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The issue has arisen on another thread of whether it is a problem that the
militant environmental movement hasn't decisively separated from bourgeois
environmentalism and Big Green, or whether there is simply a common
"fundamentally sound program" which unites us all practically. Well, the
corrupting effect of corporate money on the movement is discussed in Naomi
Klein's book. But there is an issue even with respect to the most careful
bourgeois institutions.
In particular, Naomi Klein refers to the UN's IPCC as "the premier scientific
body advising governments on the climate threat" (p. 73) And so it is. Thus
what is says has a great deal of influence, and not just on governments. Even
if we don't acknowledge that influence, it will still be there. So it's best
to assess the IPCC directly. In my view, the IPCC has fought against open
climate denialism, but supported another form of climate denialism, the more
subtle form of defending futile and dangerous market methods, even after
their failure has become apparent. Below is my assessment of its latest
report.
==
The two faces of the newest UN warning
about the ongoing climate disaste
==
(Excerpts from an article in the Nov. 8 item on the
Detroit Workers' Voice mailing list--for the full
item see http://communistvoice.org/DWV-141108.html)
A new UN report on the danger of global warming was released a few days ago.
Titled "Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report", it gives the results of the
fifth assessment since 1988 by the IPCC, the UN's chief agency on the looming
climate disaster. .
This report underlines the fact that climate change has already begun, and it
talks of the need for measures to adapt to the changed climate.
Moreover, the report cautions that most plans presently being considered
would begin by allowing too much greenhouse gas emissions into the
atmosphere, so that they would depend on eventually using CDR (carbon dioxide
removal) technology to go over to net negative carbon emissions. (The report
doesn't, however, point out the questionable nature of CDR plans.) It says
that if additional actions on cutting green house emission aren't well
underway by 2030, it will be extremely difficult to reach the needed goals
for 2050.
**What is the IPCC?**
A report is no better than its source. So what exactly is the IPCC? It is the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which is an international body set
up to assess the danger of global warming and report on what to do about it;
it mobilizes scientists to make reports but is run by the various member
governments As well, most of the scientists themselves, however
dedicated, honest, and conscientious about their professional work, have a
establishment point of work about economic and social matters.
The result is that there are two faces to the IPCC's work. On the one hand,
it has carried out a major service in providing solid, irrefutable evidence
of the reality and danger of global warming. It has produced careful and
detailed scientific documentation. It tends to be very conservative in its
scientific conclusions, only accepting the most definitely proven results. So
if anything, the reality may be far worse than IPCC forecasts.
But it's different when it comes to ideas about what is to be done. As an
intergovernmental body, it is a representative of the capitalist exploiting
classes around the world. The rich and privileged of this world, the ruling
classes, don't base their ideas on scientific and technological realities,
but on their drive to privatize the world and make more money. So no matter
how dire the danger painted by the IPCC's scientific work, its suggestions
for change are based on market methods. It doesn't matter that these methods
failed under the Kyoto Protocol; the IPCC will keep promoting them so long as
the world bourgeoisie calls for them. This has nothing to do with science,
and everything to do with protecting the huge profits flowing into the large
corporations around the world.
**How easy is it to cut carbon emissions?**
As a result, the statements of the IPCC and its representatives have a
schizophrenic nature. On one hand, the IPCC tries to convince the world that
taking measures to cut carbon emissions is compatible with market
fundamentalism and will hardly affect future capitalist activity. On the
other hand, last month one of the vice-chairs of the IPCC, Prof. Jim Skea,
denounced as inadequate the current plans of the European Union for a cut in
carbon emissions of 40% by 2030; he said that this would likely result in
