{"id":223832,"date":"2022-11-14T13:21:09","date_gmt":"2022-11-14T13:21:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=223832"},"modified":"2022-11-14T13:21:09","modified_gmt":"2022-11-14T13:21:09","slug":"on-the-highway-to-climate-hell-the-climate-crisis-activism-and-broken-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2022\/11\/on-the-highway-to-climate-hell-the-climate-crisis-activism-and-broken-politics\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018On the Highway to Climate Hell\u2019 \u2013 The Climate Crisis, Activism and Broken Politics"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

14 Nov 2022 – <\/em>Last month, the United Nation\u2019s environment agency issued arguably its starkest warning<\/a> yet about the climate crisis. The failure by governments around the world to cut carbon emissions means there is \u2018no credible pathway to 1.5C in place\u2019. Limiting the rise of global warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels was the international agreement at COP21, the UN Climate Summit in Paris in 2015.<\/p>\n

Inger Andersen, the executive director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), said<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u2018We had our chance to make incremental changes, but that time is over. Only a root-and-branch transformation of our economies and societies can save us from accelerating climate disaster.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Professor David King, a former UK chief scientific adviser, responded<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u2018The [UNEP] report is a dire warning to all countries \u2013 none of whom are doing anywhere near enough to manage the climate emergency.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Scientists are now admitting more often that they are \u2018scared\u2019<\/a> about the climate crisis. Record high temperatures this summer in the UK alone prompted Professor Hannah Cloke, from Reading University, to say:<\/p>\n

\u2018This sort of thing is really scary. It\u2019s just one statistic amongst an avalanche of extreme weather events that used to be known as \u201cnatural disasters\u201d.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This language was echoed by Professor Dame Jane Francis, director of the British Antarctic Survey. Temperatures in the Antarctic of 40C above the seasonal norm have been measured, and 30C above in the Arctic.<\/p>\n

Francis was alarmed<\/a> most of all by a recent report warning that if the 1.5C threshold were exceeded, now regarded as almost inevitable, it \u2018could trigger multiple climate tipping points: abrupt, irreversible and with dangerous impacts.\u2019<\/p>\n

She said<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s really scary. It seems some of [these trends] are already under way.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Bill McGuire, professor emeritus of geophysical and climate hazards at University College London, wrote<\/a> that humanity has:<\/p>\n

\u2018to accept that we are going to crash through the 1.5C climate breakdown guardrail, so that we are forced to face the brutal reality of desperately challenging climate conditions in the decades to come. This means facing the fact that we have no choice but to adapt rapidly to a very different world, one that our grandparents would struggle to recognise.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He added:<\/p>\n

\u2018Only if Cop acknowledges that 1.5C is now lost, and that dangerous, all-pervasive climate breakdown is unavoidable, will corporations and governments no longer have anywhere to hide, and no safety net that they can use as an excuse to do little or nothing.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

However, he added a vital, hopeful perspective:<\/p>\n

\u2018The failure of the Cop process to avert the arrival of Hothouse Earth conditions doesn\u2019t mean that it\u2019s all over, that the battle is lost. Far from it. Above and beyond 1.5C, each and every 0.1C rise in global average temperature that we can forestall becomes critical; every ton of carbon dioxide or methane we can prevent being emitted becomes a vital win.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Some scientists have now resorted to direct action, for which they have been arrested. NASA climate scientist Peter Kalman explained<\/a> his motivation when locking himself to the doors of a terminal for private jets:<\/p>\n

\u2018We say: this is our Earth; this is not the rich people\u2019s Earth. This is for all of us. This is for future generations. This is for all of the other species that live on this planet, too.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

UN secretary general Antonio Guterres warned<\/a> at the start of COP27, the UN climate summit taking place in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, that the world is:<\/p>\n

\u2018on the highway to climate hell with our foot still on the accelerator.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He added:<\/p>\n

\u2018We are in the fight for our lives \u2013 and we are losing.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The war in Ukraine cannot be used as an excuse to delay the urgent transformation of society that is required:<\/p>\n

\u2018It is the defining issue of our age. It is the central challenge of our century. It is unacceptable, outrageous and self-defeating to put it on the backburner.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Gustavo Francisco Petro Urrego, president of Colombia, began his COP27 speech with a warning<\/a> about the risk of \u2018the extinction of humankind\u2019.<\/p>\n

He added<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u2018It is time for humanity, not for markets. The markets have produced this crisis, it will never get us out of it.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He specifically called out the fossil fuel industry for their climate crimes.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, BP has just reported<\/a> a huge profit due to high oil and gas prices exacerbated by the war in Ukraine. The fossil fuel giant made \u00a37.1 billion for the period from July to September, more than double the profit over the same three months last year. As we discussed in a recent media alert<\/a>, BP is making large sums of money from oil in \u2018liberated\u2019 Iraq where the company is causing extensive human and environmental damage.<\/p>\n

Likewise, Shell announced<\/a> a massive profit of \u00a38.2 billion for the same period, its second highest quarterly profit on record. Reuters reported<\/a> that the combined quarterly profits of four of the largest global oil companies was almost \u00a350 billion.<\/p>\n

These eye-watering sums, in the face of climate breakdown, are both outrageous and immoral. And they just skim the surface. But it\u2019s much, much worse even than this.<\/p>\n

Aaron Theirry, co-founder of Scientists for Extinction Rebellion, recently pointed out<\/a> that:<\/p>\n

\u2018The world\u2019s largest oil and gas companies are set to invest\u00a0<\/a>$930 billion\u00a0over this decade in new fossil fuel projects. Whilst the largest investment banks such as J.P. Morgan, Citigroup, etc. have continued to pour hundreds of billions<\/a>\u00a0into the sector since the Paris agreement.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He added:<\/p>\n

\u2018It was recently calculated that fossil fuel companies already own seven times more reserves<\/a>\u00a0than can be burned if we are to stay below 1.5C of global warming \u2013 yet they continue to explore for more, with government backing! Mark Camanale, CEO of Carbon Tracker points out that if we look at current investment strategies then \u201cwe are heading way beyond 3C degrees<\/strong><\/em>\u201d<\/a>. In other words, the global political and financial elites are still marching us towards catastrophe.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Even the establishment Economist magazine has been blunt, with a recent editorial<\/a> in a special issue on the climate crisis warning that:<\/p>\n

\u2018The world is missing its lofty climate targets. Time for some realism. Global warming cannot be limited to 1.5\u00b0C.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Economist explained<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u2018An emissions pathway with a 50\/50 chance of meeting the 1.5\u00b0C goal was only just credible at the time of Paris. Seven intervening years of rising emissions mean such pathways are now firmly in the realm of the incredible. The collapse of civilisation might bring it about; so might a comet strike or some other highly unlikely and horrific natural perturbation. Emissions-reduction policies will not, however bravely intended.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The article continued:<\/p>\n

\u2018Most in the field know this to be true; those who do not, should. Very few say it in public, or on the record.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Although the Economist would likely never point to capitalism as the root of the crisis, others do. Media analyst and political writer Alan MacLeod tweeted<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s capitalism or the planet. It really is that simple.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Climate Activists Are \u2018Truthsayers\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a recent interview<\/a> with Aaron Bastani of Novara Media, wildlife television presenter and conservationist Chris Packham made highly articulate comments about the climate crisis, grassroots protest and the destructive nature of the private media. It is well worth quoting him at length. As Bastani noted, Packham is a genuine national treasure, highly regarded by much of the British public for his knowledge and passion about the natural world and the environment, and for his keen ability to communicate these issues effectively.<\/p>\n

Bastani asked him:<\/p>\n

\u2018Do you think politics in this country is capable of addressing the climate crisis?\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Packham answered:<\/p>\n

\u2018No. No, I think the people will have to force our politicians to address it. That\u2019s why I continue to support those activists [referring to Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil] who are making a noise about this, and trying to bring it to the forefront of public attention, and express and articulate the urgency [of the situation] that we now find ourselves in.<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s not only that I don\u2019t trust them [politicians], it\u2019s that even if they were trustworthy people, I don\u2019t think the system\u2019s there to make it work.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Packham highlighted the acceleration of the climate crisis and the lack of response from political leaders to tackle it:<\/p>\n

\u2018As every day goes by, we do more and more damage. My concern is, of course, that we go beyond the point where we can adapt and recover. And as someone who is aware of that damage within the environment \u2013 I\u2019m not an economist or social scientist \u2013 but, within the environment, what I read coming from the scientists says that the time to act is now. It\u2019s not something that we should wait any longer for. And it\u2019s that lack of urgency that we see in our global elected representatives, and the enormous inertia when it comes to the transformative changes that we need to make, that are scary.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He then expressed his strong support for climate activists:<\/p>\n

\u2018That\u2019s why people are glueing themselves to bridges. That\u2019s why people are glueing themselves to Van Goghs and chucking mashed potato and tomato soup over it. They\u2019re scared<\/em>. They\u2019re terrified out of their wits<\/em> \u2013 because they\u2019ve read the writing on the wall, and they understand that we need to address it, and implement the whole plethora of means that we have at our disposal to restore, recover and repair. And there\u2019s a lot of work there that we could be getting on with. I\u2019m not saying we have all the answers. But we\u2019ve got way more than enough to get started.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Of course, much of the so-called \u2018mainstream\u2019 media vilifies climate activists which then provokes anger towards them by some members of the public:<\/p>\n

\u2018And then, what happens to those people? Well, they\u2019re demonised by the billionaire press \u2013 again. And we have members of the public dragging them off of the street, beating them up, almost, dragging them off the street. When, really, all they\u2019ve done is display their fear. I think when it comes to these sorts of protests, we should think far more about what motivates these people than the way that they choose to manifest their protest. Yes, it\u2019s inconvenient. But why are they doing it?\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Packham\u2019s support for Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil is not without reservation; but only in the sense of encouraging them to be even more<\/em> effective:<\/p>\n

\u2018In a time when it\u2019s so difficult to get \u201cnews\u201d to the masses, they\u2019re doing everything in their power to do that. And, yes, sometimes they could be a bit more imaginative and, yes, sometimes their ideas overstay their welcome. I\u2019ve said that to them; I\u2019ll say it now. You know, there\u2019s only so many times you can throw soup on a painting to get news because that\u2019s the way that the media works. But, as long as they keep up that imagination, as long as they keep finding ways of peacefully, non-violently demonstrating, and keeping that at the forefront of people\u2019s minds, then they will be making progress. But what they\u2019re up against is people turning them into villains. They\u2019re not; they\u2019re truthsayers. They\u2019re the canaries in the coal mine. We should be listening to these people, and many of them are extremely articulate and they know what motivates them.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

When \u2018Opposition\u2019 Is Complicity<\/strong><\/p>\n

Following the interview, Bastani used Twitter to highlight<\/a> the glaring contrast between Packham\u2019s cogent remarks on climate activism and the disparaging comments by establishment stooge, Sir Keir Starmer. Bastani presented a clip of Starmer, the supposed \u2018Leader of the Opposition\u2019, addressing Just Stop Oil as though he were a fossil-fuel-friendly government minister:<\/p>\n

\u2018Get up, go home. I\u2019m opposed to what you\u2019re doing. It\u2019s not the way to deal with the climate crisis. And that\u2019s why we\u2019ve wanted longer sentences for those that are glueing themselves and stuck on roads.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As Bastani observed<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s not pretty but relentlessly keeping climate crisis at the top of news agenda is absolutely \u201ceffective\u201d. Politicians only address things regarded as salient by electorate. Otherwise you just get words.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Last year, Starmer blanked a young activist, a Labour Party member, when asked about supporting the Green New Deal<\/a>. In the viral video clip<\/a> from Brighton, where the Labour annual conference was taking place, Starmer pointedly ignored the young woman who had politely approached him. It was excruciating to see Starmer\u2019s desperation to avoid answering her.<\/p>\n

Alex Nunns, author of \u2018The Candidate \u2013 Jeremy Corbyn\u2019s Improbable Path To Power\u2019 and former Corbyn speechwriter, tweeted \u2018A short video about fraud\u2019 showing Starmer\u2019s transition from a supposed supported of climate activism in 2019 when he had said:<\/p>\n

\u2018Climate change is the issue of our time, and as the Extinction Rebellion protest showed us this week, the next generation are not going to forgive us if we don\u2019t take action. There\u2019s been lots of talk. Now we need action.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Three years later, you see an authoritarian, right-wing politician calling for longer sentences for climate activists. Fraud, indeed.<\/p>\n

But this is symptomatic of Starmer\u2019s disreputable bid to shake off any links with Labour under Corbyn, ditching the pledges<\/a> he made, and now presenting himself as an establishment safe pair of hands of whom the billionaire press need not be afraid.<\/p>\n

To what extent can Starmer be trusted to tackle the state-corporate establishment on climate? As we noted in a recent media alert<\/a> addressing the mass media\u2019s omerta towards Al Jazeera\u2019s \u2018Labour Files\u2019, dissent in Starmer\u2019s Labour is being crushed.<\/p>\n

This even extends to purging Labour of left-wing candidates in the party\u2019s selection process for parliamentary elections. Angus Satow, head of communications at Momentum, the grassroots left-wing movement made up of members of the Labour Party, highlighted<\/a> on Twitter how Starmer\u2019s Labour have been blocking council leaders, other senior council figures and even ex-Labour MPs if they have been deemed insufficiently loyal to the Labour right-wing:<\/p>\n

\u2018They\u2019re stitching it up\u2019.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Labour selection strategy for candidates is blatant<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u2018They block all left-wingers from the start, and ensure any candidate offered to members is \u201cfriendly\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u2018This is no democratic choice at all.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Labour process relies on something they call \u2018due diligence\u2019. Satow explained<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u2018A \u201cdossier\u201d is compiled of \u201cconcerning evidence\u201d which has \u201ccome to light in the course of routine due diligence\u201d checks on social media.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He added<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u2018There are some truly laughable examples of what this evidence consists of.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Once having liked a Caroline Lucas tweet<\/p>\n

\u2013 Liking a tweet by Nicola Sturgeon about testing negative for covid\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But, worse<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u2018Equally, there are some truly disturbing examples of \u201cevidence\u201d which is grounds for blocking:<\/p>\n

\u2013 having mentioned Palestinian refugees (a blatant act of anti-Palestinian racism)<\/p>\n

\u2013 Liking a tweet calling on Labour to be bolder in its economic policy<\/p>\n

\u2013 a \u201chistory of protest\u201d\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Some readers may recall the appalling revelation<\/a> in Al Jazeera\u2019s \u2018Labour Files\u2019<\/a> that \u2018Palestine\u2019 was used as a search term by Labour HQ to root out members whom they might deem as \u2018antisemitic\u2019. Meanwhile, the party exhibits a \u2018hierarchy of racism\u2019 characterised by Islamophobia and anti-Black racism.<\/p>\n

Satow observed<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u2018All this is the polar opposite of what Starmer promised in 2020.<\/p>\n

\u2018The media shouldn\u2019t have any hesitation in saying this: Starmer lied to get elected.<\/p>\n

\u2018He did so because this strategy is wholly out of touch with the mood in the Party and the country.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Satow concluded<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u2018So in sum:<\/p>\n

* promises broken<\/p>\n

* rights of trade unions disregarded<\/p>\n

* local members & parties disrespected<\/p>\n

* failing on anti-racism<\/p>\n

* anti-democratic stitch-ups<\/p>\n

This is Keir Starmer\u2019s Labour Party.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As if all this was not sufficient to discredit Starmer, Peter Oborne, former Telegraph chief political commentator, pointed<\/a> to:<\/p>\n

\u2018The conspiracy of lies about Corbyn that unites Sunak and Starmer\u2019.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

At Prime Minister\u2019s Questions in the House of Commons on 2 November, Rishi Sunak:<\/p>\n

\u2018resorted to smear and fabrication about Jeremy Corbyn<\/a>\u2019s 2019 Labour Party general election manifesto, saying<\/a>: \u201cLet us remember that national security agenda: abolishing our armed forces, scrapping the nuclear deterrent, withdrawing from Nato, voting against every single anti-terror law we tried, and befriending Hamas and Hezbollah. He [Starmer] may want to forget about it, but we will remind him of it every week, because it is the Conservative government who will keep this country safe.\u201d\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Oborne observed:<\/p>\n

\u2018Yet Labour\u2019s 2019 manifesto<\/a>\u00a0proposed none of these things.<\/p>\n

\u2018Sunak must surely have known all this was untrue. As chief secretary of the Treasury, he played a prominent role in the 2019 election and must have been familiar with the contents of the Labour manifesto. To knowingly utter an untruth is to lie.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The following day, Corbyn responded in the Commons, saying that the prime minister had given \u2018a wholly inaccurate representation\u2019 of the 2019 Labour manifesto, and suggested that the prime minister should correct the record.<\/a>\u00a0This has yet to happen.<\/p>\n

Oborne then pointed to Starmer\u2019s disgraceful silence:<\/p>\n

\u2018When Sunak unloaded his barrage of fabrication and smear, I am puzzled that Starmer did not correct him. As one of Corbyn\u2019s most senior lieutenants during that campaign, he must have known every word of that manifesto.<\/p>\n

\u2018This means that when Sunak spewed out his falsehoods, Starmer was in a position to point out that he was wrong. He could have quietly noted that there was no Labour plan to scrap the nuclear deterrent, abolish the armed forces, withdraw from Nato etc. He could have demanded an apology.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Oborne added:<\/p>\n

\u2018Yet he chose not to stand up for his former political colleague. I assume this was a political \u2013 and not an ethical \u2013 decision.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He concluded:<\/p>\n

\u2018Starmer has chosen not to define his leadership of the Labour Party in opposition to the Tories. He defines himself against his predecessor, Corbyn, even if that means entering into a conspiracy of deceit with the man who ought to be his real opponent \u2013 Rishi Sunak.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Can anyone seriously believe that Sir Keir Starmer, a dissembling establishment politician, will actually take the necessary radical steps to address the climate crisis?<\/p>\n

\u2018Eco-Zealots\u2019 And \u2018Sociopaths\u2019 Who Want To Save Your Life<\/strong><\/p>\n

Starmer might as well declare that he stands foursquare behind the billionaire-owned, extreme right-wing press who have vilified climate activists as \u2018eco-zealots\u2019 and \u2018eco-mobs\u2019 (Daily Mail<\/a>); \u2018sociopaths with sickening levels of entitlement and self-importance\u2019, a \u2018lunatic fringe\u2019, \u2018criminal cult\u2019, \u2018extremists\u2019 (The Sun<\/a>); and \u2018eco bullies who inflict misery on epic scale\u2019 (Daily Express<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Daily Telegraph columnist and assistant editor Michael Deacon published an article<\/a> under the headline: \u201cJust Stop Oil are no longer simply activists \u2013 they\u2019re a cult.\u201d Another Telegraph comment piece<\/a>, from the notorious climate sceptic Ross Clark, was titled: \u2018Will the environmental extremists of Just Stop Oil slowly morph into terrorists?\u2019<\/p>\n

As we said earlier, Chris Packham correctly describes climate activists as truthsayers who are doing what they can, not just to raise the climate alarm, but to demand that government treats the climate emergency as an emergency<\/em>. Just Stop Oil is adamant<\/a> they will not stop until the government halts all new oil and gas licences and projects.<\/p>\n

Extinction Rebellion, too, is standing firm<\/a> in the face of media demonisation:<\/p>\n

\u2018Do radical protests turn the public away from a cause? No, despite what people say on social media.<\/p>\n

\u2018Do radical protests bring attention to that cause? Absolutely.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Indeed, an opinion poll<\/a> published last month showed that two-thirds of the British population supports peaceful direct action in support of the environment. In any case, as the independent journalist and political writer Jonathan Cook noted<\/a> recently:<\/p>\n

\u2018criticism of the protests has missed the point. The activists aren\u2019t trying to win elections \u2013 they are not engaged in a popularity contest.<\/p>\n

\u2018Their goal is to disrupt narratives and mobilise resistance. That requires building consciousness among those parts of the populace more receptive to their message, swelling the ranks of activists prepared to take part in civil disobedience, and making life ever harder for things to continue as normal.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The \u2018MSM\u2019 may actually sit up and take more notice now that\u00a0journalists have been arrested as they try to report on climate protests. Charlotte Lynch, a journalist with LBC, tweeted<\/a> on 9 November:<\/p>\n

\u2018Yesterday I was arrested by @HertsPolice<\/a> whilst covering a protest on the M25. I showed my press card, and I was handcuffed almost immediately. My phone was snatched out of my hand. I was searched twice, held in a cell for 5 hours, and I wasn\u2019t questioned whilst in custody.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Jun Pang, policy and campaigns officer at Liberty, said<\/a> the arrests were \u2018being enabled and encouraged by the government\u2019s dangerous assault on protest rights\u2019.<\/p>\n

Jane Merrick, policy editor at the i newspaper<\/em> and former political editor of The Independent on Sunday, tweeted<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u2018This is extraordinary and deeply worrying. The plea \u201ccan I show you my press card?\u201d \u2013 which would have avoided this \u2013 is just ignored. Police should not be arresting journalists in this country.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As an important corollary, let us not forget that the journalist and Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange<\/a> has been effectively held prisoner since 2012 \u2013 first when seeking political asylum in London\u2019s Ecuador embassy and then, after being abducted by the police in 2019, in Belmarsh high-security prison \u2013 for publishing evidence of US war crimes. Shamefully, \u2018mainstream\u2019 journalists have largely washed their hands of him.<\/p>\n

Political analyst Nafez Ahmed noted<\/a> last month that \u2018Britain is sleepwalking into societal collapse\u2019. He warned:<\/p>\n

\u2018Over the coming months, we are going to witness an acceleration of interconnected political, social and economic crises which strike at the heart of Britain\u2019s social fabric, and strain critical institutions and services \u2013 energy, transport, housing, food, health, criminal justice, policing and beyond.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Ahmed continued:<\/p>\n

\u2018the next Labour Government is going to inherit a bigger and more intractable crisis than the 2008 crash \u2013 a comprehensive crisis in which every sector of British society experiences a breakdown, with a destructive impact on the lives of citizens. This is why it is a form of societal collapse.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Given Labour\u2019s ditching of pledges under Starmer as the party shifts ever further towards the right, there is little prospect any time soon of averting this collapse.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg rightly labelled<\/a> COP27 a \u2018scam\u2019 that is \u2018failing\u2019 humanity by not leading to \u2018major changes\u2019. Instead, it is a high-profile, attention-seeking gathering for people in positions of power for \u2018greenwashing, lying and cheating.\u2019<\/p>\n

She provided<\/a> a defiantly hopeful note:<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019m convinced that when we are enough people to push for change, then change will come and we will never give up. We will never stop fighting for the living world. And it will never be too late to save as much as we can possibly save.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

She concluded:<\/p>\n

\u2018About a month ago, on the global climate strike, hundreds of thousands of people climate striked across the planet. We are still here, and we are not planning on going anywhere. Young people all over the world are stepping up, and showing that our leaders messed with the wrong generation.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As history has revealed time and time again, real change comes from below. The same will be true if we are to mitigate the worst effects of climate breakdown and societal collapse.<\/p>\n

__________________________________________<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> Media Lens is a UK-based media watchdog group headed by David Edwards and David Cromwell. In 2007,<\/em> Media Lens was awarded the Gandhi Foundation International Peace Prize<\/a>.\u00a0We have written three co-authored books<\/em>:\u00a0Guardians of Power-The Myth of the Liberal Media <\/a>(Pluto Press, 2006),<\/em> Newspeak-In the 21st Century<\/a> (Pluto Press, 2009), and<\/em> Propaganda Blitz<\/a> (Pluto Press, 2018)<\/em>. Contacts: David Edwards: editor@medialens.org<\/a> – David Cromwell: editor@medialens.org<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 medialens.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

14 Nov 2022 – Last month, the UN Environment Agency issued its starkest warning yet about the climate crisis. The failure by governments around the world to cut carbon emissions means there is \u2018no credible pathway to 1.5C in place\u2019. Limiting the rise of global warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels was the international agreement at COP21, the UN Climate Summit in Paris in 2015.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":223834,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[686,2951,401,993,124],"class_list":["post-223832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environment","tag-climate-change","tag-cop27","tag-environment","tag-global-warming","tag-united-nations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223832","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223832"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223832\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/223834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}