Young ecologists in Rojava joined the call by Fridays For Future to participate in the Global Climate Strike on September 25, and issued the following statement:
As revolutionary ecologists and militants, we share the great concerns of Friday For Future on the climate crisis, as expressed in their call and affirm together with them: “the coming months and years will be crucial” to find a solution to end the global destruction and exploitation of nature by humans!
Especially because we are based in North-Eastern Syria – that is said to be one of the place that will suffer the most from climate change in the next decades – we experience and understand the urgency of the situation: We need to act now!
The solution will come from the people, not from the states or economic rulers:
Past and and recent history shows, more than enough, that big enterprises or states are ineffective to take real actions to mitigate climate change: firstly, because it goes against their direct interests; secondly, because, in our globalised world, ruled by liberal economics, they are the tools of the former.
Indeed, because the capitalist system is based on the perpetual creation and consumption of goods to allow a perpetual growth to the economy and not fall in crisis, it needs an infinite amount of resources. But the resources of nature are by definition limited.
Because of this reality, capitalism means, by its essence, the destruction and exploitation of nature until its very end, until our very end…
Therefore, a real solution to the climate crisis cannot be found without a drastic change of our social and economic system and without rejecting capitalism as a whole!
Grassroots organising of youth and of society can be the answer:
To address the ecological crisis, the youth of the world have to unite at the local level, democratically and be creative to imagine new ways of living outside of the capitalist system.
We have to re-imagine everything: our economy, our way to travel and move, our way to consume and produce.
Regarding the economy, we have to push for the local production and consumption of goods and make it so that we regain control of it.
To fight against monopolies, we can start cooperatives to produce together and better. The use of the resources has to be discussed democratically, taking into account the ecological impact of our activities. Everything is to be created.
Further than this, a whole new mentality has to be developed: a mentality that implies rebuilding a strong link between communities and people as well as a respect towards nature.
Against the individualism, consumerism and competition that capitalism advocates, we have to push for solidarity, the better distribution of the wealth and to regard the social interactions between humans as more valuable than the accumulation of material goods.
For this reason, the organisation of youth and of society is today more important than ever.
Let’s organise local councils working outside of the state systems, let’s build cooperatives, let’s take back the control of our local economy!
By uniting and getting back the power to the people we will then be able to solve the ecological crisis.