ILPS Commission 19
Earth Day 2024 Statement
Today, April 22, marks the 54th commemoration of Earth Day. As the world continues to face record-shattering levels of global warming, pollution, and biodiversity collapse, we are reminded that there is no other recourse in the face of this crisis but to advance the struggle against the root cause of ecological devastation — global monopoly capitalism.
It has become common knowledge that imperialist countries and their mega-corporations are the main drivers of the ecological crisis, assimilating ecosystems into their logic of extraction, exploitation, and exchange to drive capital accumulation. Large-scale mines, logging operations, industrial farms, and plantations cover the world, particularly in the colonies and neocolonies, primarily geared to service the demands of monopoly capital. While the so-called developed world continues to consume resources and produce waste and greenhouse gas emissions well above its fair share, colonies and neo-colonies are left to deal with the worst of the ecological crisis, from rising sea levels to extreme weather events. Countries in the Global South retain their underdeveloped status as a result of imperialist dictates, onerous loans, and structural adjustment programs, leaving entire nations vulnerable to the onslaught of climate change. As a result, the peoples of the world, particularly the small peasants, fisherfolk, urban poor, and indigenous peoples of the Global South, are experiencing the devastating effects of ecological collapse.
To make things worse, imperialism has done nothing but find ways to profit out of the crisis. The rising demand for renewable energy has catalyzed a rush for so-called “critical minerals”, opening up communities and ecosystems to further devastation as companies scramble for lithium, nickel, cobalt, and the like. Imperialist institutions have peddled false solutions such as 30×30, REDD+, and other conservation schemes that have resulted in the unjust displacement of communities. Nearly 30 years of climate change conferences with the UNFCCC have resulted in nothing more than empty promises on the part of world leaders, as communities and countries grapple with the consequences of global warming.
On top of all this, imperialism’s internal contradictions have led us once again to the brink of inter-imperialist war. With outright conflicts and escalating military tensions in Eastern Europe, West Asia, and Southeast Asia, imperialist countries have doubled down on military spending and expansion, at the cost of people and planet. The US military continues to be the world’s number one institutional polluter, while militaries of other imperialist powers are playing catch-up in their bid to further secure cheap resources and labor from the global periphery.
The people have not remained silent or still. In recent years, the global environmental movement has taken on an increasingly important role in mobilizing the peoples of the world, particularly the youth. At its peak, millions marched under the banner of School Strikes for Climate, calling on world leaders to commit to more ambitious plans regarding decarbonization. Alongside this, anti-colonial and anti-imperialist resistance continues to inspire and mobilize millions around the world. Resistance movements, armed and unarmed, from Palestine, Kurdistan, India, the Philippines, Colombia, and many more regions have championed the right to self-determination in the face of the imperialist onslaught on both people and planet.
The growing clamor for climate and environmental justice around the world is the clearest indication that, in its relentless efforts to strengthen its position and accumulate more and more capital, imperialism is itself digging its own grave. This Earth Day, let us renew our commitment to the tasks at hand: expand our ranks, oppose imperialism, and forward the people’s alternative for a just and sustainable present and future!
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