Bulletin N° 30 décembre 2022 COP27 has just ended in Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt after thirty-four hours of extra time, which speaks volumes about the harshness of the debates.
It brought together 200 countries and more than 30,000 participants, including representatives of States, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and lobbyists (mainly representing energy monopolies). These annual conferences are supposed to decide on common policies for the nations that approve their conclusions in order to harmonize their actions within the framework of what is called: "the fight against global warming".The basis of the scientific assessments is based on the reports of the International Climate Study Group (IPCC) whose document aimed at the political leaders of the world is the subject of diplomatic negotiations where each word is weighed so as not to to oppose the interests of the greatest powers, which are in this case the most developed capitalist countries.
If no one calls into question the observed facts of climatic variations and their consequences on natural resources and the lives of populations and therefore the need to adopt changes for a livable and safe planet, the causes of climatic variations which were numerous during the of the history of planet earth, remain the subject of debate. The dominant position that connects these changes to the only "without further precision and which, let us remember, develops in social relations of capitalist exploitation, has the direct consequence of so-called energy and ecological transition policies which, under the pretext of saving the environment and humanity, are the modern tools of capitalism to increase the processes of exploitation of labor power and accumulation of capital.
Thus, the transition to all-electric and the use of hydrogen are presented as panaceas without the realities and environmental consequences of such choices being measured, which nevertheless pose serious problems when one takes the measure of electricity production. necessary to support such policies. At the same time, the fact that hundreds of millions of human beings are deprived of stable and abundant sources of energy, of access to drinking water, food, healthcare and are the victims of the imperialist wars that lead the powers to ensure their domination, hardly moves the enthusiasts of the famous ecological transition .
In fact, what is at stake is the maintenance of this domination and the exploitation of peoples: it is a question of perpetuating it. For this, the capitalist forces rely on an intense ideological battle aimed at having degrowth accepted, it would be better to say austerity in the name of everyone together , bosses and employees, for a common fight, erasing social classes, to save the planet!
So, fortunately, to save the planet , the prices of fuel, gas, electricity and food are exploding. Forcing us to consume less, to heat ourselves less. Austerity will save us! ?
What future is proposed to us. ? Stop consuming, buy almost nothing, stop travelling. There are already more than 9 million French people who protect the planet thanks to an income below the poverty line. Should this number be increased so that France is exemplary in the fight against climate change? Should we also reduce the economic activity, in particular of all these huge energy-consuming factories?
But which state will agree to reduce its economic activity? None of the solutions proposed to decarbonize the economy are serious. The supply of energy (which cannot be stored), which must be permanent, is not based on random production via wind power and photovoltaics. As for the electric car and hydrogen as a source of energy, they come up against the harsh realities of the laws of physics and the need for specific raw materials and their transformation!
At the same time, the greatest capitalist powers intend to slow down the development of competing countries by imposing on them rules that historically they have constantly transgressed to ensure their own power by plundering the resources of countries dominated in particular by colonization. If the debate was so bitter at COP 27, it is because, faced with the demands of developing countries, the dominant poles of imperialism and the multinationals, especially in the energy sector, have nothing to give up that harms their interests. Thus, the results of COP 27 in the field of so-called damage repairdue to the countries most affected by climate change are a misery and look more like propaganda arguments than a real desire to help balanced development that is favorable to these States and their populations.
Nothing surprising in all this, the capitalist system first predator of man and nature has nothing to do with human development, its only compass is the profits resulting from the exploitation of wage labor. To move towards effective cooperation between peoples to face, in particular but not only, the realities of climate change, we must put an end to this system and replace it with cooperation and planning of efforts for a Humanity that meets the needs of all in a world of peace. This is the meaning of our struggle for socialism and friendship between peoples.