“The big people behind capitalism are quite aware that they are planning the end of the world as we know it”, Sabrina Fernandes, a political economist and ecosocialist activist from Brazil, told the Ecosocialism 2026 conference in Magan-djin/Brisbane, September 11-13.
“They don’t have a problem with the world ending as we know it — as long as they can keep making profits,” Fernandes said.
“They do have a problem with a society that they might not be able to control when things get really hard, as we are coming to this stage of ecocide and global catastrophe. They are fighting over the spoils of war and climate change.”
Places that would not normally be considered part of the grab are becoming so, Fernandes said. The oceans “are a new terra nullius for them” — for ocean floor mining.
There should be an international agreement for this, but US President Donald Trump does not care and has begun issuing his own licences, she added.
Helen Yaffe, author, activist and Professor of Latin American Political Economy, University of Glasgow, told the conference that socialist Cuba, one of the key targets of Trump’s new colonialism, is facing multiple and mounting challenges as the US blockade intensifies.
The response that she has witnessed, in a recent visit to Cuba, was: “We shall not submit!”
“Revolutionary Cuba wrote the rule-book on resilience,” Yaffe said. Facing a total oil blockade since January, Cuba is now undertaking an incredibly rapid transition to renewable energies.
“Many commentators are saying this will be the fastest ever transition.” Solar panel parks now supply more than 60% of electricity on some days, but Yaffe said the challenge is storage.
Singaporean ecosocialist See Yong Feng, another guest speaker, told Green Left that capitalism was holding back human development.
“The need for limitless economic growth is often framed as the only way to solve global poverty, but new research strongly disproves this. The world already uses way more than enough energy and materials to provide a decent standard of living for all, but the profit-driven capitalist system prevents this from happening.
“We can both address poverty and the climate crisis, as long as we break the capitalist elites’ control of our economy and democratise our production and consumption,” See said.
The Gaza genocide, Trump’s blatant disregard for international and domestic laws and his naked colonial violence symbolised the ugly reality that is forging a new generation of activists, Alex Bainbridge, a conference organiser, told Green Left
“Trump has his admirers and imitators all around the world, including Marine Le Pen in France, Narendra Modi in India and Pauline Hanson here.
“But while far-right politicians push hard, there is a sharp reaction and a growing resistance; this conference was a powerful reminder of that,” Bainbridge said.
Remah Naji, a leading activist with Justice for Palestine Magan-djin, expressed this resistance. “Maybe we can’t stop a fascist and psychopath like Netanyahu from committing the war crimes he’s committing … but I can hold my government to account.”
The conference included a solidarity concert with Phil Monsour and an art exhibition.
Markela Panagyres, another conference organiser and curator of the art exhibition, told GL: “From the ongoing genocide in Gaza, to the endless drive to more wars and militarism, to ecocide, to the rise of the far right, the depravity of US-led imperialism and global capitalism is reaching ever-higher levels.
“The gravity of this moment demands that art and artists play an active role in resistance.
“This is why the concept of cultural intifada is so important: Art should not be merely a reflection of life, or entertainment or a commodity, but a weapon in the struggle for our collective liberation.
“The work of the artists, musicians, and theatre makers who participated in cultural intifada round-table and exhibition demonstrated the importance of art in movement-building.
“We were so proud that Aunty Sue Coleman-Haseldine, a senior Googatha Elder, Maralinga survivor and a long term anti-nuclear activist, came all the way from the Googatha Nation in the west of South Australia,north of Ceduna.”
Coleman-Haseldine told us about the campaign against rocket and weapons testing on her Country and her opposition to AUKUS and to US military and surveillance bases.
Ecosocialism 2026 was sponsored by the Socialist Alliance, Green Left, Resistance Books and Links Journal for Socialist Renewal. Ecosocialism 2027 will be held in Gadigal Country/Sydney.
You can access videos of talks and interviews with guest speakers through greenleft.org.au and ecosocialism.org.au.
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