Capitalism refuses to confront climate crisis

The struggle for wealth, and its deplorable results (in the human sphere) have been accompanied by a reckless destruction of the products of nature, which is even more deplorable because more irretrievable

 Alfred Russell Wallace, 1895

 Valencia floods, Californian wildfires, another frustrating COP.

The WMO has confirmed 2024 is the warmest on record.

And then there is re-elected United States President Trump’s rallying call “Drill, Baby, Drill”. One of Trump’s first actions as soon as he became President was to issue an executive order withdrawing the US from the Paris Climate Agreement. Whatever the direct consequences of this are it is a clear sign of Trump’s intentions. He was also quick to reverse his predecessor president Biden’s policies related to climate change—such as increasing fossil fuel production on Federal land and waters and closing Federal offices and programmes aimed at protecting poor communities from climate impacts and from pollution.

The UK government has also been showing its environmental colours – especially Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeve’s announcing support for Heathrow expansion. She was clear that environmental concerns and net zero were less important than the government’s ‘mission’ to stimulate growth.

It’s not looking good for the climate.

The Lancet annually publishes a Countdown on health and climate change. Its 2024 report caught my eye. Its statistics are stark, graphically underlining the relationship between inequality, ill health and climate change. The report on climate and health analyses key global data – claiming that we are ‘facing record-breaking threats from delayed action’:

Despite the initial hope inspired by the 2015 Paris Agreement, the world is now dangerously close to breaching its target of limiting global multiyear mean heating to 1·5°C. Annual mean surface temperature reached a record high of 1·45°C above the pre-industrial baseline in 2023, and new temperature highs were recorded throughout 2024. The resulting climatic extremes are increasingly claiming lives and livelihoods worldwide.

 Data in this year’s report show that people all around the world are facing record-breaking threats to their wellbeing, health, and survival from the rapidly changing climate. Of the 15 indicators monitoring climate change-related health hazards, exposures, and impacts, ten reached concerning new records in their most recent year of data.

Anthony Costello, Professor of Global Health and Sustainable Development at UCL, summarised some key data here:

• In 2023, heat-related deaths of over 65s reached the highest level recorded. Heat-related mortality of people older than 65 years increased by a record-breaking 167%, compared with the 1990s. Heat exposure is also increasingly affecting physical activity and sleep quality, in turn affecting physical and mental health.
• People worldwide are also increasingly at risk from life-threatening extreme weather events. Between 1961–90 and 2014–23, 61% of the global land area saw an increase in the number of days of extreme precipitation and almost half the global land area is being affected by extreme drought for at least one month each year.
• Globally, 733 million people were undernourished in 2023. Food insecurity and undernourishment are relentlessly rising – heatwaves and drought are associated with millions more people experiencing food insecurity across 124 countries.
• 5% of all global tree cover has been lost between 2016 and 2022.
• 7 million deaths from air pollution

These indicators show the lack of progress in addressing the climate emergency. There has been little change in the carbon intensity and emissions since 1990; coal use is falling in rich countries but is rising elsewhere; 745 million people still lack access to electricity; emissions from agriculture have increased since 2016, especially from red meat and dairy farming.

Governments are continuing to subsidise fossil fuels whilst the subsidies and damage caused by carbon pollution combined exceeds $7 trillion each year.

 Climate impacts also have huge economic costs. The average annual economic losses from weather-related extreme events increased by 23% from 2010–14 to 2019–23, to US$227 billion (a value exceeding the gross domestic product [GDP] of about 60% of the world’s economies. Although 60·5% of losses in very high Human Development Index (HDI) countries were covered by insurance, the vast majority of those in countries with lower HDI levels were uninsured, with local communities bearing the brunt of the physical and economic losses.

Although the impacts of climate change affect everyone and every country it is inevitable that they are disproportionately felt by the poorest, the most vulnerable  and the most disadvantaged communities. Existing health inequalities within and between countries are being made worse.

The findings show that vulnerable groups – including people with disabilities, homeless populations, and those in deprived areas – will bear the brunt of extreme weather like heat waves and floods which are becoming more common due to greenhouse gas emissions. This amplifies existing disparities, with those in poverty already having lower life expectancy.

What is the general picture of health inequalities position in the UK? Recent research following up the 2010 Marmot Review described what has happened to the “causes of the causes” of health inequalities. The stark conclusion is that in five priority areas health is “worse for people lower down the socioeconomic hierarchy”. They encompass a wide area – children’s life chances, realising everyone’s potential, ensuring everyone has a healthy standard of living, creating fair employment for all, and developing healthy and sustainable places.

Although the health and wellbeing effects of climate change in the UK are less extreme than in less wealthy countries they are increasingly occurring. Climate change is, for example, worsening dampness and cold in homes and this is felt far more by low income families. Damp and mouldy homes add significantly to incidences of respiratory illnesses, especially in children and the elderly. Poor air pollution in less well off areas leads to severe illness and even death. Again, children are particularly affected.

The situation globally on particular populations is already critical. The impacts are wide. For example, high temperatures, and especially heatwaves, have serious physical effects, but they also have an impact on mental health issues, such as a rise in depression and anxiety, and there is a proven link between rising temperatures and suicide attempts. The elderly, children, and those with existing health problems will suffer the most. Poorer communities and indigenous populations are disproportionately affected by climate change because of limited access to healthcare and greater exposure to environmental hazards.

Diseases such as malaria, dengue, West Nile virus and Lyme disease are spreading because of higher temperatures, limited access to clean water, and draught. Global warming can also affect crop yields, leading to food shortages. Poor air quality has serious impacts on human health. Pollutants in the air can cause respiratory problems and exacerbate existing conditions such as asthma and is also linked to diabetes, heart disease and cancers.

More frequent and severe extreme weather events, such as intense heatwaves, wildfires and floods can result in humanitarian emergencies and a loss of life, and can also lead to displacement and migration. Inequalities exacerbate the adverse impacts of climate change.

Global populations are increasingly threatened by extreme weather, drought, rising sea levels, extreme heat, food insecurity, resource scarcity, and disease. Populations particularly at risk include those in certain island states, people living in the Global South, including the African continent and South Asia region, and Indigenous populations

Disadvantaged populations also have less capacity to adapt to climate change – through more limited access to public health, personal adaptations and infrastructure.

The Lancet report highlights that despite numerous action plans to combat the climate crisis at international, national and local levels the position on many key indicators is getting worse.

This is hardly surprising.

However, although there is a seeming consensus on the urgency of challenging the crisis and there is innovation around mitigation (perhaps especially at a sub national level) capitalism is fundamentally incapable of delivering climate justice. Already inadequate measures and commitments are fought over or watered down.

Mitigation and decarbonisation led by the private sector within a capitalist economy driven by growth and profit is never going to turn back climate disaster.

How can capitalism be the means of delivering climate justice when it is capitalism that is the main cause of the climate crisis. The world’s largest corporations are responsible for around 70% of global industrial greenhouse gases. Corporations do support mitigation measures but will ensure the models of consumption won’t be fundamentally transformed.

Two recent articles on Talking About Socialism, Water – why the capitalist class is unfit to rule and From Eco-Socialist talking to Eco-Socialist action set out why capitalism needs to end before climate justice can be secured:

As the climate crisis deepens,  inefficient, ineffective, and profit-driven technological reforms will be promoted by governments and corporations. While offering some amelioration, these steps will only deepen global inequality and insecurity and fail to tackle the totality of the crisis.

Confronted by population movements and social struggles resulting from climate breakdown, governments across the globe will further strengthen borders and introduce repressive legislation to police the social turmoil.

Of course, we have to fight for reforms in the here and now, to alleviate the present misery faced by billions. But so long as this system exists we will always have to fight that fight. We must organise to put an end to the necessity of this permanent struggle for the very basics of life. We must set our sights on fundamentally changing the whole system.