We need an apartheid-style boycott to save the planet
The third report of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says that we have 15 years to take the necessary steps. The horse may not have bolted, but it’s well on its way through the stable door.
Who can stop it? Well, we can, you and I. And it is not just that we can stop it, we have a responsibility to do so. Our desire to consume any and everything of perceivable value – to extract every precious stone, every ounce of metal, every drop of oil, every tuna in the ocean, every rhinoceros in the bush – knows no bounds. We live in a world dominated by greed. We have allowed the interests of capital to outweigh the interests of human beings and our Earth.
Throughout my life I have believed that the only response to injustice is what Gandhi termed “passive resistance”. During the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa, using boycotts, divestment and sanctions, and supported by our friends overseas, we were not only able to apply economic pressure on the unjust State, but also serious moral pressure.
It is clear that those countries and companies responsible for accelerating climate change are not going to give up; they stand to make too much money. They need persuasion from the likes of us. And it need not necessarily involve trading in our cars and buying bicycles!
There are many ways that all of us can fight against climate change: by not wast- ing energy, for instance. We can encourage energy companies to spend more of their resources on the development of sustainable energy products, and we can reward those companies that do so by using their products. We can press governments to invest in renewable energy. And the good news is that we don’t have to start from scratch. Young people have already begun to do something about it. The fossil fuel divestment campaign is the fastest growing corporate campaign of its kind in history.
It makes no sense to invest in companies that undermine our future. To serve as custodians of creation is not an empty title; it requires that we act, and with all the urgency this dire situation demands..