Windfall: The Booming Business of Global Warming

Description

Windfall: The Booming Business of Global Warming by McKenzie Funk is an eye-opening investigation into how climate change, rather than being treated purely as an environmental crisis, has become an unprecedented opportunity for profit. Funk travels across six continents to uncover the growing industries and entrepreneurial ventures that are capitalizing on global warming, often at the expense of vulnerable populations and ecosystems. The book reveals a stark contrast between those who suffer from climate change and those who stand to gain from it. Funk explores how melting Arctic ice opens up new shipping routes and drilling opportunities for oil and gas companies, while private security firms profit from managing climate-induced migration and unrest. He examines the rise of geoengineering companies promising to reverse climate change through technological interventions, as well as hedge funds that speculate on water rights and agricultural land in anticipation of future scarcities. With vivid storytelling and incisive journalism, Funk introduces readers to an array of characters—entrepreneurs, investors, scientists, and policymakers—who represent the emerging "climate industrial complex." Rather than focusing on policy debates or moral imperatives, Funk presents a world where climate change is treated as a market force, creating winners and losers in a new global economy. Windfall raises urgent ethical questions about inequality, exploitation, and environmental justice. It challenges readers to confront the uncomfortable reality that, in the face of planetary crisis, many are choosing to adapt by finding ways to profit rather than working to prevent or mitigate the damage. Funk's work is a crucial contribution to understanding the intersection of capitalism and climate, offering a provocative look at the economic dynamics driving our response to a warming world.