Should the ecological inaction of politicians and capitalists be judged as a crime against humanity? The question may seem indecent today, but it will eventually have to be asked.
Realistically, we will eventually crash into the ecological wall […]. This future is not the product of humanity as a whole, but of the greed and ignorance of politicians and business leaders. We know today that the major oil companies have known since at least 1970, and probably since 1953, the consequences of their activities on the climate and the risk that their products entail for human societies; During the 1980s, American politicians worked to fight global warming, before lobbyists and climate deniers derailed regulations. Whether through ignorance, indoctrination or avarice, it is always the same banality of evil.
Crimes against humanity are generally defined as the “willful and heinous violation of fundamental human rights […] of a group of individuals inspired by political, philosophical, racial or religious motives”. However, it is probably soon the most fundamental of rights that will soon be attacked, the pure and simple right to life.
Of course, when the question arises, it will be too late, the crime will have been done, and the consequences of climate change will concern us all. The search for culprits will then be at worst pointless revenge and at best a long collective meditation on the ongoing disaster and its historical causes. We will then see the long scroll of the names of almost all the politicians and capitalists of the XX and XXI centuries.
And more than ever, the adage that neutrality contributes to oppression will also be true and collectively shared.
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