Since the 1970s, scientists have warned about growing ecological problems caused by growth-oriented industrial production and the Western mode of living. In the meantime, we are in the middle of multiple ecological crises, first and foremost the climate crisis. Energy systems, transport infrastructure and industrial agriculture which are based on fossil fuels emit greenhouse gases, which prevent the heat of the sun from escaping the earth´s atmosphere. Today the atmospheric greenhouse gas concentration is the highest in the last 800,000 years. As a result, the global average temperature has risen by more than one degree Celsius since the pre-industrial era. This also radically changes the water cycle, as the Earth’s atmosphere absorbs water faster. Precipitation becomes more irregular and more intense. Weather extremes like floods, long dry periods, snow chaos, forest fires and hurricanes are the result.
Climate change is particularly dangerous as the earth’s systems don’t function linearly. When so-called tipping points are exceeded, unpredictable and sometimes mutually reinforcing changes occur. These tipping points cannot be precisely determined and exceeding them is usually irreversible. One tipping point is the melting of ice in the arctic. As global warming leads to the thawing of permafrost in the Arctic, this enables the decomposition of bacteria that release methane which further accelerates the warming. Furthermore, the melting of Arctic ice can lead to radical periods of heat and cold, as it affects the Gulf Stream. Unusual hot or cold periods can cause crop failures and reduce food yields. Heat and drought also promote forest fires, which in turn result in the loss of CO2-storing forests. The earth system and climate are complex – they cannot be completely regulated.
At the same time, biodiversity is shrinking at an alarming rate. Already today there are around 20 percent fewer species than at the beginning of the 20th century. And worldwide, one-eighth of our animal and plant species are threatened with extinction. Especially industrial agriculture contributes to the extinction of species to an unprecedented rate through deforestation and the use of pesticides and machinery. Additionally, the increasing concentration of air pollution from industrial and car exhaust gases, particulate matter and heating and cooking with wood or coal causes serious problems. Next to accelerating climate change, air pollution leads to heart diseases, strokes, lung diseases and cancer. Air, water and soil pollutants cause nine million deaths worldwide, three times as many as AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined.
In order to prevent a further escalation of the climate crisis, the member states of the United Nations have agreed to keep the rise in the global mean temperature ‘well below 2 degrees Celsius’ compared to the pre-industrial era, with a target of 1.5 degrees. In order to limit global warming to two degrees, greenhouse gas emissions have to be reduced by 40 to 70 percent by 2050 compared to 2010 and have to be zero by 2100. If this trend reversal does not succeed, large parts of the earth will become uninhabitable for humans before the end of this century. Natural disasters hit poorer countries and marginalised groups harder. While the Netherlands is protected from rising sea levels by cost-intensive dams, Bangladesh has no comparable protection. Extreme climatic situations are accompanied by major flight movements. According to the World Bank, by 2050 more than 140 million people could be forced to flee due to climatic changes. Nevertheless, the consequences of the climate crises are still not recognized for granting asylum.
Historically, the early industrialized and now rich countries of Europe and North America are responsible for most of the emissions and therefore the crossing of planetary boundaries. Looking at the emissions per capita, as before it is the wealthy few that stress the planet. While the poorest half of the world´s population emits only about 10% of total global emissions, the richest 10% are responsible for around 50%.4 Ulrich Brand and Markus Wissen speak of an ‘imperial mode of living’ in Europe and the US, a non-sustainable lifestyle at the expense of others. It is built on global inequalities and exploitation. The current production and consumption model of the West benefits mostly oil and car companies as well as consumers in rich countries. Europe’s population can access raw materials and consumer goods from other parts of the world at low cost. In order to respect planetary boundaries, resource consumption must be limited, which will exacerbate distributional conflicts. Until recently, the costs were mainly passed onto future generations and the Global South. The latter is becoming increasingly difficult however, as the West’s supremacy is wavering.
