The sultry summer we're experiencing is further evidence of ongoing climate change. The scientific community has long identified its cause in human activity resulting from industrialization: the term Anthropocene was coined for this reason. While the responsibility is certainly human, not all humans are equally responsible for the disaster we're facing; some, in fact, prefer to speak of the Capitoline cene, that is, the role of the capitalist system, or at least an economic system based on unlimited growth and development that ignores the finite nature and human circumstances. What can we do in the face of all this? While the fight against the capitalist system is central, even small initiatives that local communities can undertake are crucial: to reverse the trend of rising temperatures, to restore space for collective action.
Of the dark present and the possible future
During the scorching nights when you can't sleep, during the days at the beach when you can't find any relief even by submerging yourself in the water, during the violent summer and winter storms and cyclones when all that remains is to assess the damage and the victims, during the water supply outages when you vainly promise yourself to take action, during... during... during... The list of emergencies attributable to climate change is endless, and many of them are now part of everyday life, even though many more await us just around the corner. If anyone still doesn't know what we're talking about, just take a look at the website of the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security.
Climate change refers to the significant and persistent alteration of the Earth's climate. According to the international scientific community, this phenomenon is directly or indirectly attributable to human activities that alter the composition of the global atmosphere, particularly through increased concentrations of greenhouse gases. The greenhouse effect is a natural phenomenon that allows the Earth to maintain a temperature compatible with life. However, increased anthropogenic emissions have intensified this mechanism.
The concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere has now exceeded 420 parts per million (ppm), reaching levels not seen for hundreds of thousands of years.
According to the latest available data from the Italian National Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA), updated to 2023-2024: - the average temperature in Italy has increased by more than 1.5°C compared to pre-industrial levels, with a growth trend above the global average in the Mediterranean area; - recent years have been among the warmest ever recorded in national historical series; - there has been an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, including episodes of intense precipitation, heat waves, and prolonged droughts; - Alpine glaciers continue to experience a marked reduction in surface area and volume; - critical issues related to hydrogeological instability and water stress persist, with significant impacts on ecosystems, agriculture, and infrastructure; over 94% of Italian municipalities are exposed to landslide, flood, and erosion risks. Other consequences of climate change include: rising average ocean levels (approximately 3.4 millimeters per year over the past two decades) and the advance of salt wedges in coastal areas; reduced freshwater availability (which decreases by 20% for every degree of increase in temperature) and river flow (with increased drought risk); an overall decrease in annual precipitation of 10-30%, increasing the risk of fires and greenhouse gas emissions, both directly and through the destruction of vegetation cover. Desertification will also spread, understood as both the emergence of new desert areas and the decline in soil productivity due to a reduction in organic matter, which is estimated to affect approximately 39% of the total land surface, 21% of Europe's, and as much as 70% of Sicily's. The increase in temperature and the intensity of related phenomena will not be homogeneous; the Mediterranean regions, especially Italy and even more so Sicily, are hot spots, that is, areas where the phenomenon could exceed the global average by 20%.
But the consequences don't stop there. Already in 1990, the first Report on Climate Change compiled by the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), the UN scientific commission established in 1988, established the link between the climate crisis and the forced relocation of millions of people | climate or environmental migrants | acknowledging a phenomenon difficult to quantify due to its complexity. The conservative estimates made by the IPCC, the IOM (International Organization for Migration), and the World Bank predict that, by 2050, the number of people who could become permanent environmental refugees will be between 150 and 200 million. The already significant migration phenomenon will therefore become central in the coming years, and what Christian Parenti calls the "policy of the armed lifeboat," which Meloni and the right in general, both European and national, trumpet as a success | namely, the militarization of borders and an aggressive anti-immigration policy | will not be enough to stem it. A policy that today concerns individuals from so-called poor countries, but which in the not-too-distant future could also affect populations in developed countries, Italy first and foremost, given the greater impact of climate change on our country. Then perhaps we will be able to admit that a nation's wealth or poverty depends not on the laziness or industriousness of its people, but on a specific economic system that bases the privilege of a few on the exploitation of others. And we will no longer be able to ignore the fact that it is impossible for every family in the world to have two cars, a washing machine, and a refrigerator, not for economic reasons, but because otherwise humanity would risk self-annihilation. Just as we can no longer turn a blind eye to the fact that the current accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is due to excessive production in developed countries, the developing nations that have recently joined have only accelerated the ongoing process. Therefore, if, as would be logical, climate justice were applied, the reductions would benefit some much more than others. Geologist David Archer estimates that if a truly equitable solution to the emissions problem were to be found, "in the developed world, cuts of around 80% would be necessary. For the United States, Canada, and Australia, the cuts would be closer to 90%." Because it's undeniable that cuts are necessary, and even if the burden of climate change is to be borne by the poor and vulnerable, both internationally and within individual countries, it's clear that the consequences will also be felt by that segment of the population that is still privileged today, because infinite economic growth and environmental protection are incompatible, despite the vaunted resources of technology. This raises the question, albeit a legitimate one,that global inaction on the climate crisis is not due to confusion or poor planning but to a deliberate intent to maintain the status quo, as negotiations on climate change could alter the current balance of power and poor countries could begin to demand compensation for the disastrous environmental conditions they find themselves having to contain even though they are not directly responsible for them.
In conclusion, it's legitimate to ask what paths we can take to emerge from the current crisis and seek a solution that will allow the women and men of tomorrow to continue inhabiting the Earth. First, we need to overturn the reality that is presented to us as the only possible one: the capitalist system and the consumerist society in which, in order to maintain the economy, we must consume daily, consume indiscriminately, even what we don't need, to the point of reaching the paradox that we don't produce to consume, but consume to produce. Human existence has thus transformed into a production of goods and services that satisfy continually expanded, artificial needs, attacking the earth and everything animate and inanimate upon it. In this system, based on social injustice, we have lost control of our lives: we depend on industry, specialists, the market, and technology. Meanwhile, we are blithely heading toward self-destruction. If we don't like this, we can resist it by becoming the change we wish to see. We can begin by promoting bottom-up resource management practices that place the environment and its rhythms at the center and ensure that every living being, human and otherwise, has what they need to live, not to consume. From this perspective, production will no longer aim for profit but to make essential goods available to all, freeing up resources for useful work such as agricultural practices, healthcare, or waste management. It is also important to change the organization of work so as not to separate intellectual from physical labor, to provide for a collective reduction in working hours and to rotate everyone across different activities, including those that are strenuous or unpleasant. This would create a society in which decisions are not made by a few to protect their own interests, but by many to promote collective well-being. A world in which words like profit, competition, and competitiveness are replaced by cooperation, collaboration, solidarity, and harmony.
Brunella Missorici
https://www.sicilialibertaria.it/wp-content/uploads/luglioAgosto2026_compressed.pdf
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Source: A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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