Sari Zeineddine | Staff Writer

The Climate Change question has recently risen as an existential question, since its impacts won’t exclude anyone. As a result, global industrial powers were pushed to find a solution that’s bearable for the overall mode of production. Here comes the real dilemma: Can the capitalist system along with the current mode of production and distribution of wealth, fight Climate Change?

Poorer countries: debt or climate crisis

Poorer countries are actually the component that is struggling the most to cope with the climate crisis and reducing carbon emissions. Some facts that an article in the Guardian mentioned on the 27th of October are really helpful to illustrate the relation between debt and climate crisis. Some figures from Jubilee Debt Campaign show that 34 of the world’s poorest countries are spending $29.4bn (£21.4bn) on debt payments a year compared with $5.4bn (£3.9bn) on measures to reduce the impact of the climate emergency. Uganda is a major example that could help explain the impact of debt on the government’s ability to fund its measures in order to reduce CO2 emissions. Ausi Kibowa, from the Southern and Eastern Africa Trade Information and Negotiations Institute (SEATINI), based in Uganda, said: “Owing to the immense financial pressure on Uganda from the debt crisis, the Ugandan government is unable to spend what is needed to protect people from the damage inflicted by climate change.”

Whom to blame?

The biggest sector of carbon consumption in the Western economies is unsurprisingly the military (autos, aircraft and airlines, shipping, chemicals, bottled water, processed foods, and unnecessary pharmaceuticals are directly linked to carbon emissions). In addition to this, the US is actually doing very little to reduce its fossil fuel industry. The opposite is happening: crude oil and gas production is rising fast and exploration is being expanded. Furthermore, G20 countries have directed around USD 300 billion in new funds towards fossil fuel activities since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic — more than they have towards clean energy. Indeed, most major oil and gas producers are planning on increasing production out to 2030 or beyond, while several major coal producers are planning on continuing or increasing production.

In closing, the global powers and their fossil fuel industry have pushed the CO2 emissions to historic highs. And the actual solution for this disaster is to phase out the fossil fuel industry and replace it with clean energy sources. Moreover, this calls for significant public investment and a new system based on economic planning instead of relying on profits and wars to reproduce itself. Also, this requires transferring jobs from fossil fuel companies to green technology and eco-friendly production companies.