PEOPLES CLIMATE ARCHI Phil Ward T he largest international actions ever
on climate change took place on September 21, two days in advance of the UN General Secretary's Climate Summit. Over 300,000 marched in New York, locus of the Summit, along with over 2,700 actions of varying sizes in cities across the globe. Mobilisations were largely organised by the combined efforts of grass-roots environmental groups and online campaigns, such as Avaaz and 350.org. Their size shows the concern of millions over the issue of climate change, along with a willingness to overcome the cynicism that is occasionally expressed by more seasoned climate activists when they see yet another UN summit passing by. Also significant was the involvement of organisations of indigenous peoples on many of the marches, people who suffer most under the ravages of capitalist exploitation of the environment. On the Climate and Capitalism website, Peter Rugh, one of the march organisers,
PEOPLES CLIMAIL MARCHA IPLES
PEOI IMATE!
CUM gives a comprehensive account of the NY event. He recounts the problems with a lack of concrete demands and the potential shown by the anti-capitalist Flood Wall Street action the following day. Rugh, and other authors on the same site, emphasise the significance of September 21 for building the climate justice groups such as 350.org. UN noises The UN has been making noises about climate since 1988, when it set up the Intergovernmental Panel (IPCC) to report on climate change. Governments were first drafted in to actually commit to do something after the Rio Summit in 1992. Since 1988 annual carbon emissions have risen by 65 per cent (5.95bn tonnes to 9.86bn tonnes) and the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has 1 http://climateandcapitalism.com/2014/09/29/ peoples-climate-march-time-demand/
PEOPLES CUMATE MARCH movement, noting a radicalising process in
25 S9 MR TO DOS WE CAN DHIN PEOPLE: PEOPLE CUMATI CLIMAT MARCH MABC increased from 350ppm to 396ppm. The only times there have been - very small -reductions in world emissions were when the USSR collapsed (1991-1992) and the financial collapse of 2008-9. That should tell us something about who is in control of the factors propelling global warming. This year's summit marked a full-scale ceding of responsibility for tackling greenhouse gas emissions to big business, something the Environmental News Service (ENS) erroneously suggests would "have a profound impact on global financial markets". In fact, all it amounted to was a call on global business - pension funds in particular - to invest in "green" ventures, rather than fossil fuels. This business-led "fossil disinvestment campaign" will end up promoting land and resource grabbing in the Global South, as the list of projects in the ENS article makes perfectly clear. This is meant to (but probably won't) amount to $200bn by the end of next year. This money is meant to boost the Green
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26 Massive protests over climate change Climate Fund, a thing set up in 2011, as a result of a decision in Copenhagen in 2009, to accumulate $100bn per year from governments (and now private sources) for climate mitigation and adaptation. So far in its 3 years of operation it has got pledges of $2.3bn from various countries, actually received 1/3,000t* of its initial $100bn target ($36 million) and disbursed less than 1/10,000th - $7.32 million. So it is uncertain whether this business-led not-so-green programme will even come to fruition. Compare that to the over $1,000bn ($1 trillion) invested annually in new fossil fuel infrastructure. In the face of that, it is unsurprising that since the débacle at Copenhagen there have been no attempts by the UN to agree a minimum acceptable global mean temperature rise or atmospheric carbon concentration, let alone an annual cut in emissions. The likelihood of the UN Conference of Parties in Paris in 2015 achieving its aim of a meaningful legally binding agreement is pretty remote. Meanwhile, the latest reports on climate change and related environmental disasters in dire indeed. Two in particular are worth China's Rise: Strength and Fragility AU LOONG YU with contributions from Bai Ruixue, Bruno Jetin & Pierre Rousset mentioning. IPCC reports estimate global temperature rises, based on what policies are pursued, from "do nothing" (rise in temperature of 3.2-5.4°C by 2100) to a "green society" ("B1", 0.9-2.3°C rise), where atmospheric carbon actually be declining by 2080. The Global Carbon Project showed the day after the People's Climate marches that current emissions are following the IPCC's "worst case" scenario. Essentially, GPC is confirming that capitalism is doing nothing to prevent disaster. Biodiversity The second report concerns biodiversity: the finding by the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the Zoological Society of London that vertebrate populations have declined as follows since 1970: freshwater (amphibians and fish) 76%, marine (fish, mainly) 39% and on land animals 39%. The main causes of the decline have been exploitation (fishing, hunting, poaching) and loss of habitat. The situation is worse in the tropics than in temperate areas. This is a huge indictment of capitalist development, particularly the way that PUBLISHED 2012, BY RESISTANCE BOOKS AND MERLIN PRESS China's Rise: which studies the impact of globalization in China. This collection of essays on China brings a rare and much needed perspective to the literature on the rising star of the global economy. Most are authored by Chinese Marxist critics a discussion of issues rarely covered in the existing literature, Studies, London Price £14 inc p&p, from Resistance Books, PO Box 62732, London, SW2 9GQ.
agriculture and hydropower destroy land and fresh water ecosystems. It also shows how the system has been unable to contro unsustainable commercial fishing. Climate change is likely to make this terrible situation worse, as its impact on habitats has only just begun. How this loss of biodiversity will affect those ecosystems that sustain humanity we will find out in the coming years. Socialist Resistance and its predecessors have argued since we first encountered climate change in the late 1980's that capitalism is incompatible with a liveable environment. The requirements of competition, growth and capital accumulation prevent it from acting decisively to curb GHG emissions. But making such arguments is clearly not enough. We need to understand how a movement can come about that will challenge the capitalist system on this issue. The campaigns around the climate summit, against extreme fossil and for disinvestment are a good start and will raise amongst participants questions concerning where we go from here. Strength and Fragility Au Loong Yu is a labour researcher based in Hong Kong. He was one of the founding members of Globalization Monitor, an NGO of the regime. This "insider" Marxist perspective translates into including a special focus on the workers movement. Very useful. - Gilbert Achcar, Professor at the School of Oriental and African