Who is failing the climate? Are underreporting journalists, politicians in denial or fatalists, who insist that only the most aggressive few can survive, at fault? Are horrified white boys or an industrial complex that capitalize on this misery more to blame? The list of potential culprits may be long, but the ultimate raft of solutions needs to be even longer. Hysterics do not help, long-time activists remind. A complex collapse cannot possibly be tackled without doing away with the stereotype that the environment is only important for the white, middle-class. The colonized and exploited must have a voice and introduce positions on the problem. An enforced cooling down of the coronavirus crisis may as well offer a window of opportunity for a transition from an economy of exploitation and disposal towards fulfilling the needs of the many.
Are ecological crises inevitable? Eurozine looks at the cultural and political factors behind delayed responses to the climate emergency, and potential ways out of it.
This focal point is published with the support of Studio Europa Maastricht.
