System Change not Climate Change

How do we win a world of climate justice?
 
Stopping climate catastrophe and winning a world of climate justice is a critical task of our generation—and it will require a radical transformation of society and of our relationship with nature.
 
With atmospheric carbon emissions at record levels we are witnessing increasing climate disasters that disproportionately affect oppressed communities. Corporations are pushing ahead with disastrous industries like tar sands, coal, nuclear and fracking, and governments are complicit—ignoring land rights and climate treaties while using police against blockades.
 
The tactics that have dominated the environmental movement—individual solutions, the market, and the ballot box—are clearly not working.
 
But there is growing resistance, led by indigenous communities and with support from environmental and labour movements. How can we build the climate justice movement, and connect reforms in the here and now to the ecological revolution we need to heal our relationship with nature?
 
This pamphlet is a contribution to this movement. It examines the climate crisis, Canada’s contribution, and the development of colonialism and capitalism that led us here. It explains why the tactics that have dominated the environmental movement don’t work, and assesses the tactics of the growing climate justice movement. Finally, it considers the fundamental system change required to stop climate change and create a world based on people and the planet—not profit.
 
System Change not Climate Change is based on articles written for the website socialist.ca, by climate justice activists across the country. It is available for $5 from Resistance Press Bookroom—located at 427 Bloor St West, Toronto (open Saturdays 12-3pm)—or can be ordered online by contacting reports@socialist.ca.