Climate socialism

I am writing this message to the millions of people who have been involved in the climate movement over the past several years. This movement has been an incredible force, thanks to your courage, passion and commitment. It has created a new public consciousness and a powerful sense of popular will. These are major achievements. And yet it is clear that we have now reached an impasse and a new path is needed.

The plain fact is that the climate crisis cannot be addressed within capitalism. This may be difficult for some to come to terms with, but it is vital that we understand this fact and develop our strategies accordingly, otherwise we are headed for certain failure. And on this issue, failure is not an option.

First, what do I mean by capitalism? People often assume that capitalism is defined by businesses, markets and trade. But these things were around for thousands of years before capitalism and have taken many different forms. In reality, the main thing that distinguishes capitalism is that it is fundamentally undemocratic.

This may seem strange to say because obviously many of us live in democratic political systems, where we get to elect government leaders from time to time, even if we acknowledge that these systems are corrupt and inadequate. But when it comes to the economy, the system of production, not even a pretence of democracy is allowed to enter. Under capitalism, production is controlled overwhelmingly by capital: the big banks, the major corporations, and the 1% who own the majority of investible assets. They determine what to produce, how to use our labour and our planet’s resources, and who should benefit.

And for capital, the purpose of production is not to meet human needs or improve society, much less to achieve any ecological goals. The purpose is to maximize and accumulate profit. That is the overriding objective. This is known as the “capitalist law of value”: capital only invests in producing what is profitable to capital.

This poses very severe problems for the energy transition. We know we must reduce fossil fuels and ramp up renewable energy. For ages, economists told us that once renewables became cheaper than fossil fuels, the transition would occur automatically. But it’s not happening. Why? Because while renewables are cheaper than fossil fuels, fossil fuels are around 3 times more profitable. This ...