[The environmental destruction caused by wars, occupations and the
military-industrial complex are compounding the climate crisis.]
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COP28 – WE NEED TO CHALLENGE THE POWER OF FOSSIL FUEL CAPITALISM  
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November 28, 2023
Global Ecosocialist Network
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_ The environmental destruction caused by wars, occupations and the
military-industrial complex are compounding the climate crisis. _

, Image: Ivan Radic

 

Back in May, the World Meteorological Organization reported
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was a 66% likelihood of exceeding the 1.5 degree Celsius threshold in
at least one year between 2023 and 2027. On November 21, only nine
days out from the start of COP28 in Dubai, in the United Arab
Emirates, 350.org [[link removed]]’s Bill McKibben shared an
alarming graph
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that for the first time, global surface temperatures temporarily rose
by 2⁰C, compared to pre-industrial levels. Climate scientists
conclude that the remaining carbon budget
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of keeping warming to 1.5 °C is around 250 gigatons of carbon dioxide
(CO2) as of January 2023, equal to around six years of current CO2
emissions.

And yet, despite the fact that we are teetering on the edge of the
climate cliff, capitalist governments are far from the drastic
reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and carbon drawdown necessary
to prevent this “temporary” temperature rise from becoming the
norm, setting us well on the path to an unlivable planet for the
majority of the world’s human and non-human population. On the
contrary, emissions have steadily increased during the past few years.

The environmental destruction caused by wars, occupations and the
military-industrial complex are compounding the crisis. The shift away
from fossil fuels to renewable energy has suffered a setback because
of this and the threat of a nuclear conflict is again hanging over us.
Indigenous peoples continue to face land theft and dispossession as
fossil fuel and mining companies (and the governments that rule on
their behalf) embark on violent land grabs. As Greta Thunberg said in
The Netherlands recently, “There is no climate justice on occupied
land” and we wholeheartedly concur. The genocide we are witnessing
is inextricably tied into the defence of fossil fuels by imperialist
powers.

Island nations in the Pacific are now negotiating agreements for their
populations to “migrate with dignity” as their lands become
inundated with seawater and unfit for habitation.

And yet, COP28, the major global gathering of governments to reach
agreement on tackling the crisis is being hosted by a petroleum state
that is silencing voices of dissent. Climate journalists have now
revealed [[link removed]] that
the UAE planned to use COP28 to sign oil deals — a cynical act that
exposes the flagrant hypocrisy of the capitalist class’s attitude to
global warming.

The first COP was held in Bonn, Germany, in 1995. Despite 30 years of
COP meetings, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane and nitrous oxide
emissions continue to rise
[[link removed](CO,2022%2C%20according%20to%20NOAA%20scientists.] and slightly
more than half of all cumulative global CO2 emissions have taken place
since 1990
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Responsibility for this impending catastrophe lies overwhelmingly with
the capitalist classes of the Global North. Loss and damage is
suffered disproportionately by the poorest people in the world while
the profits are accumulated by the corporations owned by the richest.

A recent study calculated that $192 trillion would be owed by rich
countries to the Global South for the appropriation of their
atmospheric fair shares by 2050. Meaningful reparations, paid for by
the capitalist classes of the North, are necessary. They would include
direct cash transfers, grant financing for mitigation and adaptation,
debt cancellation and compensation to Global South countries who leave
fossil fuels unexploited.

As long as the world remains divided into competitive nation states
and market capitalism with its ruthless need to accumulate and make
profit, the COP process is reduced to corporate greenwashing, the
watering down of agreements by the big polluting countries and pledges
that are routinely broken or outright ignored.

Many people, including Greta Thunberg, consider the COPs to be engaged
in elaborate greenwashing and the call to boycott COP28 has grown
louder, including from well-respected writer Naomi Klein. We need to
take these two important voices seriously.

We also acknowledge that the climate justice movement, particularly in
frontline nations, seeks to utilise whatever platform it can,
including the COPs, to call out global capitalist governments and the
climate-destroying industries they serve. In this respect, efforts to
organise action on the “inside” combined with grassroots
gatherings and mobilisations on the “outside” are also legitimate
responses.

However, the challenge remains to build a people’s climate movement
strong enough to challenge the power of fossil fuel capitalism and to
link up with other social movements to fight for an ecosocialist
future.

 

_THE GLOBAL ECOSOCIALIST NETWORK IS AN INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF
SOCIALISTS FORMED IN RESPONSE TO THE CATASTROPHIC ECOLOGICAL CRISIS
RAPIDLY ENGULFING OUR WORLD._

* COP28
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* Climate Change
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* Indigenous peoples
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* Militarism
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* Global South
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