An SOS to the world: Biodiversity is under threat. We need to act now. Our survival depends upon it. - The Gower Initiative for Modern Money Studies

Illustration of the Earth on fire — © Kevin Giszewski – Dreamstime

This weekend the GIMMS team are preparing for a series of events that we will be hosting in Birmingham and London so this week’s MMT Lens will be shorter than usual but no less pertinent.

“Thinking like ethical people, dressing like ethical people, decorating our homes like ethical people makes not a damn of difference unless we also behave like ethical people.”
― George Monbiot, Heat: How to Stop the Planet From Burning

Yet again the climate is in the media focus and given the stark nature of the news, it is imperative that we cover the issue yet again.

The IBPES (Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services) published a landmark report just a few days ago which stated that nature is declining globally at rates unprecedented in human history. It warned that the rate of species extinctions is accelerating and will have grave impacts on people around the world. The report found that around one million animal and plant species are now threatened with extinction within only a few decades and that is more than ever before in human history.

Professor Sandra Diaz who co-chaired the Assessment gave this unambiguous warning.

‘Biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people are our common heritage and humanity’s most important life-supporting ‘safety net. But our safety net is stretched almost to breaking point.

Robert Watson, chair of the IBPES added:

“The health of the ecosystems on which we and other species depend is deteriorating more rapidly than ever. We are eroding the very foundations of economies, livelihoods, food security, health and quality of life worldwide. We have lost time. We must act now.”

This stark and shocking news follows on the heels of the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change which released its comprehensive report on the state of the climate in October last year in which it warned that we only have 12 years left to halt the worst effects of climate change. As our first MMT Lens blog noted at the time:

“The evidence is stark, and the clock is ticking on the capacity of our natural world to support life. It is a wake-up call for humanity and our leaders need to react with urgency. Without a reduction in greenhouse gases, the planet will face significant threats from drought, floods, extreme weather events, food and water shortages, rising sea levels and destruction of the natural environment. It will drive hundreds of millions of people into poverty and create further refugee crises.”

The web of life is a pattern of interdependency and the human species is not apart from that – we are not the directors of the natural orchestra looking on with benevolence we are tied inextricably to the complexity of that intricate web. And yet up till now, we have been still acting as if we are lords over the universe with no consequences to our actions.

As we have mentioned before, the young activist Greta Thunberg and now the Extinction Rebellion campaign are waking us up slowly to the environmental crisis of our own making. That is encouraging; but we have a long way to go yet to persuade people of the seriousness of the situation. Our society has been built on non-stop consumption; indeed capitalism is built on the creation of endless desires and wants. Daily we are bombarded on TV, social media and through the written media to continue purchasing. We are even now exhorted to replace our toxic products with green ones which make us feel we are making a difference. Paradoxically, we are still being invited to consume but ethically with green credentials with little thought for the potential impact of shifting resource use elsewhere. We need a radical rethink, not shameless tinkering with capitalism. We need a frank and open discussion about human survival.

With so many decades of wilful deceit and creation of ignorance about climate change realities, it is clear we have a way to go to turn the ship around. However, the Green New Deal which is gaining traction and support both in the US and in the UK is the perfect vehicle for initiating a discussion and is an encouraging work in progress. However as Dalia Gebrial pointed out in a recent article ‘any ‘Green New Deal….cannot be bound within our nation’s borders’. This has to be a global conversation which admits the damaging environmental and social effects of western consumption on some of the poorest regions in the world which have been exploited to maintain our own standard of living. As the author notes:

“We must come into this space not as self-appointed leaders, but figures of solidarity. We are the last to join the party – let’s not behave once again like the world’s policeman and have it shut down before it’s even begun.”

We must also ignore those book balancing sirens who warn of financial disaster claiming that such Green New Deals are unaffordable. It is time to replace the clichés of ‘government having no money of its own’. It is time for the public to challenge politicians and indeed economists who trot out these fake household budget narratives of the state finances which suggest that a scarcity of money means we cannot address the most serious crisis humans have ever faced – their own destruction.

The planet will surely go on for many billions of years but without us. We will be a casualty of our own short sightedness. We need to repeat the message that sovereign currency nations with their own central bank are the sole currency issuers and as such their spending is not limited by their ability to tax. The only limitations that governments around the world face are the planet’s finite resources. It is the role of national governments to work cooperatively putting public purpose and planetary survival at the head of their political agendas and managing resources sustainably for the well-being of all peoples.

For many, this will be economics not as they know it. It asks us all to challenge our inbuilt pre-conceptions about how money works. If you’re free on Saturday there’s still time to find out more by joining GIMMS in Birmingham or on Sunday in London.