What should be done to resolve the climate crisis? Tanuro argues that government measures – eco-taxes, commodification
of natural resources, and carbon trading – do not tackle the drive for profit.
Evidence from the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change and other sources demonstrates the impossibility of a sustainable "green capitalism".
Climate degradation comes with the "natural" functioning of capitalism – a system based on the accumulation of capital (in particular the functioning of the energy system required by this accumulation process).
An "emancipatory project" to overcome the impending crisis needs to recognize natural constraints and aim for a fundamental redefinition of social wealth. Tanuro uses the Marxist theory of value to explain ecological crisis. He addresses a failing in Marxs ecology: an inadequate appreciation of the crucial implications of capitalisms reliance on non-renewable fossil-fuel resources. He challenges both mainstream Green strategy and traditional Left alternatives. He points to solutions: "de-growth", "re-localisation" and the decentralisation of production are necessary to limit global warming.
