Capitalism vs. The Climate

📢 This weekend, thousands of protests were held around the world on ‘Global Climate Action Day’ to demand urgent action to tackle the climate crisis. 📢

It’s either capitalism or the climate.
“Capitalism is now changing the world very literally, altering the planet’s climate and threatening to destroy the prospect of a livable future on Earth. As the climate changes, everything else is going to change whether we like it or not. Thus the duty to change the world deliberately is more urgent than ever before.” [1]

🌡 A report from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) warns that, even if countries meet the commitments they have made under the 2015 Paris Agreement, “the world is heading for a 3.2 degrees Celsius global temperature rise over pre-industrial levels, leading to even wider-ranging and more destructive climate impacts”. [2]

What will happen when temperatures rise?
“That extra heat is driving regional and seasonal temperature extremes, reducing snow cover and sea ice, intensifying heavy rainfall, and changing habitat ranges for plants and animals” [3]

🔴 Countries are expected to significantly step up their climate commitments at the UN Climate Conference (COP26) which will be held in the UK in 2021.

🔴 The global temperature has already increased by approximately 1.0°C and is likely to reach 1.5°C between 2030 and 2052 if it continues to increase at the current rate.

#climatejustice
“Countries like India are already experiencing a climate crisis. […] We are not just fighting for our future, we are fighting for our present.” said the activist Disha A Ravi.
“Strikes in Bangladesh drew attention to the threat to the country from rising sea levels, as tens of thousands of people are already refugees”. [4]



[1] Alyssa Battistoni, How to Change Everything, Jacobin Magazine, November 2015
[2] UN emissions report: World on course for more than 3 degree spike, even if climate commitments are met, UN News, November 19
[3] R. Lindsey and L. Dahlman, Climate Change: Global Temperature, August 14, 2020, NOAA
[4] Fiona Harvey, “Young people resume global climate strikes calling for urgent action”, The Guardian, September 25, 2020