidos of Zacatecas, Mexico: El Orito and Benito Juárez. The first agreed to rent their lands to a private company while the other did not. Results show that land rentals benefitted a handful of ejidatarios, while the people affected the most include male stone miners, ejidatarias who were excluded from decision-making, and women who obtain food and fuel from ejido common lands. Benito Juárez served as a good point of comparison because its common lands were not privatized, and people continue to use them in traditional ways. However, people in Benito Juárez also hold different bundles of rights to common lands based on gender, economic status and age. The paper calls for a gender and intersectional approach to continue examining the differentiated impacts of ejido privatization in Mexico.