The Ecosocialist Resources column is published at irregular intervals. It features links to new articles, reports, talks and videos that are relevant to Climate & Capitalism’s mission and goals.
Inclusion of a link does not imply endorsement, or that we agree with everything (or even anything!) the item says.
If you read or write an article that might be appropriate for this column, please post your suggestion in the Climate and Capitalism Facebook group.
- New Ecosocialist Party in Switzerland‘The Left’ aims to challenge Social Democrats and Greens The following article appeared in Swiss News Worldwide on November 22. Left-leaning parties receive competition A new Swiss political party has been founded. “The Left” will attempt to win votes with a platform more leftwing than that of the Greens or Social Democrats. Around 200 people took part ...---READ-->>
- Socialists, the Environment and Ecosocialism: A View from South AfricaFrom a paper presented by Trevor Ngwane to the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation conference on “The Global Crisis and Africa: Struggles for Alternatives,” Randburg, South Africa, November 19, 2009. There is an ecological crisis in the world and this crisis can be traced to capitalism. There is deforestation due to the trade in timber. There is climate ...---READ-->>
- Naomi Klein on Climate Debt and Climate RageWhy rich countries should pay reparations to poor countries for the climate crisis On November 23, on the always excellent program Democracy Now, Naomi Klein, author of “No Logo” and “The Shock Doctrine,” discussed her recent article for Rolling Stone magazine, Climate Rage. That piece in Rolling Stone is looking at a growing demand for the repayment ...---READ-->>
- The Dark History of Population ControlThe future must be both pro-life and pro-choice, combining forces to oppose population control of any kind---READ-->>
- Socialism, Democracy and Movement-BuildingEditor’s note: Beyond discussing the causes and implications of ecological destruction, ecosocialists need to consider what kind of movement is needed to transform society. This article, by a leading member of the British group Socialist Resistance, offers some trenchant criticisms of the “really existing left” in capitalist countries today. by Liam Mac Uaid Napkins are hardly ...---READ-->>
- World on Course for Catastrophic 6° RiseFast-rising carbon emissions mean that worst-case predictions for climate change are coming true by Steve Connor and Michael McCarthy The Independent, November 18, 2009 The world is now firmly on course for the worst-case scenario in terms of climate change, with average global temperatures rising by up to 6°C by the end of the century, leading scientists said ...---READ-->>
- Friedman Fantasizes about Green CapitalismThe mentality that “natural capitalism” can save the world will lead to a the “Fortress World” scenario, the rich, walled in enclaves, periodically breached by the world’s poor (Courtesy of Jewbonics, November 15, 2009) Climate change is class war, extended to future generations. Capitalist economic production says, our accrual of wealth is more important than your desire ...---READ-->>
- Food Summit Fails Before It StartsDespite record-high harvests, the number of hungry people continues to rise – and the world’s rulers do nothing By Nick Squires Telegraph (Britain) November 12, 2009 The leaked World Food Summit draft declaration falls short of a UN goal of eradicating hunger by 2025. Instead, leaders are expected to to sign a watered down declaration in Rome ...---READ-->>
- Carbon Trading: A Spectacular FailureFree-market ideologues still trumpet the virtues of carbon trading, but a host of NGOs, businesspeople and even government bodies now admit that we got it badly wrong. by Kevin Smith China Dialogue, November 9, 2009 Carbon trading isn’t working, and doesn’t show any signs of improving either. The biggest experiment in carbon trading so far, the European ...---READ-->>
- Most Vulnerable Nations Seek Climate JusticeFinal Draft of declaration issued November 11 in the Maldives, by the Climate Vulnerable Forum, comprising the 11 countries considered most vulnerable to climate change: Maldives, Kiribati, Bangladesh, Nepal, Vietnam, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Barbados and Bhutan. We, Heads of State, Ministers and representatives of Government from Africa, Asia, Caribbean and the Pacific, representing some of the ...---READ-->>
- Update on "The Global Fight for Climate Justice"Canada’s leading publisher and distributor of progressive books will publish a North American edition of The Global Fight for Climate Justice: Anticapitalist Responses to Global Warming and Environmental Destruction. The first edition, edited by Ian Angus (editor of Climate & Captalism), was published in July in England, by Resistance Books. It has been reviewed by: Ash Pemberton ...---READ-->>
- Climate Talks on the Road to NowhereThe seeds of the current impasse were planted in Bali and nourished in subsequent negotiations by David Spratt Green Left Weekly The global community is supposed to be negotiating an agreement to contain greenhouse gas emissions to manageable levels. But with less than two months to the Copenhagen climate change conference, the big players are stuck in ...---READ-->>
- Denmark Aims to Criminalize Climate ProtestsAs the Copenhagen climate summit approaches, the Danish government is rushing through a harsh new law that allows preventive detention, increases fines and extends sentences for demonstrators Derek Wall (Another Green World) shares this proposed letter to Danish authorities, written by an ecosocialist activist in Copenhagen. He encourages activists worldwide to send similar protests to the ...---READ-->>
- The Looming Debacle in CopenhagenThe major capitalist powers are blocking the road to a global climate treaty … and preparing to blame China for the failure by Phil Ward from Socialist Resistance Any hopes that the December Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen will produce a treaty on greenhouse gas emission reductions are fading rapidly. Janos Pasztor, director of the UN Climate Change ...---READ-->>
- Carbon Capture Can't Clean the Tar SandsA new study produced by The Co-operative Financial Services and WWF-UK debunks the idea, lauded by oil companies and the Canadian government, that carbon capture and storage (CCS) will significantly counter the high levels of greenhouse gases emitted in the production of oil from the Alberta tar sands. The following is the Executive Summary of Carbon ...---READ-->>
- Vancouver rally warns of climate calamityAccording to 350.org, there were over 5200 actions in 181 countries marking the October 24, International Day of Climate Action, making it the “most widespread day of environmental action in the planet’s history.” Reports are still coming in, but it appears that the largest Canadian action was in Vancouver. By Roger Annis VANCOUVER BC–Thousands of people held ...---READ-->>
- Debate: Is Nuclear Part of the Solution?Two environmentalists debate nuclear power. Barry Brook is the Sir Hubert Wilkins professor of climate change at the University of Adelaide. He runs the Brave New Climate blog. Dr Jim Green is national nuclear campaigner with Friends of the Earth and a member of the EnergyScience Coalition. From Green Left Weekly, October 25 2009 It’s time to ...---READ-->>
- Which Way for Quebec: Green Capitalism or Ecosocialism?Climate and Capitalism previously published one section of Marc Bonhomme’s speaking notes for a presentation he made to the Association de défense des droits sociaux du Montréal métropolitain on October 13, on “Which Way Out Of the Crisis?” Thanks to Richard Fidler, we now have a translation of his notes for the entire talk. ========== A. ...---READ-->>
- Learn from Cuba says New Orleans mayorWe’re not fans of New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin, but in this case he gets it right. by Tom Mellen Morning Star, October 21 2009 New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin praised Cuba’s disaster response system on Tuesday, acknowledging that the islands’s socialist authorities “do a much better job than we do.” Mr Nagin, who arrived in Cuba last Friday ...---READ-->>
- More on Copenhagen: Climate Justice ActionClimate justice movement plans mass action during UN climate talks. “The UN climate talks will not solve the climate crisis” (October 18) The international network Climate Justice Action (CJA) (1) met this weekend to prepare for mass actions during the international climate negotiations in Copenhagen in December 2009. After 14 years of ineffectual talks, activists from social ...---READ-->>