Climate optimists like to claim that as soon as we reach “net zero” — the point when capitalist commerce and industry begins emitting less carbon dioxide than the amount absorbed by oceans, rocks, or plants, along with the amount being taken out of the atmosphere (theoretically) via high-tech CO2 removal — then global warming will stop almost immediately.

It’s a nice message, one intended to make us feel better, reassured that our leaders know what they’re doing. Don’t worry, we are told, everything is under control. By 2050, if not sooner, they’ll have the situation turned around. 😃

In the meantime, we can all relax and go ahead with Business As Usual. Keep shopping, keep buying, keep driving, keep flying. And don’t forget to do your part: buy a shiny new electric SUV and recycle your plastic water bottles!

BUT — there are big problems with this phony net zero promise, and the way countries report their emissions is one of them. Investigators have found huge discrepancies accruing through the use of spurious carbon offsets, outsourcing, and other UN-approved loopholes. Also, CO2 emissions from the military are not required to be included, nor are emissions from international trade.

Some estimates suggest that actual emissions could be at least *twice* as high as what’s being shown in the official reports. No wonder global temperatures keep rising even though we’re constantly assured that great progress is being made.

In addition, there’s a growing risk that climate change itself will trigger “natural” emissions of greenhouse gases as peat bogs dry out, as drought-weakened forests burn, as permafrost melts, and as the sea floor warms, releasing previously frozen methane clathrates. So it’s not just the emissions of human industry we need to worry about.

The point is, net zero is NOT zero. Don’t fall for their lies. It’s time for real change, for system change. We must demand the end of #capitalism and a pivot toward #degrowth.

#Science #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #Degrowth

🛑 Business As Usual will lead to our demise. 🛑

Sooner or later, perhaps within years, certainly within a decade or two, the fragile and tenuous structure of our complex modern industrial society will break down. It won’t take much — overlapping natural disasters, collapse of the marine food web, an even worse pandemic, serious supply chain disruption, a major crop failure — some of these, or maybe all at once, and everything falls apart.

That’s not an outcome we should welcome. It can only lead to widespread suffering and starvation, with millions and possibly billions of human deaths.

If we are to have any hope of avoiding such a catastrophic societal collapse, we must rapidly reduce the extraction and burning of fossil fuels. But that will never happen as long as capitalism remains in charge.

So capitalism must go. The system must be changed.

Those at the top, however, will not give up easily. They will have to be forced to surrender, to step down and relinquish their power. The only way I can see that happening, short of violent revolution, is through a critical mass of people agreeing that it’s time for ACTION, then joining together for coordinated civil disobedience at a level never seen before.

The primary tactic is a prolonged general strike.

But it must be carefully thought out, every step meticulously organized. This would start with activists and neighborhood leaders meeting up and developing practical plans, locating resources, evaluating areas of strength and also of weakness.

Community groups could then begin stockpiling food and basic supplies and organizing voluntary systems of local/regional assistance, whether with transportation, health care, or finances, in preparation for the strike.

And when it begins:

⦿ No one goes to work

 ⦿ No one buys anything

 ⦿ No one pays any bills

If a wide-scale action like this could last at least a month, or even better two or three months, then I think we *might* have a chance of getting our demands met.

We’re at an inflection point, a moment of decision: either stay with capitalism and face disaster, or do whatever is necessary to bring about degrowth.

#Capitalism #BusinessAsUsual #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateAction

Why is proprietary #software so bad and full of #vulnerabilities?

The sales department probably doesn't know any better and only has its commission in mind and just sells the software, that's their job. I'm not so sure about the management, whether they are clueless or just think that no matter how bad the software is, we can earn even more money with support contracts. There are certainly a few clueless developers who are kept so busy that they barely manage to complete their tasks but have no time for quality assurance. However, a large part of the developers will realize what is being played and then either change jobs after 2 years if it becomes unbearable or try to justify the quality of the software according to the motto it is a feature and not a bug. Ultimately, the only option left to cybersecurity is to secure vulnerable software with supposedly better security software. Bugs are not fixed unless public pressure is so strong that it is unavoidable and with one fixed bug, three new ones are installed. The supposedly secure security software all too often turns out to be snake oil, which only brings further security risks, which then have to be secured by further security software and you find yourself in a never-ending cascade, which becomes ever more dangerous and expensive but brings no security gain. There is even a technical term for this, called security theater. At the end of the day, all the management wants to say in its press release is that the hackers were diabolical criminals and probably had state support, but that the company had done everything it could to defend itself with the latest security software. The starting position is therefore clear. There is money to be made from security vulnerabilities and proper security means a lot of work. Economic considerations are therefore made here, according to which quality assurance can be saved because the customer can find and report the errors after all.

I'm pretty sure I'm not the smartest or the best developer, but I've figured it out and I'm always surprised that I often meet colleagues who are very confident about cybersecurity in the company because there is security training every year. I don't see any possibility of developing secure software at all under capitalism because profit is always valued higher than security.

#developer #management #economy #capitalism #profit #finance #security #cybersecurity #bug #fail #system #problem #hack #hacker #malware

More than 140 banks worldwide have "pledged" to cut emissions associated with their lending and investments to almost zero by 2050.

But meanwhile...
___________________________________

Less than a hundred miles from where world leaders are discussing how to meet their climate pledges, BP is drilling for gas. The project, a sprawling gas field off the Azerbaijani coast, could inject more than 1 billion metric tons of carbon into the atmosphere, striking a major blow to efforts to slow global warming.

BP has said it intends to invest heavily in new oil and gas fields in the coming years. But it would be unable to pursue these dirty projects without billions in support from big banks. Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo, along with a number of other banks, all helped BP raise more than $5 billion last year.

Since May 2021, global banks committed to "Net-zero" have poured almost $1 trillion into companies pursuing expansion of oil and gas projects that would push the world beyond its survivable limits. Taken together, these projects would produce almost seven times the annual emissions of the U.S.
___________________________________

FULL STORY -- grist.org/accountability/net-z…

#Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #Economics #Capitalism #BusinessAsUsual

In the six years between 2016 and 2021, according to data published in the most recent Circularity Gap Report, the global economy consumed 582 billion tonnes of materials — nearly as much as the 740 billion consumed in the *entire* 20th century.

REPORT ➡️ circularity-gap.world/2024

That’s very bad! But I wonder, do you think the world has been doing better since 2021? 🤔

I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that global consumption has NOT declined during the past three years. In fact, the level almost certainly has increased. But let’s just say it has remained steady.

If that’s true, it means another three years of the world annually consuming ~97 billion tonnes of materials. So the total over the past nine years is now at least 873 billion tonnes — or about 18% MORE than all the materials consumed in the 20th century!

Driven by capitalism’s incessant demand for profits at any cost, we are consuming ourselves to death. But who cares about that? As long as billionaires keep getting richer, that’s all that matters, right?

Business As Usual must go on.

#History #Economics #Capitalism #BusinessAsUsual

What do you think happens when a UN climate conference is hosted by a petrostate — a country like Azerbaijan whose economy relies heavily on oil and gas?

Turning over a new leaf? Acknowledging it’s time for capitalism to end? Mea culpa?

Ha-ha, no.
_________________________________

A senior official at the COP29 climate change conference in Azerbaijan appears to have used his role to arrange a meeting to discuss potential fossil fuel deals.

A secret recording shows the chief executive of Azerbaijan's COP29 team, Elnur Soltanov, discussing "investment opportunities" in the state oil and gas company with a man posing as a potential investor.

"We have a lot of gas fields that are to be developed," says Soltanov.

As well as being chief executive of COP29, Soltanov is also the deputy energy minister of Azerbaijan and is on the board of Socar, Azerbaijan's state energy firm.
_________________________________

FULL STORY -- bbc.com/news/articles/crmzvdn9…
SEE ALSO -- globalwitness.org/en/campaigns…

#Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #Capitalism #BusinessAsUsual #COP29

Global temperatures heating up faster than ever? Monster storms on the rise? Ecosystems destroyed and species going extinct?

Who cares about all that?!

It's time to invest in fossil fuels!!!
______________________________________

Private equity firms are using US public sector workers’ retirement savings to fund fossil fuel projects pumping more than a billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere every year, according to an analysis.

They have ploughed more than $1 trillion into the energy sector since 2010, often buying into fossil fuel projects and, thanks to exemptions from many financial disclosures, operating them outside the public eye, the researchers say.

In many cases they are mortgaging workers’ futures by taking the money they have put away for old age and investing it in assets that risk serious damage to the climate.
______________________________________

This is Business As Usual at its worst and most cynical. Outrageous. 😡

FULL ARTICLE -- theguardian.com/business/2024/…

#Economics #Climate #ClimateChange #Capitalism #BusinessAsUsual