An essay on the deeper causes and implications of climate-driven societal breakdown, by Professor Jem Bendell. If you have begun to anticipate the climate-driven collapse of societies, what can you wish for? I have written elsewhere about the problems of being attached to hope, if that means we falsely assume we can’t engage in the world creatively unless we have an … [Read more...]
Time to end consumption-driven capitalism
Here follows the final statement of the 2020 Ecosocialist Conference for Climate Justice, which took place online last week: The corona pandemic has exposed the fragility of the neoliberal global economy. We will face yet another wave of austerity and unemployment, as pro-business governments raise taxes and slash spending, just as they did after the financial crash of 2008. … [Read more...]
Green New Deal can stimulate economic recovery and create jobs
While lockdown inadvertently helped to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, it is critically important that sustainability of the environment is at the heart of post-Covid-19 recovery efforts. This is according to the South African National Energy Development Institute (SANEDI). “This is where the much-talked about Green New Deal (GND) becomes crucial and while it’s no panacea … [Read more...]
Collapse of civilisation likely according to climate scientists
Australia’s top climate scientist says “we are already deep into the trajectory towards collapse” of civilisation, which may now be inevitable because 9 of the 15 known global climate tipping points that regulate the state of the planet have been activated. Australian National University emeritus professor Will Steffen (pictured) told Voice of Action that there was already a … [Read more...]
How a lagoon became a frontline defence against climate change
When Albert Pati moved closer to the sea to open a beach bar overlooking the Mediterranean in Albania, he never imagined that the sea would also be moving closer to him, now eroding the soil around his restaurant floor. Even before the outbreak of Covid-19, families and businesses around the Adriatic Sea were faced with a serious threat. One of the countries hardest-hit by … [Read more...]
Civil Society calls on the African Development Bank to quit fossil fuels
Africa Day 2020: African Climate Reality Project along with 25 fellow civil society organisations, are calling on the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) to immediately put in place and publish on the AfDB website a fossil fuel finance exclusion policy that states that the Bank will not fund, provide financial services or capacity support to any coal project on the African … [Read more...]
Global leaders urged to develop a just and resilient world
Representatives of the World Future Council from all continents have signed a letter to world leaders in which they outline recommendations and calls for immediate targeted actions required to rebuild a resilient and just world now and after the Covid-19 pandemic. The coronavirus pandemic shows how fragile the current international system is and that common, global solutions … [Read more...]
Fossil fuel phase-out: It’s time to say it loud and clear
Mixed signals about the future of fossil fuels are delaying climate action. The energy transition - and our planet - depends on absolute clarity, writes WWF's Jesse Fahnestock. The past weeks have seen the publication of the Global Renewables Outlook from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), as well as a variety of articles discussing how historically low oil … [Read more...]
Germany and Britain call for ‘green recovery’ from pandemic
Germany and Britain said Monday that efforts to revive the global economy in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic must ensure a ‘green recovery’ that helps the world tackle climate change. Speaking ahead of a virtual meeting of officials from some 30 countries, Germany’s environment minister said it was important for economic recovery programs to invest in future-proof jobs … [Read more...]
Minister Barbara Creecy talks about climate change
The following speech was delivered by Minister Barbara Creecy during a Parliament debate on climate change, at the Parliament of the Republic of South Africa, Cape Town, Western Cape Province on 11 March 2020: Allow me at the outset, to once again welcome the President Cyril Ramaphosa’s commitment to establishing the Presidential Climate Change Commission to lead our just … [Read more...]
Earth Day 2020 goes digital
Between the global pandemic and social distancing, Earth Day 2020 is going to look different than it ever has before, as many of us will be tuning into celebrations through a virtual screen or a socially distanced walk. With COVID-19 disrupting all semblance of normalcy and routine in the world, the organizers of Earth Day’s 50th anniversary celebration ditched their usual … [Read more...]
Condemning eco-fascism in the time of COVID-19
People have commented on the virus in many different ways. You may have seen posts connecting the impact of the coronavirus with positive changes in the environment. We are greatly concerned by these, and as climate justice activists, we wish to address this urgent issue. COVID-19 has definitely changed our lives; isolation, working from home and shocking news headlines have … [Read more...]
Climate change review: humbling lessons from Australia
Australia, like South Africa in the last week and so many other regions across the globe before, has instituted strict lockdown measures to combat the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19). Though this is not the first large scale crisis the country has been faced with since the start of the year, as just a few short months ago Australia was still making international headlines … [Read more...]
