A new report published to mark International Day for Disaster Reduction, October 13, spells out clearly that 91% of major disaster events are extreme weather events and they account for 77% of the recorded economic losses from climate and geophysical events.
Total recorded economic losses for the last twenty years are significantly under-reported but come to a total of almost $3 trillion, according to an analysis of the global data base maintained by the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED). And, a whopping $2,245 billion of that is attributed to climate-related disasters.
At the end of this year, governments are set to complete the implementation guidelines of the Paris Climate Change Agreement – a crucial step to ensure that the agreement can be truly effective. The international community needs to support all nations in their efforts to develop national adaptation plans and to integrate climate change and disaster risk reduction fully into their development objectives. For this, the developed country pledge of mobilizing $100 billion per year by 2020 for developing countries’ climate change efforts will be crucial. This is a relatively small investment in light of the size of economic losses from extreme weather events.
Last year set a new record for economic losses caused by extreme weather events, notably floods and storms, which are aided and abetted by record rises in land and sea surface temperatures, rising sea levels and more vapor in the atmosphere. Global mean temperatures last year were 1.1˚C above pre-industrial temperatures and the world’s nine warmest years have all occurred since 2005. Odds are that 2018 will become the 4th hottest year on record. These profound changes often find expression in unspeakable tragedies such as the loss of lives, homes and livelihoods in wildfires. Droughts are contributing to a rise in world hunger for the first time in a decade. Unprecedented levels of rainfall contribute to the loss of many lives in events such as the collapse of a hillside in Sierra Leone or a dam in Laos. Atlantic hurricane seasons can kill thousands of people. Typhoons in Asia force the evacuation of millions.
The recent IPCC report states that rapid and bold actions are necessary to avoid the catastrophic impacts of climate change and that the goals of the Paris Accord will be insufficient. A sense of urgency is needed, yet most calls for action are misguided. To address a problem, it is most effective to identify the root cause. One might argue that the root cause of climate change is fossil fuels and carbon emissions. However, this overlooks how our current economic system not only continues to depends upon the fossil fuel industry but also drives the continuous increases in consumption causing mounting environmental degradation. What is this system? Capitalism. The root cause of climate change is the economic system that prioritises profits at the expense of ecological and social well-being. Reducing glass-house gas emissions is incompatible with capital accumulation and market expansion. In a system prioritising profits supposed green policies will continue to be fruitless. Green capitalism is no solution as the Emissions Trading System, the oldest and largest carbon market, EU policy director, stated, “the EU carbon market will continue to fail at its task to spur green investments and phase out coal.”
The world is on course not for the desired 1.5˚C rise in temperatures but 3˚C. The clock is ticking.
More and more people are starting to question whether a capitalist system that prioritizes profit and growth above all is really a good thing. The authors of the UN document explain, we need to “focus on life-improving and emissions-reducing goals rather than abstract economic goals.” They call for a new system where “economic activity will gain meaning not by achieving economic growth but by rebuilding infrastructure and practices toward a post-fossil fuel world with a radically smaller burden on natural ecosystems.”
That system can only be world socialism
The recent IPCC report states that rapid and bold actions are necessary to avoid the catastrophic impacts of climate change and that the goals of the Paris Accord will be insufficient. A sense of urgency is needed, yet most calls for action are misguided. To address a problem, it is most effective to identify the root cause. One might argue that the root cause of climate change is fossil fuels and carbon emissions. However, this overlooks how our current economic system not only continues to depends upon the fossil fuel industry but also drives the continuous increases in consumption causing mounting environmental degradation. What is this system? Capitalism. The root cause of climate change is the economic system that prioritises profits at the expense of ecological and social well-being. Reducing glass-house gas emissions is incompatible with capital accumulation and market expansion. In a system prioritising profits supposed green policies will continue to be fruitless. Green capitalism is no solution as the Emissions Trading System, the oldest and largest carbon market, EU policy director, stated, “the EU carbon market will continue to fail at its task to spur green investments and phase out coal.”
The world is on course not for the desired 1.5˚C rise in temperatures but 3˚C. The clock is ticking.
More and more people are starting to question whether a capitalist system that prioritizes profit and growth above all is really a good thing. The authors of the UN document explain, we need to “focus on life-improving and emissions-reducing goals rather than abstract economic goals.” They call for a new system where “economic activity will gain meaning not by achieving economic growth but by rebuilding infrastructure and practices toward a post-fossil fuel world with a radically smaller burden on natural ecosystems.”
That system can only be world socialism
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