Unlock Democracy joined thousands of strikers around the world calling for action on the climate crisis (20 September 2019). We stood in solidarity with protesters because we believe the climate emergency is the result of a democractic crisis.

Right now, the climate crisis is the biggest existential threat we face. The total potential emissions of the top 100 fossil fuel companies is around 745 gigatonnes of CO2. If governments allow these reserves to be used, we’d be pushed into the territory of 6 degrees of warming.

The effects of ecological breakdown are already being felt - and it’s people that are marginalised in the UK and the global south who are bearing the brunt of the worst effects.

In 2019 the UK parliament became the first in the world to declare a climate emergency. So why have they still not acted?

Climate crisis = democratic crisis

A democratic political system should protect and serve the public. But at the moment, only the interests of a very small handful of people are being represented. 

The interests of fossil fuel companies and their shareholders are being prioritised by politicians. That’s because companies like BP and Shell are able to buy influence over political parties through donations and corporate lobbying.

So instead of acting on the climate crisis, the government is cancelling subsidies for renewable energy projects, and slashing funding for public transport like buses. 

The politicians that are meant to act in the public interest are using overcentralised power to overrule local councils and force through fracking.

The climate crisis is the product of a corrupt political system. It’s a crisis of democracy, as much as it is an environmental crisis.

A rigged system 

The small handful of people that have power are getting away with using our political system to serve and advance their own interests. They can do this because our political system, based on an unwritten constitution, is rigged to concentrate and centralise power.

The small handful of people with political power can use their power to advance the interests of the shareholders of fossil fuel companies. A huge majority of us are worried about the climate crisis, but because of our constitutional settlement we don’t have the power to stop them.

#DemandDemocracy 

To take on the climate crisis, we need to do a few things. We need good public policy that creates new, sustainable jobs and public infrastructure. But we also need a democratic political system - where political decisions reflect the values that the majority of us collectively share.

Creating a new and written constitution - one that’s built and owned by all of us - could lay out our most basic and fundamental rights. This could include enshrining the basic right to enjoy a safe and healthy environment. It could make sure that every government had a duty to protect that right.

To end the climate emergency, we need a democratic political system that works in the interests of the public, not just the small handful of people that hold power and can afford to pay for influence. That should start with a new constitution that built and owned by all of us.