DLet’s be clear from the outset: it is impossible to fight seriously against global warming without a deep redistribution of wealth, both within countries and internationally. Those who claim otherwise are lying to the planet. And those who claim that redistribution is certainly desirable, sympathetic, etc., but unfortunately technically or politically impossible, are lying just as much. They would be better off standing up for what they believe in (if they still believe in anything) rather than getting lost in conservative posturing.
Lula’s victory against the agribusiness camp in Brazil certainly gives some hope. But it should not make us forget that so many voters remain skeptical of the social-ecological left and prefer to rely on the nationalist and anti-migrant right, in the South as in the North, as the elections in Sweden and the in Italy. For a simple reason: without a fundamental transformation of the economic system and the distribution of wealth, the social-ecological program risks turning against the middle and working classes. The good news (if we can say so) is that the wealth is so concentrated at the top that it is possible to improve the living conditions of the vast majority of the population while fighting against climate change, for little that we give ourselves the means for an ambitious redistribution.
In other words, everyone will naturally have to profoundly change their way of life, but the fact is that it is possible to compensate the working and middle classes for these changes, both financially and by giving access to goods and services less energy-intensive and more compatible with the survival of the planet (education, health, housing, transport, etc.). This requires a drastic reduction in the level of wealth and income of the richest, and this is also the only way to build political majorities to save the planet.
Billionaires taxed at 5%
Facts and figures are stubborn. Global billionaires have continued their stratospheric rise since the 2008 crisis and during the Covid-19 pandemic and have reached unprecedented levels. As shown by the global inequality report 2022, the richest 0.1% of the planet alone now hold some 80,000 billion euros in financial and real estate capital, i.e. more than 19% of wealth worldwide (the equivalent of a year of world GDP). The share held by the richest 10% reaches 77% of the total, against only 2% for the poorest 50%. In Europe, which the economic elites like to present as a haven of equality, the share of the richest 10% is 61% of total wealth, against 4% for the poorest 50%.
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