Facing the Apocalypse - Arguments for Ecosocialism

This book is a response to what is now a planetary ecological emergency. The special IPCC Report, published in October 2018, concluded that the increase in the temperature of the planet over preindustrial times due to global warming must be held below 1.5°C if dangerous destabilisations are to be avoided. This was the limit fought for in Paris by countries under direct threat from the rising sea level. It concluded moreover that this limit will be reached within 12 years if decisive action is not taken The World Wild Life Funds 2018 Living Planet Report says that global wildlife numbers are in freefall and that we are indeed facing the greatest extinction of species since the age of the dinosaurs. The book insists that we are facing amultifaceted threat to life the planet. Crucial resources are running out. Pollution is choking the ecosystems. The oceans are now 30 per cent more acidic than in pre-industrial times, coral reefs are dying at an unprecedented rate. From a defence of the remarkable ecological content of classical Marxism - lost during the 20th century to the rise of productivism - the book is an appeal to the socialist left to take the ecological crisis far more seriously. It uncovers some fascinating stories of their lives and struggles. Thornett engages directly with major debates such as the rising human population and carbon pricing that remain unresolved on the socialist left. His approach is to promote a transitional approach, which separates him both from both those that think capitalism will find a solution and those who think revolutionary propaganda is enough. He argues that defending the planet against this crisis today requires broadest possible movement of those - the 91 per cent - who are victims of it. Not just the myriad activist campaigns and the big NGO but the trade union movement, the indigenous movements and peoples globally and social movements, such as La Via Campesina and the Brazilian Landless Workers Movement (MST), along with diverse campaigns and direct-action groups.

Review :
Alan Thornett's book is an essential read for all who wish to challenge climate change and other environmental threats, from ocean acidification to mass extinction, that put our future in question. It is inspiring that a former car worker is such a passionate advocate of ecological politics. This is an original and wonderfully engaging contribution to the practical politics of climate change action. Alan is not one for pat slogans, but engages in vital debates about how to make our action effective in the face of an ecocidal system of global capitalism. It is vital that we read this book, engage with its arguments and build a movement for ecosocialism - Derek Wall , author of Elinor Ostrom's Rules for Radicals and the No-nonsense Guide to Green Politics. This is an important book! One may disagree on this or that issue - e.g. population; which I do not see as a problem in itself - but Alan Thornett's arguments are an outstanding contribution to ecosocialist thinking - and action. In clear and precise language, without academic jargon, Facing the Apocalypse is not only a powerful "civilisational wake-up call", but also a precious compass for the socio-ecological struggles of the future. Michael Löwy, co-author of the International Ecosocialist Manifesto (2001) and the Belem Declaration (2009). The world is governed by big transnationals who wants to earn as much money as possible in the shortest possible time. To achieve this, they don't hesitate to attack nature. Open-cast mining poisons water with cyanide. Agroindustry poisons the soil with bio-fuels to feed cars rather than people. The Amazon is plundered for wood and oil. Global warming causes the air to become warmer and warmer. These attacks threaten the survival of our species and other animals and plants. This means our fundamental task is to take power from the transnational corporations and put it in the hands of humanity as a whole. That is why books like Alan Thornett's are so important. Hugo Blanco, campaigner and author of We the Indians - the indigenous people of Peruy and the struggle for land.