Climate Socialism

Here is a message to the millions of people who have been involved in the climate movement over the past several years. This movement has been an incredible force, thanks to their courage, passion and commitment. It has created a new public consciousness and a powerful sense of popular will. These are major achievements. And yet it is clear that people have now reached an impasse and a new path is needed.

The plain fact is that the climate crisis cannot be addressed within capitalism. This may be difficult for some to come to terms with, but is vital that climate activists understand this fact and develop their strategies accordingly; otherwise, they are headed for certain failure. And on this issue, failure is not an option.

People often assume that capitalism is defined by businesses, markets and trade. But these things were around for thousands of years before capitalism and have taken many different forms. In reality, the main thing that distinguishes capitalism is that it is fundamentally undemocratic.

This may seem strange to say because obviously these days many people live in democratic political systems, where they get to elect government leaders from time to time, even if they acknowledge that these systems are corrupt and inadequate. But when it comes to the economy, the system of production, not even a pretence of democracy is allowed to enter. Under capitalism, production is controlled overwhelmingly by capital: the big banks, the major corporations, and the 1% who own the majority of investible assets. They determine what to produce, how to use labour power and the planet’s resources, and who should benefit.

And for capital, the purpose of production is not to meet human needs or improve society, much less to achieve any ecological goals. The purpose is to maximise and accumulate profit. That is the overriding objective. This is known as the “capitalist law of value”: capital only invests in producing what is profitable to capital.

The climate crisis is 100% driven by the system of production. It is about who controls production and what they produce. People say climate is a complex problem and difficult to solve, but this is false. It is, in fact, extremely easy if the purpose of production is defined differently for the collective benefit of society.

Here is the reality. The climate movement has so far focused on building awareness and trying to push politicians to take action. But lack of awareness is no longer the problem. And politicians refuse to take action because they are aligned with the capitalist class and ultimately committed to capitalism. What is needed is a new way forward: build new mass-based political parties that can unite workers and environmentalists in a shared project of transformation, win elections, take power, and deliver on the objectives everyone wants to achieve.

[Contributed by Jason Hickel. Originally published in HickelSubstack]

Climate Activism

A Correspondent adds

Greta Thunberg’s climate activism fuelled her rise to the status of a global icon. Her admonishment made worldwide headlines. Her climate movement–Fridays for future–was historic. She challenged world leaders on several occasions and yet corporate world continues to do business as usual.

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Frontier
Vol 58, No. 3, Jul 13 - 19, 2025