Cúirt takes capitalism to task on climate change

CAPITALISM WILL have to “change its own practices” if it wants to be a “serious and sincere partner” in the battle to save the planet from climate change, the South African ambassador to Ireland, Priscilla Jana, has said.

Nations will have to “rise above short-term self-interest” to face up to this global issue, Ms Jana told the Cúirt literary festival’s annual forum in Galway.

The “very existence of humanity depended on the institution of economic systems which were based on justice and equality, and which tackled poverty”, she said. The South African constitution included a guarantee to environmental rights, she noted.

The debate on the theme “can capitalism save the planet from climate change?” was chaired by RTÉ environment correspondent Paul Cunningham. Participants included literary editor Neil Astley, Trócaire’s policy officer on environmental justice Niamh Garvey, and Indian Man Booker Prize nominee Indra Sinha.

The Irish media’s approach to the climate change issue is not adequately reflecting the public’s desire for action, several speakers said. Its reaction is “confused”, but is being challenged by independent sources like Indymedia, Mr Cunningham noted.

Mr Sinha, who drew on the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster for his Man Booker nominated work, Animal’s People, said that one had only to look at “who owned the media” for the answer. However, the internet had proved to be a great communication tool, he said.

Mr Sinha, who continues to work for relief of the Bhopal disaster victims, said that he was deeply sceptical about the will of giant corporations.

He recalled how nearly 3,000 people died on the night of the Union Carbide gas leak in 1984, there had been over 15,000 related deaths since and survivors were still suffering. Union Carbide, now a subsidiary of Dow Chemical, had been allowed to quit a lethal site which was still leaching toxic chemicals into the environment, he said.

Dow Chemical had been part of the Global Climate Coalition which had tried to “rubbish” the climate change argument and had attacked scientists trying to highlight it, he said.

Corporations were now trying to buy into and privatise water rights all over the world, for profit, Mr Sinha said. The carbon credit system was like “paying someone in Africa or India to starve while one kept eating”, he said.

Ms Garvey said capitalism had been implicated as one of the key causes of climate change. However, “market-based mechanisms” which depended on comprehensive trade agreements with targets for carbon emission reduction could address the issue, she said.