4 - Decarbonisation

Summary

Chapter 4 on ‘decarbonisation’ argues that the ways that the China Development Bank and the Nordic Investment Bank function to tackle the crisis of climate finance bolsters their credibility and persistence within class-divided society. These public banks are scaling up financial capacity, directing it towards decarbonisation and environmental sustainability, and developing accountable floors for green funding decisions in ways that can inform needed debate on what pro-public green & just public banks should be like. However, neither are without contradictions. Despite committing substantial resources to combatting climate change, the China Development Bank and the Nordic Investment Bank also fuel it by disproportionately funding otherwise carbonising economic activities, exposing the green and growth contradictions of global financialised capitalism.