This changes everything: Capitalism and climate change

This changes everything- Capitalism Vs The Climate, Naomi Klein

It is a fact; the capitalism is accelerating the global climate change consequences. Naomi Klein has explained with cases all over the globe why capitalism and the free market are impossible to solve one of the biggest threats in the world humanity is faced nowadays – climate change.

In fact, they are the main culprits of the current climate issues. The sole ideology of the capitalism, with focusing on the profits instead on the sustainable development is responsible for the biggest part of the continuation of the devastating rise of the CO2 levels, which will have far reaching impacts on the whole world. The privatization of the public sector, deregulation of the private sector with lowering the taxes on profits for private companies and organizations are done at the expense of public spending and have the logic which is incompatible with the sustainability and needed actions to tackle global climate issues. What is worse, the World Trade Organization – WTO makes it possible to act against almost all international and national climate actions which were taken to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases. Private companies are making money and are not paying for the environmental damage done in the process and are serving only the interest of the few .

Naomi KleinThe book gives good examples of the impacts of the capitalism and free trade on the environment and climate. It is focused on presenting the ideology of capitalism, which is based on spending, materialism, debt and causes with the trade pollution to which no one takes responsibility for. The trade and environment are regarded as two separated things, but they have mutual effect and should be regarded as such. The importance of the trade over the environment is seen from various different global trade agreements. Further on, the emissions caused because of the products produced in developing countries and used in West has been six times greater from emission savings of all industrialized countries. The overall emissions are increasing because the companies are moving their production in parts of the world with less strict environmental rules. It is concerning that despite greater public awareness about the climate change consequences the emissions are still increasing with continuation of the use of unsustainable resources. The developed world is blaming developing countries such as China, India, Brazil and others and gives a blind eye on the fact that their private companies under free trade are causing the most environmental damage.

The author is definitely not the only one who has so far pointed out the fact that the sustainable solutions to climate changes are impossible to reach under the capitalism, but has given a good example through the whole book with also offering the solution – polluter pays. Why is the political system protecting the rights of private companies instead of fighting for the clean and safe environment and serving only a minority instead of the majority of the population?

The current political system is encouraging consumption, with which it impacts the environment with the use of fossil fuels, producing waste and polluting the air, land and water. Capitalism is leading towards the greater environmental uncertainties, uncertain weather patterns, water and food scarcity. The capitalist system by increasing the profits does not take the environment wholly into an account.

Under the capitalism there almost never exists the need to pay for the caused negative environmental damage during the process of the production and distribution. The possibility to solve the climate issues is under the capitalism undermined. Everything is based on the competition, wealth and profit accumulation. Capitalism needs constant spending in order to avoid economic crises, which is leading towards the natural resource exploitation, constant consumption and use of nonrenewable recourses . The moving industry from the developed to developing world is building its prosperity with the unsustainable techniques in order to maintain the current standards. There is much more a West should and could do to prevent the current biggest environmental pollution in order to protect the common good .

The reason why many of my articles are concerned with the climate change consequences is the fact that we have only one earth and any other problem in the world becomes irrelevant if we are not in a state to protect it. It is time the humanity gets aware of the treasure we are about to destroy because the majority of the political systems and people do not want to change their way of living despite many alternatives already exists to our current consumption and energy production. The book should be read by all that care about the present and the future since the time to take the slow actions to overcome the climate issues has already passed and to learn why capitalism is unfit to tackle the climate issues and the actions to be done in order to avoid the issue we are all aware of, but of which unfortunately lately less and less is being reported and debated. We should all be aware that current actions are far from enough to avoid the future dark scenarios.

Teja Palko
Teja Palko
Teja Palko is a Slovenian writer. She finished studies on Master’s Degree programme in Defense Science at the Faculty of Social Science at University in Ljubljana.