We are not equal in the face of the ecological crisis and do not suffer to the same degree from the human rights violations it engenders. Democracy will have to play a leading role in the necessary ecological transition that is on everyone’s lips today. Since it is the working classes and marginalized groups who have the most to lose, these groups must participate in the major decisions that will structure the reorganization of our economy in light of the great ecological challenges that our times are going through. To mitigate the effects of climate catastrophe and ensure respect for human rights, it is imperative to democratize our economic system.
For the League of Rights and Freedoms, now strong in 60 years of struggle, human rights must be at the heart of reflections on the transition. Both the impacts of the ecological crisis and the adaptation and mitigation measures envisaged must be examined in the light of human rights. This framework of analysis deindividuates and acquires a more collective scope, which conforms to the requirement of the prohibition of discrimination, which has become systemic, at the time of ecological transition. The right to a healthy environment also contributes to reminding us of the urgency of democracy, by emphasizing that certain rights are sine qua non conditions for the full realization of this right: access to information, public participation and access to justice.
This demand for democracy is all the more necessary as these crises threaten a set of rights, from the right to life, to security, to health, including the right to housing or to work: we are talking here about the interdependence of human rights. In turn, the preservation of ecosystems is jeopardized by violations of the right to protest or the right to information! The universality of human rights also calls for taking into account the exacerbated impacts of the ecological crisis on certain marginalized populations, people with disabilities, people of color, indigenous peoples and impoverished populations of the global South, victims of colonialism and extractivism, etc.
What do human rights imply about the prevailing economic system? Since the main decisions are taken by and for the interests of a restricted elite, a hierarchical system like capitalism is intrinsically inclined to defend the interests of the elites to whom it benefits. It is not designed to respect and ensure the implementation of human rights nor does it aim to do so! And when populations and marginalized groups are nevertheless heard and taken into account, it is at the cost of long and very demanding struggles.
As capitalism is a system based on private property, companies are in competition with each other. Private ownership of the means of production leads to competition between companies, which seek to maximize their profits and grow to better defend their interests. We must put in place a system in which companies would not be pushed to maximize their profits, and quickly replace the dynamics of competition and growth with the dynamics of collaboration made possible by a system of collective ownership.
In addition to being unevenly distributed, economic growth has an irreducibly material dimension: more cars, skyscrapers, electronic devices, etc. As resources are intrinsically limited, any form of so-called green growth is necessarily an insoluble equation. Let’s not be fooled: the transition cannot be reduced to a technical transition within a capitalist system, aimed at switching from fossil fuels to so-called renewable energy sources. The transition cannot consist of a simple oil change. An in-depth reorganization of our societies is essential in order to meet the needs and respect the rights of all while respecting planetary limits.
This is a powerful argument in favor of a democratization of the economy, which must go hand in hand with the ecological transition. Fighting the ecological crisis and the immobility of the elites implies fighting for more real democratic participation, including in economic matters. Many believe that democratic economic planning is the best way to reduce the pressure of human activity on ecosystems. An undemocratic transition is likely to result in the maintenance of pre-existing power relations and consequently in the maintenance of catastrophic records in terms of human rights and ecology.
In the years to come, social movements will have to remain on the lookout to preserve the spaces of democratic participation that exist and fight to expand them. Above all, the climate emergency must not be used as a pretext for democratic setbacks or the suspension of certain rights and freedoms, when democracy is more necessary than ever to defend human rights.
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