Endgames? Capitalism and the climate emergency. 26 October 2019, 0930-1700. Elvin Hall, Institute of Education, London. rs21

A day of anticapitalist discussion on the politics of the climate emergency.

9.30-17.00, 26 October 2019
Elvin Hall, Institute of Education, London WC1H 0AL

Free professional childcare
£10 waged • £5 unwaged • £20 solidarity (help fund unwaged tickets and childcare)
Organised by rs21

Reports and videos from each session are now available online:

Converging crises: Ida Picard, Zita Holbourne, Al Jackson and Asad Rehman

Reaching for the emergency brake: left programmes for decarbonisation: Taisie Tsikas, Hazel Graham, Angus Satow and Lola Seaton

Climate, insurgent movements and Marxism: Brendan Montague, Alice Swift and Nick Evans

Building movements and solidarity: Clara Paillard, Hannah Barker, Junayd Ul Islam and Willie Black

Every day brings new climate calamities. Beyond these looms the risk of cascading ‘tipping points’ and runaway warming. Millions of people are suffering under the impact of extractive industries, pollution and climate breakdown, while biodiversity is declining.

The ecological catastrophe is inseparable from the capitalist system; from its border regimes, from imperialist wars, from the relentless drive for profit.

We know the problem facing us is not only technological, but political. A mass movement against climate change is emerging. We need the strategies and practical capability to confront governments and capital to radically reduce emissions. Can the Green New Deal go far enough? What are the alternatives? How do we organise in the face of climate breakdown?

Timetable

Register, meet people, chat

Join Ida Picard, Al Jackson and Zita Holbourne to discuss how the climate crisis relates to capitalism, imperialism, borders and the far right. Chaired and introduced by Asad Rehman.

This roundtable discussion explores calls for a transnational Green New Deal, the question of green growth vs degrowth, and asks what alternatives can socialists present in an age of global environmental breakdown.

London-based rs21 activist Taisie Tsikas will chair, to be joined by speakers including: Lola Seaton, who, in her article for New Left Review, where she is an editorial intern, has done the crucial work of putting into dialogue many of the voices in this debate; Paul Allen, project coordinator of Zero Carbon Britain, who offers a technically informed view on how Britain can get to net zero carbon by 2030; and Angus Satow, co-founder of Labour for a Green New Deal.

How is the climate crisis shaping insurgent movements around the world, and how does Marxism help us grapple with the climate emergency and fight to prevent catastrophe?

Speakers including Brendan Montague, editor of The Ecologist; Reclaim the Power activist Alice Swift; Raga Makawi from the Sudanese Workers’ Alliance for the Restoration of Trades Union and Nick Evans, editor of rs21.org.uk.

The chair will be Hazel Graham from the One Million Climate Jobs campaign and Cumbria Action for Sustainability.

Movements to prevent climate catastrophe are growing and grappling with how centring a just transition can help build the solidarity needed to win.

Speakers: school striker Junayd Islam; Clara Paillard from Red Green Labour; Hannah Barker from Extinction Rebellion and Willie Black from Scot.E3 (Employment, Energy and Environment).

Chaired by Ian Allinson, former Unite General Secretary candidate.

We’ve booked a space at the nearby Marquis Cornwallis, just round the corner from Russell Square tube station. All welcome!

More information

Questions? Email us at revolutionarysocialism21@gmail.com