The Relationship between Capitalism, Climate Change and the Future of Africa

Capitalism is inherently an environmentally exploitative system and is one of the main reasons we are left to face the fight with climate change as it continues to be a driver of climate change.

The climate crisis has been described as analogous to the operation structure of large results-based corporations which often lay-off underperforming employees [3]. These corporations treat their consumers in the same way by blaming the climate crisis on the consumer and then labelling the only solution as the consumer themselves [3]. Most of us are also guilty of enabling this kind of blame shifting by calling on populations to evaluate their effect on the environment and make lifestyle changes accordingly but in reality the action of the consumer alone is not enough to deal with the damage we are currently faced with or to move towards becoming an environmentally responsible population.

With one third of global emissions having been traced back to only 20 companies since 1965 [6], it would be unrealistic to expect the consumer alone to take responsibility and to take correctional action. Given the fact that climate change has been a known issue for at least 30 years [2] and that some of these companies support the goals set out by the Paris Agreement [6], it is not enough to just acknowledge the destruction brought about by these companies and condemn them without any real repercussions. These companies gained and maintained their status, power and wealth through a system much greater than them, capitalism.

Capitalism is a perpetuator of many other global issues such as disproportionate wealth distribution and poverty [5], which are also issues commonly coupled with climate change. If we wish to reach any of the goals laid out by Sustainable Development Goal 13 on climate change [4], we have to act swiftly and drastically. These goals place time constraints on the work we should be doing to slow down the rate of climate change such as a 45% drop in emissions by 2030 and zero emissions by 2050 [4]. In support of these goals, there have been calls for the complete abandonment of capitalism [5], however, there are views on capitalism as a solution [1].

These claims of capitalism as a solution to the problem it created, will only cause the world to take a more reactive stance in the fight against climate change. The reasoning behind this claim is that although economic growth initially is environmentally taxing, once the area or population has been sufficiently developed, there will be a demand for environmental cleanliness [1]. This is the capitalism model that has given rise to climate change and it would be ignorant to expect underdeveloped countries to follow a model we have already seen fail, expecting a different result. We will only see climate change worsen on a global scale as some nations work to correct it while others behave without much consideration of their environmental impact, this is just destructive and non-progressive.

The current model upon which capitalism is based, actually is not sustainable in any context. Due to inequalities presented by capitalism, people who have never benefited from this system, will continue to do so and its beneficiaries will only gain more power and prolong the suffering of the underprivileged, in the same way that climate change will leave the greatest impact on vulnerable, ill-adapted nations, namely African nations [7]. As Africans, it is essential for us to re-evaluate our relationship with capitalism and decide if we believe this kind of system will ever see us as beneficiaries. The only solutions would be to completely change our system or to redefine capitalism in an African context.

During these kinds of re-evaluations and shifts, it is in Africa’s best interest for it to be handled by Africans. If this is not overseen by Africans we could find ourselves at the bottom of a second system that we did not create, yet again. Throughout the global fight against climate change, it is imperative that we, as Africans, make ourselves and our opinions known, especially as we could be the population to suffer the greatest loss at the hands of climate change.

Live green, see green

Shannon

An interesting article written from an African perspective on the impact of corruption and poor governance on African climate change readiness by Jason Muyumba: https://www.africamattersinitiative.com/post/the-effect-of-corruption-and-poor-governance-on-climate-change-readiness-in-africa

References

1. Bailey, R. (2019). Capitalism Is the Key to Fixing Climate Change. Reason. [Online] Available at: https://reason.com/2019/09/20/capitalism-is-the-key-to-fixing-climate-change/ (Accessed 26/05/2020).

2. Revkin, A. (2018). Climate Change First Became News 30 Years Ago, Why Haven’t We Fixed It? National Geographic Magazine. [Online] Available at: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/07/embark-essay-climate-change-pollution-revkin/ (Accessed 28/05/2020).

3. Simon, M. (2019). Capitalism Made This Mess, and This Mess Will Ruin Capitalism. Wired. [Online] Available at: https://www.wired.com/story/capitalocene/ (Accessed 26/05/2020).

4. Sustainable Development Goals. (2016). Goal 13: Climate action. United Nations Development Programme. [Online] Available at: https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/sustainable-development-goals/goal-13-climate-action.html (Accessed 28/05/2020).

5. Svart, M. (2019). Capitalism isn’t ‘broken’. It’s working all too well – and we’re the worse for it. The Guardian. [Online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jun/12/capitalism-isnt-broken-its-working-all-too-well-and-were-the-worse-for-it#maincontent (Accessed 27/05/2020).

6. Taylor, M. and Watts, J. (2019). Revealed: the 20 firms behind a third of all carbon emissions. The Guardian. [Online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/09/revealed-20-firms-third-carbon-emissions (Accessed 28/05/2020).

7. Washington, R. (2019). How Africa will be affected by climate change. BBC News. [Online] Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-50726701 (Accessed 28/05/2020).