Maude Barlow at Word Vancouver

Most people agree that urgent action is needed to address the climate crisis and protect the natural world, but who should be responsible for that work? In Earth for Sale, Barlow sounds the alarm on the growing financialization of nature, exposing how forests, watersheds, biodiversity, and other living systems are increasingly being treated as market assets through carbon trading, biodiversity credits, conservation bonds, and other so-called “nature-based solutions.” Drawing on decades of activism and research, she argues that these approaches risk handing control of the natural world to the same corporate interests that helped drive the ecological crisis in the first place. Join us for an urgent conversation on the future of the commons, ecological stewardship, and the fight to protect the living world from its last great enclosure.

Maude Barlow is a Canadian activist, author, and public advocate. She chairs the board of Food & Water Watch and the Blue Planet Project, and co-founded the Council of Canadians, serving as its national chairperson for more than three decades. In 2008-2009, she served as Senior Advisor on Water to the President of the United Nations General Assembly and was a leader in the successful campaign to have water recognized as a human right by the United Nations. The recipient of 17 honorary doctorates and numerous international awards, including the Right Livelihood Award (often called the “Alternative Nobel”), Barlow is the author of 21 books and dozens of reports on water, ecology, globalization, and the commons. Her work has helped shape environmental and social justice movements around the world.

Word Vancouver is Western Canada’s largest celebration of literacy and reading. Held in September at various venues throughout the city, the festival promotes books and authors with free exhibits, performances, and hands-on activities for a wide range of ages and interests.