A System Change Manifesto: For Radical Climate Justice
Climate change is hitting Aotearoa with force. Tāmaki Makaurau experienced the worst flooding in its recorded history in January, before Cyclone Gabrielle devastated the North Island in February. 11 people were killed, 10,000 people have been displaced, and several people are still missing, with an estimated $13 billion worth of damage done.
Many people are heartbroken by these events, and many are traumatised. But there is also fierce anger. Our economic system is destroying our planet, and the Labour-Green Government, for all their rhetoric, are failing to take the radical action necessary to prevent catastrophic climate change from making vast swathes of Papatūānuku uninhabitable for human life.
The capitalist system is driven by the relentless pursuit of profit for the top 1% of society. The owners of giant corporations dictate how our economy is run, and they exercise their control over workplaces and over the policies of elected governments on a daily basis. We believe that we live in a democracy — but in reality, we live in a dictatorship of profit.
There is no doubt that big business is to blame for the climate crisis. 71% of global emissions between 1988 and 2015 were created by just 100 corporations. The climate movement must not blame ordinary people, or propose individualistic solutions — the system which gives power to these corporations is to blame.
The system requires endless economic growth in order to continue delivering profit to big business. The capitalist class prefers that the economy grows at an annual rate of 3%. Because this growth rate is exponential, the system requires the global economy to double in size roughly every 24 years. This infinite growth on a finite planet is impossible.
The Labour Government and their Green Party coalition partners have taken some positive steps to mitigate climate change. Banning new deep sea oil drilling permits was a clear step forward. But their overall strategy relies on ‘decoupling’ capitalist economic growth from rising emissions. It is nowhere near enough. Their flagship policy, the 2019 Zero Carbon Act, was criticised by climate campaign groups such as Greenpeace for being ‘toothless.’ We need radical action to avert ecological breakdown. We cannot rely on tinkering around the edges of the capitalist system.
Another World Is Possible
We may live under a dictatorship of profit. But dictatorships can fall. There is another power in society other than the giant corporations — the power that ordinary working people have when we stand together and fight back against the system.
When workers go on strike, business comes shuddering to a halt. When enough workers strike all at once, the entire capitalist system shuts down. The profits created for the capitalists ultimately derive from the labour of the workers — and their power is entirely reliant on workers simply accepting the system as it exists, rather than standing up and fighting back. The working class movement at its height is far more powerful than the capitalist bosses — they are simply outnumbered.
Workers’ struggles across the world have won many reforms which mitigated the worst excesses of the capitalist system. Workers’ rights and the welfare state were victories achieved by the labour movement. In some countries, attempts were even made to overthrow capitalism altogether.
Unfortunately, there was a long period in recent decades when the working class movement was historically weak. Right-wing governments came to power across the world in the 1970s and 1980s in order to smash the trade union movement, privatise much of the state, and lower taxes on the rich. Profits soared, inequality surged, and workers’ wages plummeted. It was particularly bad in Aotearoa, which saw the biggest increase in inequality in the OECD between 1984 and 1993.
These policies, known as ‘neoliberalism,’ could not have come at a worse time for the planet. Free market ideology came to dominate the world at precisely the moment when the catastrophic implications of climate change became undeniable. Just when governments needed to be mobilising to reduce emissions, fossil fuel corporations were being deregulated, and the workers’ movement which could have been fighting for the future of humanity was too demoralised to resist.
The Global Financial Crisis changed everything. In 2008, the capitalist system experienced its worst collapse in decades, and the ideology of neoliberalism was utterly discredited. Anticapitalist ideas began to regain popularity, starting with Occupy Wall Street in 2011, and expanding into campaigns against austerity, and eventually into socialist political leaders such as Bernie Sanders and Jeremy Corbyn gaining support which would have been unthinkable a few years earlier. More recently, trade union struggles have begun to reemerge in some countries on a wider scale than was seen since the 1980s.
Then in 2019, the climate movement around the world exploded. Greta Thunberg inspired a generation of school students to go on climate strike to save their future. Other movements such as Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil took direct action to raise awareness of the implications of ecological breakdown.
As the climate crisis continues to get worse, this movement will continue to grow. In Aotearoa, the floods and cyclones we are beginning to see will add to this mass realisation that our economic system is destroying the planet.
It is crucial that the environmental movement joins together with the working class movement to fight back against capitalism. It is the only way we can ensure our planet stays habitable for future generations. Unions must be at the centre of any successful climate movement, and ecosocialist ideas provide a genuine alternative to the capitalist dictatorship of profit. We need to replace capitalism with ecosocialism — a system where workers’ democracy controls society rather than giant corporations. When society is run in the interests of ordinary people rather than for the accumulation of private wealth, we can truly act collectively as caretakers of the natural world rather than exploiters of it.
Furthermore, Pākehā and Tauiwi must recognise the settler-colonial history of Aotearoa. Capitalism was imposed on this country through the theft of Māori land and the suppression of Māori language and culture. Pākehā and Tauiwi must stand together with Māori to reclaim what they lost when capitalism arrived on these shores through the barrel of a gun.
It is no coincidence that the capitalist system, prioritising profit over everything else, enclosed Māori land and drove so many Tangata Whenua into poverty and hardship, all whilst using racist ideas to turn Pākehā workers against Māori workers. We must acknowledge that our interests are the same. The capitalist system is to blame for colonisation, just as it is to blame for catastrophic climate change and extreme inequality.
In the words of Parata Hawke of Ngāti Whātua:
“Anei toku whakaaro e pa ana te kaupapa Rangatiratanga. It was the expression of authentic identity and self determined authority and our relationship to the environment and the cosmos. Colonisation disregarded this relationship ecologically and marginalised our esoteric relationship, being the supernatural edicts that guided our guardianship responsibilities to Io Papa me Rangi me te Aoturoa. Colonisation disregarded our Rangatiratanga to allow for their greed to subjugate, confiscate and extract from Papatūānuku, reducing what is sacred to lowly consumer products. Tangata Whenua has and forever will strive for Mana motuhaketanga ka whawhai tonu matou ake ake ake.”
Tangata Whenua are the historic guardians of the ecosystems of Aotearoa. Ecosocialism must empower Māori to take up this role once again, so we can save our environment.
A Manifesto for System Change Not Climate Change
After the Cyclone, it is extremely welcome that the climate movement is growing in Aotearoa and around the world. Our organisation supports the five demands put forward by Fridays for Future, and congratulates them on the march they have organised. But we also believe that more radical action is needed to achieve climate justice, social justice and economic justice. While our ultimate demand is to end the capitalist system and achieve an ecosocialist world, we also believe in fighting for reforms in the here and now. We make these immediate demands on the government, in order to truly address the environmental, social and economic crises our people face.
Emissions Reduction Now
All fossil fuel extraction in Aotearoa must be banned by 2030. Real action on agricultural emissions must be taken, with the dairy herd halved. False climate solutions such as fracking and biomass must be banned. Native forests and wetlands must be restored, and our oceans protected.
Green Jobs
The government must guarantee a just transition for all workers currently involved in polluting industries. New green jobs which rebuild our infrastructure and move Aotearoa towards a low emissions, climate resilient society must be created, with decent pay and conditions.
Public Ownership
Vital sectors such as public transport, energy and water must be taken into public ownership, with services being provided to all free at the point of use. Public transport must be radically expanded, with free, frequent and reliable services within and between cities.
Economic Justice
A living wage must be guaranteed for all workers, and a liveable minimum income guaranteed to those not in work. To further reduce emissions, we must move towards a reduced working week at the same level of pay. The housing crisis must be dealt with through rent controls and the rapid expansion of energy efficient state housing, built through a Ministry of Green Works. We must pay for these reforms through a wealth tax which affects only the richest 5% of New Zealanders.
Refugees Are Welcome Here
The effects of climate change do not respect arbitrary national boundaries and will create millions of refugees around the world. Aotearoa must immediately increase its annual refugee intake to at least 10,000. Climate refugees from the Pacific must be given safe passage and citizenship due to Aotearoa’s historical responsibility in the region. Internal refugees must be properly provided for by the state.
Elliot Crossan is a socialist writer and activist. You can read his writing at Watermelon Media
