Cultural Logic: Marxist Theory & Practice Volume 24 (2020), pp. 1-29
Editor’s note: The article is a slightly amended version of Chapter 1 (pp. 11-35) of the author’s book, Climate Change, the Fourth Industrial Revolution and Public Pedagogies: The Case for Ecosocialism, to be published by Routledge in 2021.
Capitalism and Planetary Destruction: Activism for Climate Change Emergency Mike Cole University of East London Introduction This article is in two sections. In section 1, I discuss the relationship between capitalism and planetary destruction, and in section 2, activism for climate change emergency. I begin section 1 with a brief summary of the agreement made at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris. I then consider the relationship between capitalism and planetary destruction, focusing on the negative role of certain capitalist world leaders, namely Donald Trump, Jair Bolsonaro and Scott Morrison. Next I address the Paris climate change accord four years on: Madrid (COP 25), suggesting that we may be on a trend for total planetary catastrophe. I conclude section 1 with a forward look to Glasgow 2021 (COP 26), suggesting that we have a mountain to climb. In section 2, after briefly outlining the long history of climate change awareness, the role of activism in fostering climate change emergency is analysed, with reference to Greta Thunberg, and movements inspired by her example, as well as Extinction Rebellion. The case is made that a climate change emergency needs to be declared worldwide, citing a number of factors that seriously threaten the survival of our planet. I move on to a consideration of the relationship between climate change and gender, before concluding the chapter by stressing that it is not just the existence of humankind that is at threat, but also around a million other species. 1. Capitalism and Planetary Destruction The Paris Climate Change Accord Climate change public pedagogy got a boost and a stimulus after the Paris climate agreement of 2015 that aimed to limit the global rise in temperature attributed to gases or emissions released from industry and agriculture. Nearly two hundred countries agreed to: