The Global Ecosocialist Network is an international association of socialists formed in response to the catastrophic ecological crisis rapidly engulfing our world.
Such is the scale of this crisis – with melting ice caps, record breaking heatwaves, appalling droughts, and deadly floods and fires around the world – that even the mainstream capitalist media is obliged to report many of these terrible and ominous developments. Nevertheless such reporting resolutely refuses to draw out the links between these events and, as far as possible, to avoid any connection to the underlying problem of climate change or, heaven forbid, capitalism.
Even among climate activists, including the inspiring new generation of school strikers, Extinction Rebellion rebels and COP protestors who have hit the streets of the world in such magnificent numbers, the dominant discourse is what might be called ‘new green liberalism’. This aspires either to change within and on the basis of capitalism or a change in the system by means of bringing about a collective change of heart.
This rise of activism and concern is enormously welcome but from an Ecosocialist perspective it is not enough. We believe that preventing utter disaster and coping with the disasters that are already inevitable a structural challenge to capitalism is essential.
The purpose of the Network is to assist the worldwide dissemination of socialist responses to the environmental crisis. Its aim is simply to facilitate the exchange of information, ideas, analyses and debates from an ecosocialist point of view.
These are our key principles
- There is a generalised environmental crisis of which climate change is the lead element. This crisis is extremely urgent and threatens the future of humanity and countless other species.
- The cause of this crisis is capitalism – an economic and social system based on competitive exploitation and production for profit.
- Solving this crisis and surviving it involves an international break with capitalism and its replacement by socialism – an economic and social system based on collective ownership of the main forces of production and democratic planning.
- To achieve this we need a global mobilisation of people power.
- Such mobilisation requires a commitment to a just transition i.e. not one based on attacking the jobs and living standards of the mass of working people.
- The united mobilisation we need also requires opposition to all racist, sexist, national, homophobic and transphobic oppression.
On this basis we invite socialists from around the world to become members and socialist organisations to affiliate to us. [Link to membership section] . We would stress that we are simply a network. Members of existing parties, groups or campaigns are all welcome to join and socialist organisations are invited to affiliate without any restriction or limitation on their current activities. We are socialists but we are not controlled by or committed to any particular socialist party or tendency.
Our main form of communication with each other and with the public will be through our website and associated social media along with the Newsletter we will send out to members and affiliates. Assuming we grow and develop the resources necessary we would look to organising a Global Ecosocialist Network Conference some time later in 2020.
Opinions expressed in published articles are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the views of other members of the Global Ecosocialist Network.