The world we live in has been built around an economic system that prioritises never ending growth over the welfare of people and planet. And fossil fuels are at the core. This system plunders our planet’s resources while oppressing our most vulnerable. It perpetuates structural inequalities and deepens the climate crisis. It is known as “Fossil Capital”.
The consequences of this model have resulted in a multitude of interlinked crises, including climate change, social and economical crisis. All of which have been deepened with the coronavirus pandemic. And as with all crises, the people already facing the most oppression and inequalities are the ones paying the highest price. And, the only ones benefiting from it are the ones who already have the most power.
Using the financial crisis of 2008 as an opportunity, fossil fuel companies and governments sacrificed our future in the name of the economic growth, punishing the least responsible with “austerity” measures, exacerbating the climate crisis and perpetuating a damaged and deeply unfair system to continue surfeiting their endless greed at the cost of the planet and people.
Now, as we try to recover from COVID-19, they are trying to do this again.
To date, thousands of people have already been killed by climate disasters and millions have been impacted, especially Indigenous and marginalized communities. The youth of the planet is suffering from unemployment, low wages, stagnant job markets and from the impossibility of emancipation or ability to build their own future. Women and lower income communities are also the hardest hit. And, at the same time, biodiversity loss is increasing at an unprecedented rate.
As Togo’s climate justice activist Kaossara Sani states, “Rich supremacy is killing the planet. Every silence and inaction in rich and industrialised countries for climate is a crime against nature, humanity and a threat to social justice in poor countries.”
We can’t be silent, we have to act.
It’s time to break the system, it’s time to unite and reclaim our power from the ones who have used it against life in all its forms. It’s time to resist and make them accountable for the damage they have made. It is time for the #FossilFreeRevolution! Stay tuned!