Lately, it seems more obvious than ever that the climate crisis is upon us.
- In February, wildfires in Chile killed at least 131 people and destroyed more than 14,000 homes.
- In June, intense heatwaves in the Middle East with temperatures reaching above 50°C/122°F killed at least 1,170 people on the Haj pilgrimage.
- Also in June, heavy rainfall in Bangladesh caused severe flooding, leaving nearly 2 million people stranded.
- In October, the Southwest United States and Caribbean experienced 2 back-to-back Category 5 hurricanes which potentially caused over $200 billion in damages.
These just scratch the surface of some of the extreme climate events this year (here are some more), but suffice to say we are all feeling the effects. Obviously, the climate does not distinguish between race, class, or political leaning. Scientists warn that the climate crisis could bring total societal collapse, which isn’t great for business. Despite that, most governments are failing to meet their own carbon emission pledges from the 2015 Paris Agreement, which were already inadequate. In fact, studies show that global fossil fuel consumption actually increased in 2023 compared to 2022.
The elephant in the room for nearly all climate change conversations is capitalism. As long as capitalism remains the dominant economic system in the world, it’s impossible to solve the climate crisis.
