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| Volume 52 Number 22, October 2, 2022 | ARCHIVE | HOME | JBCENTRE | SUBSCRIBE |
Friday, September 23, was a worldwide day of action to demand proper attention be paid to Mother Earth, in the face of the increasingly urgent situation resulting from the rule of the rich and the neglect by the ruling elites of their responsibilities towards the social and natural environment. The youth in particular, through their Climate Strike actions demanding "climate justice", are raising the claims on society.
The growing demand is for solutions and urgent action, so as to ensure that the natural and social environments are fit for modern human beings. In the modern world, the human productive forces have themselves grown into a force of nature, crying out to be brought under conscious control. People need a system of production that works in their favour, and fulfils their material and cultural needs. This requires a human-centred direction for the economy, in contrast to the present capital-centred direction. At present, the economy is directed to serving competing private interests, which includes plundering the environment to fulfil the aim of maximising profit, with complete disregard for sustainability and social responsibility.
Conforming to the outlook of the oligarchs who view public money as their entitlement, the role of government is simply to facilitate this profit-making, providing pay-the-rich schemes while giving the impression of taking measures to bring climate change under control. The actions of those in opposition are exposing their claims about "greening the economy" as a fraud. Under the solutions on offer of global competition, empowering big business to decide and paying the rich, the people themselves have no determining role. Furthermore, war and war production have an especially detrimental impact on the environment and economy. The arms producers and warmongers are the greatest polluters on the planet. It is an urgent matter to reverse the present pro-war direction and produce only for those aims which are in the interests of the natural and social environment.
The question of "who decides" is fundamental. The working class and people themselves need to be empowered to be the decision-makers, rather than being reduced to lobbying parties they do not control. There is a need for effective public authority directed by an empowered populace.
Oxford Youth Strike for Climate
As part of the September 23 Climate Strike actions, Oxford Youth Strike for Climate held a lively rally in Oxford's Bonn Square, followed by march through the city centre. Various other events took place in Oxford over the weekend and following week, including the Oxfordshire Great Big Green Week on September 24, and a Climate Day at St Frideswide Church on October 1.
Workers' Weekly interviewed Oxford Youth Strike to explain the significance of their action and demands in their own words.
Workers' Weekly: Could you explain how and why Oxford Youth Strike for Climate formed and what you consider its significance to be?
Oxford Youth Strike: Oxford Youth Strike for Climate Justice formed in 2019 at the start of the Fridays for Future movement, which was inspired by the actions of Greta Thunberg [1]. Since then, various different teenagers from across Oxfordshire have been part of the movement, striking from school about once a month to protest the lack of action on the climate crisis. The Youth Strike/Fridays for Future movement has given youth a local and international community in which to feel empowered to use the political power that we do have (as we cannot vote) to get the youth voice out there. It's also been one of the many movements that have got climate change into public and political discourse and that has kept it there.
WW: What were the issues being addressed by today's action? What are your demands? In particular, could you explain the demand for climate justice?
OYS: If we're serious about taking sufficient and effective steps to adapt to and mitigate the current environmental crisis, then we need not only to cut down on our carbon emissions, but to make sure that we adapt away from the systems of colonialism, capitalism, and extractivism that have caused them. Climate justice entails the consideration of how to fairly and equitably divide the benefits and burdens of climate change and the responsibilities to deal with it, in a way that achieves maximum justice for those already being affected by the climate crisis and those who the systems that have caused the climate crisis have.
The main demands [2] of yesterday's global youth climate strike were that "policymakers and world leaders prioritise #PeopleNotProfit [3], starting by listening to MAPA [Most Affected People and Areas] voices and immediately work to Loss & Damage Finance the communities most affected by the climate crisis - rather than, in the case of the UK government, approve yet more oil fields and appoint climate deniers to the cabinet. In Oxford [2], we were also protesting the government's current attempts to restrict people's right to protest with acts like the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act and trying to raise people's awareness that they do have a political voice and the power to help create a sustainable world.
WW: A placard at the rally asked the question: "Are we the last generation?" Youth and students are evidently striving for change at present, and in recent years especially have been taking matters into their own hands. Could you give your answer to the placard's question?
OYS: My generation will be the last generation one way or another, and hopefully we will be the last generation to live in a world where the government doesn't listen to the words of striking workers and youth have to skip school to have a voice. As my generation has grown up, we've managed to gain more power and sustainable social norms have gained ground, but we're not in the clear yet. We are still very likely to be the last generation to live in a healthy world. The world we grow up into and pass onto our children could be one where we reminisce about how cool it was last summer. In truth it's unlikely that Gen Z will be the last generation to live in the UK. However, the current generations living in the most affected areas, like Pakistan, which was a third underwater very recently, may very well be the last to live there if we do not start adapting to and taking more ambitious steps towards mitigation than a 2050 target for net zero based on technology we do not yet have.
Are we the last generation? Yes, we'll hopefully be the last generation to live in an unsustainable world full of ecological and social injustice. Yes, we'll be the last generation to live in a healthy world if we do not act now. We could decide to go either way. MAPA are not so lucky.
WW: Relating to this, another placard gave the call to Act Now. In a situation where people are relegated to a pressure group, while political parties try to convince us that they are guardians of the environment, this would seem to mean taking up the issue of who decides, particularly given that a lot of young people are disillusioned with the big party system. What are your views on this?
OYS: "Act now" is not a call for any one group to decide but rather a call for more democracy because that is what climate justice is. People's assemblies, localised circular sustainable economies, the most marginalised having a voice are all key parts of climate justice. Oxford youth strikers are a mixed bunch of political views as is the wider environmental movement but I think we all agree that there are some fundamental issues with our political systems. Corporations can spread doubt and denial, creating a post-truth world where our politicians can build off the same doubt and denial to keep their investors and voters happy far too easily. We are part of the youth disillusioned with the big party system. Climate Justice=More democracy.
WW: How are the youth themselves summing up their experiences, and how do you see things developing in the immediate future?
OYS: I cannot speak for the youth in general although from conversations at school there is a real mix of hope and despair. With the coming cost of living crisis, the Police and Sentencing Act, and the climate attitudes of the new cabinet, it seems like it's going to get worse before it gets better. However, there have been shifts: during the time I've been at my secondary school massive changes have occurred. Within my school community we've introduced a vegan option in the canteen, installed solar panels, planted plants whenever there has been space, and joined a network of school eco groups across the country. Government and public policy may not be anywhere near enough socially just or sustainable yet, but slowly communities are changing shape and social norms are shifting. I've seen an amazing amount of change, so despite the UK government's plan to set off the next carbon bomb, the Rose Wade oil fields, I'm hopeful that sooner rather than later society will reach a state where social and environmental justice are more than dreams and more than slogans.
WW: Would you like to say anything in conclusion?
OYS: There is hope for a world where people not profit are prioritised, and it's not easy to get to the point where you feel able to act to make it happen, if you're even in a situation that allows you to, but we are just one example of where you can find hope.
Notes
1. The Fridays for Future movement
https://fridaysforfuture.org/
2. oxfordyouthstrike Instagram profile
https://www.instagram.com/p/ChZ1_0EsRAd
3. September 23 #PeopleNotProfit, Fridays for Future
https://www.instagram.com/p/ChZ1_0EsRAd