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<p>This paper contends that the accelerating planetary crisis of continental freshwater depletion is fundamentally driven by enduring colonial logics of extraction. Integrating recent satellite data revealing Northern-Hemisphere “mega-drying” zones with political-economic analysis, we demonstrate how water-intensive extractive systems, fossil fuel production (notably enhanced oil recovery), export-oriented industrial agriculture, and resource-hungry “green transition” technologies, are underpinned by neocolonial power structures. We critically examine how purported climate solutions, such as carbon capture enabling continued extraction and green finance mechanisms reinforcing debt dependencies, often perpetuate colonial frameworks prioritizing resource appropriation over ecological integrity and social justice. By exposing the coloniality embedded within energy, agriculture, and climate finance regimes, this work reframes freshwater depletion as a core consequence of global political-economic power imbalances, not merely an ecological issue.&#xa0;We conclude that averting hydrological collapse necessitates a paradigm shift toward radical water sovereignty, grounded in decolonial praxis, ecological justice, and systemic transformation beyond colonial-capitalist frameworks.</p>

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How “green” initiatives deepen a global freshwater crisis

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年1月24日

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  • Alberto Boretti

摘要

This paper contends that the accelerating planetary crisis of continental freshwater depletion is fundamentally driven by enduring colonial logics of extraction. Integrating recent satellite data revealing Northern-Hemisphere “mega-drying” zones with political-economic analysis, we demonstrate how water-intensive extractive systems, fossil fuel production (notably enhanced oil recovery), export-oriented industrial agriculture, and resource-hungry “green transition” technologies, are underpinned by neocolonial power structures. We critically examine how purported climate solutions, such as carbon capture enabling continued extraction and green finance mechanisms reinforcing debt dependencies, often perpetuate colonial frameworks prioritizing resource appropriation over ecological integrity and social justice. By exposing the coloniality embedded within energy, agriculture, and climate finance regimes, this work reframes freshwater depletion as a core consequence of global political-economic power imbalances, not merely an ecological issue. We conclude that averting hydrological collapse necessitates a paradigm shift toward radical water sovereignty, grounded in decolonial praxis, ecological justice, and systemic transformation beyond colonial-capitalist frameworks.