The consequences of climate change are blasting us in the face. Britain is in its fifth heatwave this year, drought conditions are spreading and temperatures soaring, again.
Wildfires are burning – stretching cut-back fire services, and farmers are harvesting smaller yields early. Around 3,000 excess deaths were associated with heatwaves in England during May and June, the UK Health Security Agency estimates.
Millions of workers are forced to work in sweltering heat and live in cramped, poorly ventilated homes. Unite-organised bus drivers in north and east London are set to strike over unsafe working conditions.
This is a world where extreme heat, flooding, and rising food costs are the ‘new normal’. Young people face our futures shadowed by the looming threats from climate change. 85% report being worried about climate change, 75% expressed fear for the future, according to research published by the European Youth Portal. We deserve a stake in our futures!
Yet those with their hands on the levers of power continue to put profits first. Oil giants Shell and BP doubled their profits in the last quarter as they hike prices for us.
Politicians serving the interests of the super-rich bosses have shown they will not act to save our futures. Labour prime minister Andy Burnham has told Donald Trump he is ‘open-minded’ about allowing fossil fuel giants to extend drilling in the North Sea.
If the energy companies were nationalised under democratic workers’ control, workers would be able to decide what is best for their industry, consumers, and the planet.
A transition away from fossil fuels must not mean throwing workers onto the fire through cuts to jobs and services. Their knowledge and experience should be used to plan the transition and build a new energy system without the need for profit – with jobs, pay, terms and conditions upheld with trade union agreement.
The technology and resources exist. We must take the wealth off the super-rich and use it to transform energy production and build clean, affordable energy for all.
And imagine if this was done in every sector. Instead of production being driven by profit, we could plan around what people need while protecting the planet. Ultimately, only a socialist transformation of society can make this possible.