Episodes
Tuesday Jan 21, 2020
Greta Thunberg Calls Out the Corporatocracy at Davos
Tuesday Jan 21, 2020
Tuesday Jan 21, 2020
Here’s what the Corporatocracy is up to today, JANUARY 21, 2020
Beginning today through January 24th, the world’s most powerful bankers and corporate elites and their appointed political leaders will be attending the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. And the keynote speaker for the opening ceremony today was 16 year old climate activist, Greta Thunberg.
In her opening speech, Greta delivered a blistering indictment of the financial elites inaction on the climate emergency. We’ve included the full transcript to Greta’s speech below. But first– for some context– here’s a brief history of the annual Forum in Davos:
The World Economic Forum began in 1971 as a conference of about 400 of Europe’s top CEOs. The mission of that first meeting was to promote American forms of international business management. It occurred the same year that US President Richard Nixon abandoned the gold standard to adopt the petrodollar system for sustaining the value of US currency. In the decade prior, the US dollar had been losing value due to overspending on the US military industrial complex, especially in Vietnam. European nations had begun cashing in their US dollars demanding gold in return. To stop the run on US gold reserves, Nixon abruptly eliminated the gold standard in favor of the petrodollar system.
It was later revealed that the petrodollar system was part of a secret deal brokered by the Nixon administration with Saudi Arabia. The Saudis were the single largest producer of global oil. And with the Nixon deal, they agreed to trade their oil exclusively in US dollars, creating massive global demand for US currency. Eventually the U.S. dollar became the world's reserve currency and, through this status, the United States enjoys persistent trade deficits and global economic hegemony.
Of course, this system has greatly empowered the US banking system, Wall Street and US Corporate elites over the IMF, World Bank, World Trade Organization, Bank for International Settlements, UN, OECD and other western institutions of global financial governance.
Thus began US-led globalization and the coalescence of transnational corporations into what we now call the US-led Corporatocracy. And ever since, the World Economic Forum at Davos has served as an annual meeting for western corporate elites and their chosen political and bureaucratic leaders. In later years, in response to growing criticisms of corporate power, Davos organizers have invited various celebrities and outstanding critics of corporate globalization to attend and present their concerns.
Greta Thunberg attended Davos at their annual meeting last year. And due to her continued progress in promoting the climate crisis, she was invited this year to be the keynote speaker for opening remarks.
Here’s the full transcript of Greta’s speech at the 2020 World Economic Forum in Davos:
One year ago I came to Davos and told you that our house is on fire. I said I wanted you to panic.
I’ve been warned that telling people to panic about the climate crisis is a very dangerous thing to do. But don’t worry. It’s fine. Trust me, I’ve done this before and I assure you it doesn’t lead to anything.
And for the record, when we children tell you to panic we’re not telling you to go on like before.
We’re not telling you to rely on technologies that don’t even exist today at scale and that science says perhaps never will.
We are not telling you to keep talking about reaching “net zero emissions” or “carbon neutrality” by cheating and fiddling around with numbers.
We are not telling you to “offset your emissions” by just paying someone else to plant trees in places like Africa while at the same time forests like the Amazon are being slaughtered at an infinitely higher rate.
Planting trees is good, of course, but it’s nowhere near enough of what needs to be done, and it cannot replace real mitigation or rewilding nature.
Let’s be clear. We don’t need a “low carbon economy.” We don’t need to “lower emissions.” Our emissions have to stop. And until we have the technologies that at scale can put our emissions to minus then we must forget about net zero — we need real zero.
Because distant net zero emission targets will mean absolutely nothing if we just continue to ignore the carbon dioxide budget — which applies for today, not distant future dates. If high emissions continue like now even for a few years, that remaining budget will soon be completely used up.
The fact that the USA is leaving the Paris accord seems to outrage and worry everyone, and it should. But the fact that we’re all about to fail the commitments you signed up for in the Paris Agreement doesn’t seem to bother the people in power even the least.
Any plan or policy of yours that doesn’t include radical emission cuts at the source starting today is completely insufficient for meeting the 1.5-degree or well-below-2-degrees commitments of the Paris Agreement.
And again — this is not about right or left. We couldn’t care less about your party politics.
From a sustainability perspective, the right, the left as well as the centre have all failed. No political ideology or economic structure has been able to tackle the climate and environmental emergency and create a cohesive and sustainable world. Because, in case you haven’t noticed, that world is currently on fire.
You say children shouldn’t worry. You say: “Just leave this to us. We will fix this, we promise we won’t let you down.”
And then — nothing. Silence. Or something worse than silence. Empty words and promises which give the impression that sufficient action is being taken.
All the solutions are obviously not available within today’s societies. Nor do we have the time to wait for new technological solutions to become available to start drastically reducing our emissions.
So of course the transition isn’t going to be easy. It will be hard. And unless we start facing this now together, with all cards on the table, we won’t be able to solve this in time.
In the days running up to the 50th anniversary of the World Economic Forum, I joined a group of climate activists who are demanding that you, the world’s most influential business and political leaders, begin to take the action needed. We demand that at this year’s World Economic Forum participants from all companies, banks, institutions and governments:
- Immediately halt all investments in fossil fuel exploration and extraction.
- Immediately end all fossil fuel subsidies.
- And immediately and completely divest from fossil fuels.
We don’t want these things done by 2050, 2030 or even 2021, we want this done now.
It may seem like we’re asking for a lot. And you will of course say that we are naïve. But this is just the very minimum amount of effort that is needed to start the rapid sustainable transition.
So either you do this or you’re going to have to explain to your children why you are giving up on the 1.5-degree target.
Giving up without even trying.
Well I’m here to tell you that unlike you, my generation will not give up without a fight.
The facts are clear, but they’re still too uncomfortable for you to address. You just leave it because you think it’s too depressing and people will give up. But people will not give up. You’re the ones who are giving up.
Last week I met with coal miners in Poland who lost their jobs because their mine was closed. And even they had not given up. On the contrary, they seem to understand the fact that we need to change more than you do.
I wonder, what will you tell your children was the reason to fail and leave them facing a climate chaos you knowingly brought upon them? The 1.5-degree target? That it seemed so bad for the economy that we decided to resign the idea of securing future living conditions without even trying?
Our house is still on fire. Your inaction is fuelling the flames by the hour. We are still telling you to panic, and to act as if you loved your children above all else.
Thank You....
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If you want to learn more about how all of us in the work of Global Justice can join together in strategic boycott and finally force this corporatocracy to the people’s bargaining table– to end all this injustice and corruption, and to help save our planet– please check out our ABOUT Page and listen to our first podcast. And if you want more info on how you can get involved, you can email us at info@wakingjustice.org. We’d love to hear from you.
We’re running out of time, y’all... Join us... Peace.
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