The solutions offered by governments to fight against climate change mechanisms are quite
compatible with capitalism. However, a clash with the wealthy to impose other modes of
consumption and production is inevitable. ---- The brainchild of institutional green
parties in the capitalist countries, the Kyoto Protocol, in December 1997, which claims to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions, is based on two types of mechanisms: ---- - The market
for "tradable permits" gas emission greenhouse is supposed to change systems more
polluting production and less effective. ---- - The "Clean Development Mechanism"
and"Joint Implementation" were created to allow Western to obtain emission credits by
investing in projects developing methods of "clean" production or storage carbon or reduce
emissions. ---- Green parties advocate complement these environmental taxes which purport
to create a competitive advantage for efficient production of CO2.
Proximity
These policies are in fact acceptable devices for the capitalists and especially created
new opportunities for profits. They have never evolved capitalist societies toward social
and environmental transformation. The results of these eco-liberal policies is clear: in
2010, all countries of the world have dropped 50.1 gigatonnes of CO2 equivalent in the
atmosphere, 20% more than in 2000[1]. Climate catastrophe is still running.
"This is a halving of global emissions of greenhouse gas emissions as a whole that we must
operate by 2050"[2]. Drastic measures must be taken:
- Reduce the international carriage of goods to a minimum and encourage local production,
which requires a break with the World Trade Organization (WTO). Freight should favor rail
and waterways to the detriment of the road. The aircraft should be reserved for distant
international travel. A proactive policy of public transport, with free public transport,
will be the tool to end the reign of the car.
- In agriculture, the majority of emissions of greenhouse gases linked to pesticides,
chemical fertilizers and factory farms. A ban on pesticides and political dismemberment
farm disproportionate and aid the development of organic farming and peasant are required.
- Habitat "passive", with very low energy consumption, will be extended gradually.
- Concerning industry, many tracks are: development of renewable energy, regulation of
industrial waste gases, on energy efficient industrial processes, on the manufacture of
consumer durables that will stop the planned obsolescence. It will be necessary to
socialize companies to manufacture products that meet the needs of residents and
inhabitants and to remove unnecessary or harmful productions.
These measures are a minimum to begin to reverse the logic of destruction. But this can
not be achieved without a confrontation with the capitalist.
Jacques Dubart (AL Agen)
[1] The Cross 21 November 2012.
[2] Report of Pierre Radanne available on www.developpement-durable.gouv.fr
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