There are many important and far-reaching issues facing the world today – economic crises, political crises and wars. All this is further exacerbated by the life-threatening danger of the existential climate catastrophe. The WHO estimates that 3.6 billion people already live in areas highly susceptible to the climate catastrophe. Between 2030 and 2050, climate change is expected to cause approximately 250,000 additional deaths per year from undernutrition, malaria, diarrhoea and heat stress alone. Besides warmer climates, there have been more severe droughts, more intense forest fires and stronger storms in recent years than ever before. The melting of sea ice, glaciers, etc. is expected to make sea levels  rise all over the world and submerging low-lying coastal cities and even countries. The plundering of people and nature is in the process of destroying the basic conditions for human existence on earth. The current capitalist and imperialist world system does not seem to care about this, and is deliberately driving this process forward.

 

The wars in Gaza, Lebanon, Sudan, Ukraine and elsewhere are destroying nature and worsening the human suffering. In the course of its military aggression the Russian Federation has contaminated Ukrainian territory with huge quantities of substances which are a threat to nature and human life. The destruction of the Dnieper hydroelectric station by Russia caused an environmental disaster in a huge area of Ukraine. The occupation of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant by Russia and the recurring Russian provocations with artillery exchanges on the plant grounds create the ever-present danger of a nuclear catastrophe affecting all Europe. A particular danger of environmental destruction emanates from US imperialism as main warmonger.

 

The recent 5th World Conference of the ICOR concluded: “The ICOR denounces imperialism as the main cause of the global environmental catastrophe that has already begun! With its reckless striving for maximum profit, it utterly exploits humanity and nature and gradually destroys their unity. … On all continents, further features of environmental destruction are visible, such as the danger to the world seas and forests, the species extinction, destruction of the ozone layer, etc.”

The 29th UN Climate Conference (COP 29) is due to be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, in November this year. In a country whose main export products are oil and natural gas. The share of renewable energies in energy production there fell from 3.3 to 1.1 percent between 2010 and 2020. Human rights organizations are denouncing the suppression and arrest of environmental activists in the run-up to the summit.

 

The COP (Conference of Parties) meetings have been held since the signing of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 – but to little effect and a great deal of greenwashing. Finally, a quantitative target was agreed at COP 21 in 2015 in the Paris Agreement. This was signed by 196 countries. However, humanity is further from this goal than ever. The problem was that this quantitative target was only a world-wide target, but not for each nation. For the first time, in COP 28 in Dubai in 2023 the word “fossil fuels” was mentioned in the resolution with the vague platitude that all signatories will start the “transitioning away from fossil fuels”. No quantitative promises have been made by any government. The promise of the Paris Agreement was that the world would restrict the rise in temperatures from the pre-industrial revolution era to 1.5 degrees centigrade. We are already over this temperature by 1.1 to 1.3 degrees (depending upon the source – NASA reports a rise of 1.36 degrees since the 1850-1900 period). According to the EU climate service Copernicus, in August, for the 13th time in 14 months, the 1.5 degree mark has already been exceeded. The continent of Europe has warmed almost twice as much. The 1.5 degree target is now an unattainable pipe dream. Another target was to set net deforestation to 0 by 2030. This target is definitely not going to be met by the capitalist world, given the available statistics, which show net deforestation of over 47 million hectares even in the last decade.

 

The ICOR also denounces the worldwide fascist deniers of the environmental catastrophe. Trump withdrew the US from the Paris Agreement when he was president and is expected to do so again if elected. Fascism is finally an open, brutal method to preserve capitalism. As it is this capitalist-imperialist system that has brought climate catastrophe, fascism sees itself as obliged to oppose climate catastrophe in effect.

 

The 5th ICOR World Conference concluded: “Today, the environmental struggle must be  society changing, and in socialism the unity of humanity and nature has to be fought for again and reinforced. The ICOR criticizes illusions and greenwashing in capitalism through monopolies and the parties representing them, as well as the reformist division of environmental protection and jobs. It recognizes the leading role of the working class in the environmental struggle.”

 

As a guideline for its environmental policy, it has decided: “The ICOR will denounce those responsible, for example at the World Climate Conference, will organize solidarity when regional catastrophes occur, work to build consciousness and organize the struggle and,given a regular race against time, promote the struggle for socialism. The international coordination and cooperation also of environmental struggles, is of greatest importance.”

 

Resolute struggle for socialism to save humanity and to preserve the unity of humanity and nature!

Forward with the ICOR and the international United Front in the struggle to change society for the better!

 

“Climate reporter” 27.3. 2024

 

Status of the signatories 08.11.2024. Further signing possible. Current list of signatories at www.icor.info

1. UPC-Manidem   Union des Populations du Cameroun - Manifeste National pour l’Instauration de la Démocratie (Union of Populations of Cameroon - National Manifesto for the Establishment of Democracy)

2. CPK   Communist Party of Kenya

3. MMLPL   Moroccan Marxist-Leninist Proletarian Line

4. CPSA (ML)   Communist Party of South Africa (Marxist-Leninist)

5. PPDS   Parti Patriotique Démocratique Socialiste (Patriotic Democratic Socialist Party), Tunisia

6. SPB   Socialist Party of Bangladesh

7. CPI (ML) MassLine   Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) MassLine

8. NCP (Mashal)   Nepal Communist Party (Mashal)

9. RUFN   Revolutionary United Front of Nepal

10. CPA/ML   Communist Party of Australia (Marxist-Leninist)

11. PR-ByH   Partija Rada - ByH (Party of Labor - Bosnia and Herzegovina)

12. MLPD   Marxistisch-Leninistische Partei Deutschlands (Marxist-Leninist Party of Germany)

13. UPML   Union Prolétarienne Marxiste-Léniniste (Marxist-Leninist Proletarian Union), France

14. BP (NK-T)   Bolşevik Parti (Kuzey Kürdistan-Türkiye) (Bolshevik Party (North Kurdistan-Turkey))

15. KOL   Kommunistische Organisation Luxemburg (Communist Organization of Luxemburg)

16. RM   Rode Morgen (Red Dawn), Netherlands

17. UMLP   União Marxista-Leninista Portuguesa (Portuguese Marxist-Leninist Union)

18. MLGS   Marxistisch-Leninistische Gruppe Schweiz (Marxist-Leninist Group of Switzerland)

19. TKP-ML   Türkiye Komünist Partisi – Marksist-Leninist (Communist Party of Turkey – Marxist-Leninist)

20. MLKP   Marksist Leninist Komünist Parti Türkiye / Kürdistan (Marxist Leninist Communist Party Turkey / Kurdistan)

21. KSRD   Koordinazionnyj Sowjet Rabotschewo Dvizhenija (Coordination Council of the Workers Class Movement), Ukraine

22. UMU   Union of Maoists of the Urals (Union of Maoists of the Urals), Russia

23. PCC-M   Partido Comunista de Colombia – Maoista (Communist Party of Colombia - Maoist)

24. PCP (independiente)   Partido Comunista Paraguayo (independiente) (Paraguayan  Communist Party (independent))

25. PC (ML)   Partido Comunista (Marxista Leninista) (Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist)), Dominican Republic

26. SUCI (C)   Socialist Unity Center of India (Communist)

27. CPPDM   Chinese People's Party for the Defense of Mao Zedong

28. Chinese Communists (MLM)   Chinese Communists (Marxist Leninist Maoist)