Another year and another climate conference. This December, 196 countries will meet in Paris to address the ongoing climate crisis, as they have done for the last 21 years. Twenty-one years of failed agreements, sky-rocketing emissions, and rising temperatures. What makes them think this year will be any different?
Chances are it won’t. Rich countries like Canada will continue to silence the voices of the Global South. Corporations will call the shots. Poor and racialized communities least responsible for the crisis will be the ones who suffer the most.
After 21 years it’s clear that the rich and powerful won’t solve the climate crisis. Those who benefit from a racist, sexist, capitalist system that exploits the planet the same way it exploits workers, women, and people of colour, are not going to be the ones to stop it.
That’s why Rising Tide North America is launching #FloodtheSystem. #FloodtheSystem is a call out for people to organize mass direct actions in the lead up to the conference. These actions will target the corporations and governments who threaten our communities. Our hope is to bring together not just climate groups, but racial justice, migrant justice, and feminist groups, indigenous land defenders, labour unions, anti-poverty activists … everyone fighting for an end to oppression and for a more just world. The problem of climate change goes beyond environmental destruction. So must our response.
Through #FloodtheSystem, groups will be sharing their visions for very different solutions to the climate crisis. Solutions which put the needs of those communities most affected by climate change first. Solutions based on mutual aid and a more just future.
This fall is not the time for closed-door meetings and top-down solutions. It’s a time for communities and movements to come together to disrupt the systems that threaten our existence. This fall it’s time to #FloodtheSystem!