Unmasking Corporate Capture: How Hidden Influence Endangers People and Planet

Peleng Fantail

17-10-2025

[…] for the fruitless searches for ultimate wisdom that usually result in absurdity, Zhuang suggests:
“Wise is the one who forgets what wisdom is supposed to look like.”

In Kingfisherish Wandering [1]

© Wix

A new study by Ford and colleagues [2] in Environmental Science & Technology Letters warns that “corporate capture strategies”—actions taken by vested interests to influence individuals, organizations, or governments—are undermining human and ecosystem health. Traditionally, scholars examined “regulatory capture,” where corporations sway government regulators [3,4]. This study expands the concept, showing that capture can pervade nearly every societal domain—from universities and media to intergovernmental organizations—threatening the global capacity to address climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution.

Drawing on evidence from sectors including pharmaceuticals, energy, chemicals, and higher education, the authors demonstrate how corporations use tactics such as disinformation, lobbying, greenwashing, and selective funding to weaken public-interest protections [5,6]. Ford and colleagues [2] highlight examples of university and museum “capture,” where reliance on corporate funding compromises independence, as seen in fossil fuel sponsorship of scientific institutions. Similarly, the media, sports, and entertainment industries have been used to normalize harmful products and obscure environmental damage.

The study identifies seven countermeasures to resist capture: (1) strict conflict-of-interest policies, (2) financial transparency, (3) regulation of lobbying, (4) protection of academic freedom and freedom of speech, (5) open data policies, (6) genuine corporate social responsibility, and (7) education about capture mechanisms. Education, in particular, is vital to cultivating public awareness and critical thinking, empowering citizens to discern disinformation and hold power accountable.

Corporate capture erodes Nature Quotient (NQ) by severing the moral and informational connection between humans and nature [7]. A society with a high NQ values transparency, empathy, and interdependence—qualities essential for both individual and social peace [8]. By recognizing and countering capture, individuals reclaim agency and integrity, while communities foster trust and resilience. Such peace, grounded in ecological awareness, becomes the antidote to systems of manipulation and exploitation that threaten both the biosphere and human well-being.

References

[1] Nguyen MH. (2025). Kingfisherish Wandering. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FVLLLXNW/

[2] Ford AT, et al. (2025). Corporate ‘capture strategies’ impacting human and ecosystem health. Environmental Science & Technology Letters, 12(10), 1279-1286. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.estlett.5c00277

[3] Stigler GJ. (1971). The theory of economic regulation. The Bell Journal of Economics and Management Science, 2(1), 3-21. https://doi.org/10.2307/3003160

[4] Shapiro SA. (2012). The complexity of regulatory capture: Diagnosis, causality, and remediation. Roger Williams University Law Review, 102, 1.

[5] Michaels D. (2008). Doubt is their product: How industry’s assault on science threatens your health. Oxford University Press.

[6] Oreskes N, Conway EM. (2011). Merchants of doubt: How a handful of scientists obscured the truth on issues from tobacco smoke to global warming. Bloomsbury Publishing.

[7] Vuong QH, Nguyen MH. (2025). On Nature Quotient. Pacific Conservation Biology, 31, PC25028. https://doi.org/10.1071/PC25028

[8] Nguyen MH, Ho MT, La VP. (2025). On “An” (安): Inner peace through uncertainty, nature quotient, and harmony with Dao. http://books.google.com/books/about?id=NIKMEQAAQBAJ