By Georgie Dobbs
Cyclone Alfred needs to be a massive wake-up call. It caused over 350,000 homes to lose power, damaged thousands of properties, and left one man dead. Cyclones have hit south-east Queensland before, but it’s becoming harder and harder to pass these events off as simply “natural disasters.” Rising temperatures, changing weather patterns, and swelling sea levels, driven by climate change, mean that disasters are happening more frequently and are becoming harder to predict. This year, California experienced one of the deadliest wildfires in the state’s history, killing 29 people and burning 57,000 acres, all in the middle of winter.
Many people in Australia have yet to recover from the 2022 floods, during which Southern Queensland and Northern NSW received more than a year’s rainfall in just one week, resulting in the destruction of thousands of homes. In recent years, we’ve seen historic heatwaves around the globe and increasing climate-induced famine and disease. We need an immediate end to fossil fuel production and a transition to renewable energy. Unfortunately, we live under a capitalist system, one where the drive for profit supersedes everything else, including action on the climate.
Humanity is now past what many scientists consider the ‘safe zone’ for global warming, and meanwhile, our governments are blowing past their emissions targets. Despite Australia’s formal obligation to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, the Albanese Government’s Future Gas Strategy outlines the country’s commitment to “continued gas development” and the use of gas “through to 2050 and beyond.” They are approving new coal mines and gas projects, such as the Scarborough project in Western Australia, while handing out $14.5 billion in subsidies to the fossil fuel industry.
Coal is one of Australia’s most profitable industries, and neither the government nor mining executives want anything to get in the way, even a burning planet. Labor has also overseen an increase in the repression of climate activists. Australian police are currently world leaders in arresting environmental protesters.
But while it’s the rich who are responsible for the climate crisis, it’s always ordinary people who pay the price. Billionaires are building luxury bunkers and buying private islands, while rising global temperatures, sea levels, famine, pollution, and disease are destroying the lives of workers and students everywhere. The World Health Organisation estimates that climate change kills 250,000 people every year—and that number is only set to grow.
The past thirty years have demonstrated the deep connection between corporate power, profit-seeking, and the destruction of our planet. Waiting for our world leaders to wake up and have a change of heart is a pipe dream. Eighty per cent of Australians want action on climate change, but this hasn’t swayed any hearts or minds in capitalist governments that only want to protect profits. We can’t wait for capitalism to self-correct and put us on the path to a green transition.
We need to fight to hold these people responsible. That means protesting in the streets, getting involved in socialist politics and activism, and organising as students on our campuses. We need mass movements like those during the 2019 Black Summer bushfires, when tens of thousands of students, high schoolers, and workers protested against the government and demanded climate action.
There’s no time to waste.
