In this thought-provoking conversation, Professor David Whyte examines how our legal and economic systems—particularly the structures of corporate capitalism—shape environmental outcomes and impede meaningful climate action. Drawing from his academic work and recent report The Carbon Cash Machine, he argues that tackling climate change requires confronting the underlying architecture that enables corporations to prioritize profit while externalizing harm.
Whyte explores the role of institutional investors, shareholder returns, and regulatory frameworks, revealing how financial incentives continue to drive fossil fuel expansion, arguing that corporate sustainability commitments are ultimately at odds with their core economic logic. He believes that corporate reform within the existing system will fall short, urging a deeper reckoning with the structural forces that entrench shareholder primacy over environmental responsibility. Calling for a fundamental reimagining of ownership, governance, and investment, he considers alternatives such as cooperative enterprises and public control of key industries, envisioning what a truly transformative economic model might look like.
This is a important incisive discussion, from late 2024, that raises urgent questions about accountability, power, and the deeper systemic changes needed to confront the climate crisis.
David Whyte is Professor of Climate Justice in the School of Law, Queen Mary University of London. His most recent book is Ecocide: kill the corporation before it kills us (Manchester University Press, 2020). He is the co-author of Corporate Human Rights Violations: Global Prospects for Legal Action' (Routledge, 2018, with Stefanie Khoury) and editor of The Violence of Austerity (Pluto, 2017, with Vickie Cooper).