COP 26 — a summit of World leaders and 30,000 politicians, businessmen, bankers, “green investors” and “green lobbyists” and many other hangers on are expected to be in Glasgow this week to attend the event which is sponsored by an array of multinational corporations in the energy, car, chemical, pharmaceutical and IT sectors. These are supposed to be the people who can ensure that the necessary measures to deal with the climate crisis are taken and implemented, but the signs are not good.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin will not be attending, even though since 1990 their countries have occupied second and third place, after the US, for the emission of CO2 into the atmosphere.
So far countries have struggled to reach the announced target of $100 billion to tackle climate change. This is a miserly sum — less than the world spends annually on weapons. The UN estimates that the developing word will need $5.9 trillion to meet their climate targets by 2030. According to the ‘Jubilee Debt Campaign’ 34 of the world’s poorest countries spend nearly $30 billion a year on debt repayments to the banks, undoubtedly including those sponsoring COP 26, but have only $5.4 billion to spend on measures to reduce the impact of climate change.
The original aim of limiting global temperature growth to 1,50C is no longer thought to be achievable. Scientists now think a 2,70C rise is going to happen.
As Greta Thunberg said all we can expect from this summit is “Blah blah blah.” We agree with her that COP 26 as it is now will change nothing unless “there is big, massive pressure from outside”. But we have to go further. We have to get rid of the bankers, who she says “are funding our destruction.” With them should go the multinational corporations, corrupt politicians, and the arms trade. In other words, capitalism should go, and be replaced by a democratic socialist world.
To build such an alternative is why International Socialist Alternative is taking the most active part in the protests around COP 26.
Each day this week we will be publishing an article highlighting different aspects of the struggle to stop climate change written by activists from across the world.
We will have a large presence from all over the world in Glasgow and Edinburgh on the Friday and Saturday protests campaigning to build a movement, a socialist organisation that is capable of changing the system. Elsewhere, our supporters who aren’t able to go to Glasgow will be campaigning in their own cities and countries.
During the Friday and Saturday of the protests we will be carrying live reports from the protests. They can be viewed on this site and on our facebook page.
And at the end of Saturday’s protest, we will be holding a live Rally in Glasgow.
If you are in Glasgow, come to the Rally. It is going to be fantastic. Great speakers, an international audience and most important, the ideas we need to end this capitalist system and replace it with an environmentally friendly, globally just, democratic socialist society. If you want to attend you can register here.
We rely on support from workers and young people to fund our work — please consider donating to our campaign to bring young socialists and climate activists to COP26! You can donate here
If you like what we say, if you like what we do, if you agree we need to organise to end capitalism and replace it with a democratic socialist society. Join us HERE
