Climate change and the world’s biggest capitalist countries

Carbon Emission per country, and per capita in 1995

Carbon emissions per country 2006

In support of Blog Action day, here are charts that show carbon emissions pero country, one in 1995 and another in 2006. The worst countries are also the biggest industrial powers in the world. In 1995, the US was number one in terms of carbon emission. In 2006, the US is number 2, with China taking first place. But guess what, many of the factories in China are owned by the US, European and other industrialized countries. These are the sweatshops outsourced by the US to cheap labor markets like China.

Unbridled capitalist production, which has little regard for the environment, is indeed the culprit in the worsening environmental situation. The incessant need of capital to expand will certainly come into contradiction with the objective limitations posed by the environment, hence an environmental crisis.

The problem of climate change makes a strong argument for having a rational and planned economy that seeks to address peoples need first, rather than profits for a few. This system should supplant the anarchy of production that characterizes monopoly capitalism.

Meanwhile, in the Philippines, climate change has been a convenient catch-all explanation for the recent spate of calamities that has befallen the country. When government uses the term “climate change” to explain devastating typhoons, floods and landslides, they do so only to cover up government liability in many of the devastating incidents.

In the end, there has to be accountability, be it in the Philippines or the world, when it comes to the degradation of the environment.