Global temperatures continue to rise with little to no attention paid by governments or industry. Much of the damage being caused to our planet will become irreversible. Many consider that 1.5 degrees warming is now baked in, while there is not a population on Earth which hasn’t got microplastics in their bodies. Our soils are being eroded faster than we can regenerate them, with global food chains at constant risk of collapse. Every day we pump poisons into our air, earth and waterways.

We already feel the impact of living in a world of increasing scarcity and instability. Global leaders are quick to intervene to secure resources for themselves, their friends and their countries – e.g Trump in Iran and Venezuela. Governments are increasing military spending. Marginal freedoms and rights won after the Second World War are being stripped back as the established world order disintegrates. Meanwhile tech companies are given free rein to expend energy we do not have on AI data centres we do not need.

The dire global situation is not a natural side effect of evolving human society. It is a particular consequence of capitalism, which always prioritises capital accumulation over everything else. As long as our main goals are growth and profit, we will breach planetary boundaries.

There is no such thing as sustainable capitalism. 

But there is still time left. Every increment of a degree that we stop matters. Every freedom and right which is protected matters. The only way to save our planet and our societies is to end capitalism.  Now is the time to unite our struggles.

The third Ecosocialism Conference is an opportunity to discuss some of the most pressing issues facing the world and how to address them. It is also a space in which we can strategise about how to keep the discussion going across the Ecosocialist Action Network. Climate and environmental issues are too often ignored – we need to bring them to the fore. To that end, a recurring theme of the conference will be the incorporation of ecosocialist demands into struggles across society. See the timetable here..

 Following the conference, the Ecosocialist Action Network will propose plans for bringing people together from different campaigns and communities as well as a toolkit for holding local Climate Assemblies.

In the evening we will be hosting a social at nearby Rockingham Community Centre featuring comedy and live music courtesy of award-winning musician Sean Taylor! 

The opening plenary will focus on how electoral parties and victories feature in the fight against climate change. We will be joined by Mel Mullings from Your Party, Clare LeJeune from La France Insoumise, James O’Nions from Greens Organise and Paris Wilder from the Ecosocialist Action Network and AntiCapitalist Resistance.

The closing plenary will feature leading Marxist philosopher and ecosocialist activist Michael Lowy, to discuss the need for revolutionary ecosocialism and the importance of internationalism. Paris Wilder will also bring together the different threads of the day’s discussion and propose how we go forward.

The sessions are as diverse as the challenges facing us. Join us to discuss:

• What should a green transition look like: How do we transition to sustainable supply chains and technology while maintaining our current quality of life? And how do we ensure that transition is not bought for the Global North at the cost of the Global South? Join Fred Pearce, author of Despite It All: A Handbook for Climate Hopefuls and Nicholas Beuret  author of Something Worse : Why We Need to Disrupt the Climate Transition for a session on how we can change the world we live in.

• Big tech, AI and the climate crisis: AI has gone from a silicon valley pipe dream to ubiquitous in every workplace. Keir Starmer’s government has designated data centres as critical infrastructure projects. What has caused the massive take off in AI and why are they so devastating to agreed upon climate change goals? Dan McQuillan and Anne Alexander discuss the threat posed by tech giants and their role in neoliberal narratives.

• Standing against extraction fashion: the global fashion industry is based on planned obsolescence of the oldest kind. Fashions come and go. What’s hot this season will be gone the next – that is how value is maintained. But at what cost? Join Sara Arnold, Ruth Ogier (War on Want), Dr Neelam Raina and Dr Tanveer Ahmed to discuss strategies for degrowth in one of the world’s most wasteful industries.

• Fighting the far right and climate change: the far right is on the rise across the world. The recent local elections in England and Wales saw huge gains for Farage’s far right Reform party and this has emboldened the movement – with 60,000 taking to the streets on 16 May. These movements actively deny climate change or talk openly about the profit opportunities of melting ice caps and scarcer resources. A. J. A. Woods author of The Cultural Marxism Conspiracy: Why the Right Blames the Frankfurt School for the Decline of the West and Sophia Brown  from Greens Organise discuss how we strategically fight climate change and the far right.

• Ecocide and war: war comes at a huge and devastating cost to life which is paid in different ways. Often unreported is the environmental impact which renders whole tracts of land unlivable and unharvestable, as well as the intensive resources required to rebuild the destruction wrought by bombs and occupation. Author Hamza Hamouchene and Kimia Talebi from Energy Embargo for Palestine discuss the genocide and ecocide ongoing in Palestine.

• Climate direct action: what should we do when our working conditions are made unsafe by climate change? How do we organise around traditional trade union issues in the context of runaway climate change? Stuart Jordan discusses the Heat Strike movement and otherwise we can bring together labour and climate movements.

• Ecofeminism: women back to the land: join us for a screening of The Land that Holds Us, part of an arts-based research project exploring women’s journeys into small-scale organic and agroecological farming in Britain. Rachel Durrant will facilitate a discussion after the screening about women’s relationships with the land, the people around them and the social systems they navigate.

• Organising the climate movement and direct action: the climate movement in much of the world has lost its direction. The Covid-19 pandemic cut short the growing momentum of eco initiatives and movements such as the Extinction Rebellion in England and Wales or the Citizens Convention for Climate Change in France. How do we revive the movement and organise so that we are ready to respond to developments. War on Want campaign director Tyrone Scott and Simon Pirani, campaigner from Fair Free London,will discuss campaigning in this space and strategies for engagement and radicalisation.

We look forward to welcoming you at the Ecosocialism Conference. A unique experience to connect with people across social and climate movements in England, Wales, Scotland and beyond. Share your experiences, learn about new strategies and party at the social afterwards. Climate change is the existential challenge of our lifetimes. It is ecosocialism or extinction. Let’s get organised!