When leaders of the world’s major capitalist countries came together at the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Cornwall from 11 to 13 June 2021, climate change was a key issue on the agenda. The G7 reaffirmed its overarching goal to limit global heating to 1.5°C, which will require halving emissions this decade and reaching net zero by 2050, to which the countries also committed. Pledges were made to protect 30% of the planet’s land and oceans, phase out petrol and diesel cars, halt the funding of coal and coal-fired power overseas, and full decarbonisation of energy sectors by the 2030s. These words and promises amount to very little.
The G7 failed to call for a halt on the expansion of fossil fuel exploitation. Although global renewable energy production increased by 260GW in 2020, fossil fuels increased by 60GW. This is reflected in British government policy, which has always failed to adopt a coherent approach to the climate crisis (‘Capitalist Britain cannot face up to the climate crisis’ – FRFI 281).
The government has allowed oil drilling in the North Sea to continue and has stated it will continue to issue licences for further exploration and new drilling operations, provided emissions in the oil and gas industry are reduced in line with climate change objectives – 10% reduction in offshore production emissions by 2025, 25% by 2027, and 50% by 2030.
This is alongside a joint public-private investment of between £14bn and £16bn in North Sea oil by 2030 to help the industry cut emissions, aiming for a ‘smooth transition’ to a green economy while, we are reminded, preserving 40,000 jobs in the oil and gas industry. Business and Energy secretary Kwasi Kwarteng stated the private and oil and gas sector will ‘power the green industrial revolution’.
The government has let this polluting industry off the hook, exposing the response to the climate crisis as a non-response. How will targets be met? By relying on carbon capture and imperialist carbon offset schemes, ie non-solutions. We do not have the time for a smooth transition: on 5 July WWF released a damning report stating that Britain must cut its environmental footprint by 75% by the end of this decade. Every new drilling venture will increase emissions, accelerating us blindly into the reality of a climate catastrophe. No end date has been set for oil and gas extraction in Britain.
Scientists have warned that extreme weather is becoming the norm in Britain, which was in 2020 simultaneously one of the wettest, sunniest and hottest years on record. Since the industrial revolution, the global average temperature has risen 1.2°C as capitalism fails to act. This increases the frequency and severity of extreme weather events. Just one month after the G7 sat around and postured, record rainfall caused floods in Germany and Belgium as rivers burst their banks. As of 17 July, 168 are dead and hundreds are still missing.
Then there was the June-July heatwave in the North Americas that killed hundreds of people. British Columbia alone saw 486 sudden deaths. An estimated one billion marine animals were killed along Canada’s Pacific coast, showing the vulnerability of ecosystems to climate change. Research from World Weather Attribution calculated that the heatwave was made 150 times more likely by climate change. 103 heat records were broken across the US West Coast and British Columbia by 1 July. Overall Europe saw the second warmest June, 1.5°C warmer than the long-term average while the warmest was only in 2019. Globally this was the fourth warmest June on record.
As the climate crisis progresses heatwaves will become harsher, causing more damage and deaths. Meanwhile power lines melt, infrastructure like roads are damaged and wildfires become more frequent. The village of Lytton in British Columbia was destroyed by a wildfire on 30 June just one day after recording a temperature of 49.6°C, beating the national record for the third day in a row.
Deforestation increases the likelihood of heatwaves. In July scientists confirmed that, for the first time ever, the Amazon rainforest is emitting more CO2 than it absorbs. Overall last year the rainforest produced 1.5 billion tonnes of carbon, while absorbing only 0.5 billion. The majority of this is caused by deforestation: encouraged by Bolsonaro, the slash-and-burn approach, where trees are levelled by bulldozers and tractors before the waste is burned, is used to clear land for the production of beef and soy.
Trees are crucial parts of the water cycle and contribute significantly to precipitation in the Amazon. Fewer trees from deforestation leads to less rain and thus more severe droughts and longer dry seasons. This is compounded by rising temperatures, also causing more heatwaves. More trees die and there are more forest fires. No action was taken by the G7 to combat this.
All the usual outlets have branded these recent events a ‘wake-up call’ for governments to take real action on climate change. Yet they have never listened to scientists. They have refused to act in favour of taking on bare-minimum restraints to capitalism. The only wake-up call here is that capitalism has proved it cannot solve the problems of, and will inevitably drive, environmental and ecological destruction.
Chris Robert
Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! No 283, August/September 2021
