Presentation short abstract

In this intervention, we reflect on the assemblage of labour inherent in the production of nature, and hence the fundamentally uneven process of ecological exchange embodied in the production of Nature-based Solutions (NbS).

Presentation long abstract

Nature does not “exist” as a passive object or something in the background, but is actively assembled as a product of class relations (Moore, 2017). Nature for conservation or for “green” / ecology purposes is similarly an actively constructed category - based on putting both human and non-human labour to work towards its production. This means a historically and territorially-specific assessment of class-relations in the extraction, transformation and organization of “nature” products/commodities for exchange. More humans and non-humans need to be put to work to produce solutions that will fix ecological problems and therefore in the process resell themselves as laborers for “Nature-based Solutions,” (NbS) forming a part of a new “green” economy. Everybody and every creature must contribute something to the table - whether it is a dung beetle providing an environmental service, humus-rich soils full of microorganisms and mycorrhizal fungi providing a Nature-based Solution, an ArcGIS technician or forest stewardship certification auditor employed in a ‘green job’, or policymakers and academics discursively performing a "green" agenda. We all just need to be more creative/innovative and continuously put labour to the task to produce a service, new and better. In this intervention, we reflect on the fundamentally uneven process of ecological exchange embodied in the production of NbS.