Climate Justice and System Change

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Daniel has been campaigning for the past year against the use of UK aid to fund fossil fuel expansion across the global.

This talk will focus on how we can campaign against public money being used to exacerbate climate change, and what an alternative and just energy system might look like.

To get the urgent action we need on climate change, the climate justice movement needs to build a counterweight to the huge power of corporations. A zero carbon economy will also have to be one which is more democratic and which builds solidarity with those at the forefront of climate breakdown.

The next United Nations climate talks (the Conference of Parties, or COP) will place in Glasgow 1-12 November 2021 (postponed from 2020 due to the coronavirus). As part of a broad civil society coalition, we’re making plans to mobilise around the summit and to help ensure that the voices of those most affected by the climate emergency are heard.

System change is vital as we need a very rapid shift to a net zero carbon economy. Energy democracy is about creating an energy system which is democratic, shifts quickly to renewables and keeps electricity affordable for all. We have to phase out oil, coal and gas extraction. Only by keeping fossil fuels in the ground can we stop runaway climate change. We need a just transition to green production and a global redistribution of wealth. Rolling back the rules and institutions which enforce free market economics is also vital. We need to end tax havens and the kind of trade rules which stop countries making climate-friendly decisions, like banning tar sands or fracking. Trade justice is intimately linked to climate justice.