The article below was written by a sympathiser of the ACG.and is the first of two articles on the heatwaves, the second written by members of the French organisation Union Communiste Libertaire.
As large parts of the UK appear to be heading into yet another heatwave this week, pictures of parched fields, scorched parks and packed beaches are easy to find in the media. But scant attention is given to the cause of this unprecedented weather, namely climate collapse, nor the uneven impacts on people in terms of suffering and hardship.
The planet is reaping the rewards of years of extractive capitalism pumping warming gases into the atmosphere. Weather record after record is broken, month after month, to the degree that TV and radio presenters sometimes sound like they are merely reciting sports results. July was the driest on record, highest temperatures for Spring and Summer months were recorded, England had its warmest June on record, and so on…. Meanwhile, the true and horrifying impacts of the beginning of climate collapse are hidden. The truth is that thousands of people, most of them vulnerable, poor and marginalised, have been killed by the extreme heat this year. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) estimated that 2,877 people died in the May and June heatwaves – before those in July and August, traditionally the hottest month. In an echo of Covid, people aged 75 and older accounting for about two-thirds of deaths. Just like the coronavirus pandemic poor and older people feature disproportionately. Elsewhere, France recorded more than 5,700 excess deaths during its June heatwave, with similar impacts in other countries such as Spain. The term ‘excess mortality’ sanitises what is actually happening – people are dying before time, killed by climate devastation caused by fossil capital and its allies.
The Labour health secretary, Yvette Cooper, is quoted as saying, “My thoughts are with all those who have lost loved ones as a result of the long and intense heatwaves.” Yet, this is the same Labour government that is considering giving the go ahead to massive new gas and oil drilling in the North Sea, in the Jackdaw and Rosebank fields, which would release some 35.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions over 200 million tonnes of CO2 respectively. Andy Burnham’s ‘man of the people’ PR persona does not extend to taking on the oil giants killing the planet, stating that he will be “pragmatic” about oil and gas, saying “The question isn’t whether Britain will still be using oil and gas, the question is where does it come from.” As scientists have repeatedly pointed out, no more fossil fuels at all can be extracted if the world and humanity are to have a viable future. In short, the Labour government’s approach makes it complicit in the unnecessary deaths of thousands of people, as well as in baking in increased further temperature increases for future decades with resultant climate devastation and human catastrophe.
In the here and now, it is clear who benefits and who suffers from this situation. Eight of the biggest oil companies, including BP, Shell and Saudi Aramco amassed profits of more than £67bn in just three months as the US / Iran war sent energy prices soaring, and the emissions-driven climate crisis caused deadly heatwaves across Europe and elsewhere. Meanwhile, we suffer. The combined heat and humidity, fuelled by the climate crisis, is making life in cities in particular feel unliveable. However, this suffering is by degrees and determined by class. Air conditioning has suddenly become a ‘must have’ for the well off. But while wealthy individuals can find the tens of thousands of pounds needed to equip their homes with built in AC systems, people on low incomes and chronically ill people have to resort to inadequate portable fans purchased in the market or at Argos. Cities like London experience the urban heat island effect, widespread concrete and lack of greenery creating this: poorer families tend to live in blocks of flats and multi-occupied properties, while the better off are more likely to live with more access to trees and green spaces, which ameliorate the effect. And in the workplace, again similar to Covid, working class people suffer most – frontline, outdoor and manual workers, bus drivers working in intolerable temperatures of 40C plus. There is, disgracefully, no legal upper temperature limit for workplaces in the UK.
The oil and gas companies and the rich do not bother one iota about the misery left in their wake as they scoop up hundreds of billions of gallons of oil plus gas and profits, nor do they care if they sign the death warrant for humanity on this planet. Maximising profits to the nth degree is their mantra and raison d’etre. And in this process, it is the poor who will suffer most, based on class, while the rich remain insulated (at least for the time being) as the planet heats up.
We must do everything we can to oppose both the fossil fuel industry, notably any new drilling in the North Sea, and the uneven impacts on communities, demanding that local authorities and employers put protections in place for all. We cannot rely on Labour for this – its track record speaks for itself. As well as not confronting oil companies it has also pursued and supported C02 and pollution producing incinerators sited in poor areas, such as the Edmonton one in north London. And do not place faith in the Green Party as it increasingly seems to forget its ‘environmental side’, and as its councillors find themselves constricted by being in the position of managing the existing system while obeying local authority budgets. We must organise from the ground up, on housing estates, in workplaces and elsewhere, linking up climate related struggles – from campaigns against incinerators to projects promoting food security.