As humanity teeters on the brink of irreversible climate change, world leaders joined the COP21 UN Climate Change Conference in Paris. The conference, which is hosting 40,000 delegates from 195 countries, will assess global progress on addressing the crisis and set new goals. But are these leaders really taking the issue seriously? Are they willing to make the radical changes that are required? What hope do we have for climate justice?
Empty rhetoric
Obama, leader of the country with by far the largest per-capita carbon footprint, flew in for the first day of the conference, made a speech, posed for photos ops and went home. He pushed for “a single transparency mechanism that all countries are adhering to” and said those mechanisms must be “legally binding.” Of course, Congress must approve any legally binding pact that comes out of the climate conference and Obama is well aware that such an agreement will likely never pass. Not to mention that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement, which the Obama administration is trying to push through, will supersede any agreement that comes out of Paris, putting the rights of corporate profits before countries’ environmental regulations or sustainable development plans.
Also, the commitments that Obama and other leaders have made leading up to COP21 will not come close to averting catastrophe. In preparation for the conference, countries outlined post-2020 climate actions they intend to take, known as their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs). The best case scenario of the global combined INDC’s could cap warming at 2.7 degrees C, but falls significantly short of the 2 degree C goal, which if exceeded will be catastrophic for life on Earth as previously discussed in this Liberation News article.
Many of the very sponsors of COP21 are big polluters, such as car companies like Renault/Nissan, Air France who opposes emissions reductions in aviation, and Suez Environment, a pro-fracking company. The solution to climate change is to take control from the corporations and put people and the planet’s needs of profits. Thinking that we can solve the issue under the same leadership that caused the crisis is ludicrous. It is like having landlords and big developers sponsor a plan to solve the crisis of homelessness. By nature, there is a conflict of interest.
Real solutions
At the opening of COP21, President Evo Morales of Bolivia brought proposals from social movements that came out of the October People’s Climate Summit held in Cochabamba. “We ask for an end to the irreversible destruction of the planet and remember that capitalism has developed an overwhelming and destructive life force, caused by the production of consumer goods that today destroy nature, with wars of conquest,” said Morales.
While President Rafael Correa of Ecuador said “Someone in a rich country emits 38 times more CO2 than someone from a poor country … Conservation in poor countries isn’t possible if quality of life there isn’t improved.”
Correa also called for the creation of an International Court of Environmental Justice, which would punish environmental crimes and payment of environmental debts.
The reality that the West must face is that our species cannot survive with our rate of consumption of resources. The overproduction of goods and carbon output under capitalism is not sustainable. This does not mean we all have to go back to living in caves, but corporations cannot be allowed to continue the rapid rate of production of disposable goods and the absurd practice of planned obsolescence. Currently, if all of humanity lived like U.S. consumers, we would need over 5 Earth’s to sustain us.
Fight back
Leading up to the COP21, there were some 2,300 actions worldwide. Estimated as the largest Global March for Climate in history, the people are demanding leaders take immediate action to halt climate change with slogans of “System Change, Not Climate Change” and “There is no Planet B.”
Despite the Paris protest ban, over 10,000 joined hands and lined the 2-mile route of the outlawed march in addition to an installation of 20,000 shoes representing the banned protesters. Paris police brutalized and arrested hundreds who defied the ban and took to the streets near Place de la Republique in central Paris.
Our hope lies in the global people’s movement. We need a new system, a socialist system—that works in the interests of humanity and the planet—not for a few billionaires. And we need to continue building and strengthening the mass movement to make that change.
