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How Chinese capitalism is destroying the planet In the summer of 2024, many climate records in China were broken, with heat waves, droughts and early flood seasons occurring. July is the hottest month on record in China. In August, temperatures in eastern cities including Shanghai and Hangzhou exceeded 40°C for several consecutive days. These conditions follow the hottest spring in Chinese history. When we went to press, although China was only halfway through its flood season, officials had issued 25 flood warnings. This is the highest number of large-scale floods recorded since 1998. In 2024, the Yangtze River has flooded three times, causing large-scale evacuations and economic losses. China is at the heart of the climate crisis, "contributing" one-third of global carbon emissions. Last year, China's carbon emissions increased by 565 million tons (total carbon emissions reached 12.6 billion tons), which is equivalent to increasing the total carbon emissions of Indonesia or Saudi Arabia. According to data from risk analysis agency XDI, 16 of the 20 regions in the world most vulnerable to climate change and its impacts (such as rising sea levels) are in China. Jiangsu, a major economic province, is listed as the region most affected by climate change in the world, with Shandong ranking second. More coal is used Nearly 60% of the world's coal is burned in China, and coal is the dirtiest energy source among all fossil fuels. It emits more carbon dioxide per unit of energy than any other fuel, and air pollution from coal is a major public health concern. According to the World Health Organization, air pollution kills 2 million people in China every year. Although China is far ahead in developing renewable energy, it still relies on coal to provide 59.6% of its total electricity output. In 2023, China's coal use increased again, reaching a record high. There are many factors that contribute to this crazy contradiction. Vested interests within the Chinese Communist Party and in some provinces have close ties to the coal industry and work hard to protect it. Last year, 95% of the world's new coal power generation projects were located in China. Geopolitics and "green imperialism" Western capitalist countries, led by the United States, are adopting "de-risking" policies for the Chinese economy and erecting tariff barriers against China's electric vehicles, batteries, solar panels and other green technologies. This is a key battlefield in the global imperialist conflict, cloaked in "green" garb. The motivation for capitalists to do this is not to save the planet, but to protect their own industrial base and economic power to ultimately be able to wage war. Facing a historic economic recession, Xi Jinping is betting on manufacturing in the field of "new productive forces." The result was insane overcapacity and overproduction, which then had to be shipped overseas. In July, the European Union imposed a 48% tariff on some Chinese electric vehicles, following the 100% tariff imposed by the U.S. government in May. Not only are Chinese electric vehicles cheaper, they are often better than rival products. But Western capitalists will not allow China's huge advantages in this area to overwhelm their markets and destroy their own car companies. Electric cars are not as "green" as capitalists say. Producing a medium-sized electric car in China has twice the carbon emissions of an equivalent gasoline-powered vehicle. China's electric vehicle battery factories mainly rely on coal power and produce huge carbon emissions. Grid congestion and wind curtailment China has built the world's largest installed solar and wind energy capacity. But the grid cannot handle this power. Wind curtailment—supply disruptions due to the unpredictable nature of these energy sources—exacerbates the structural underutilization of renewables in favor of coal. According to CCTV, about 50%-70% of solar power generation in Shandong is abandoned. Similar problems have been reported in Hebei and Henan. "The grid can no longer accommodate new energy," a local official told the South China Morning Post. China's electricity market is "quasi-feudal" and fragmented, controlled by local governments and heavily biased toward coal over green alternatives. Climate apocalypse Global temperatures have broken records for the 12th consecutive month. From June 2023 to May this year, the global average temperature was 1.63 degrees Celsius higher than the pre-industrial average, crossing the 1.5 degrees Celsius red line to avoid climate catastrophe. "The current series of hottest months will already be relatively cold on record," warns the director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service. The ocean no longer acts as a "climate buffer" - mitigating the world's rise. temperature. The Financial Times reported that over the past 15 months, "global sea surface temperatures have reached and remained at record levels, exacerbating heat waves and melting sea ice." The report said that the water temperature in the North Atlantic "exceeded the limit." One consequence is a more intense Atlantic hurricane season. Hurricane Beryl, which hit Mexico and Texas in July, was the earliest peak-intensity storm ever recorded. A United Nations report states that droughts, food shortages and famine caused by global warming will affect billions of people. The report says that as many as one in five Chinese people could be affected by severe drought this century. The capitalist system has locked humanity on a disastrous path - governments and big corporations do nothing but talk and implement policies that benefit the rich, which will only further damage the future of the planet. Only institutional change and the reconstruction of the entire production system in a socialist, environmentally sustainable manner can save humanity from the catastrophic path of capitalism. Climate war is class war According to research by Oxfam and the Stockholm Environment Institute, the richest 1% of humanity (77 million people) emit more carbon emissions than the poorest 66% (5 billion people). The additional carbon emissions produced by this "polluting elite" will lead to 1.3 million heat wave deaths in the next few years. These super-rich have huge carbon footprints - owning mansions, superyachts and private jets. Africa, home to one-sixth of the world's population, produces only 4% of global emissions. To understand climate catastrophe and the responses to it, we must recognize that the capitalist profit-seeking system is the root cause. Climate protests and actions must target the economic system: show the urgency of revolutionary change, disempower the "polluting elite" bourgeoisie, and bring the entire economy and all big companies under public and working-class democratic control. Only such a socialist green plan can save the planet. https://chinaworker.info/zh-hant/2024/09/22/46085/ Back |
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