The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, presented this Thursday at the World Economic Forum in Davos (Switzerland) his thesis on ‘decarbonized capitalism’the new regime that must emerge in the world to face the challenges of climate change in the global economy.
(Read: Debt swap for nature, the Minambiente proposal in Davos).
In a speech of just under 15 minutes, the president grouped the ideas that he presented in the panels in which he participated throughout the week in the global event, such as debt swap for climate actiongreater interest in renewable energies, the devaluation of the countries’ debt and the zero emission of coal, oil and gas.
“Davos entrepreneurs must think of another capitalism as their last chance: decarbonized capitalism”, Petro pointed out, after reviewing that the current climate crisis can extinguish life on the planet.
Thus, for the president, decarbonized capitalism would have to “rebuild the planning power of nations articulated to a multilateral and global planning of the transition.”
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This means, according to the president, that the decisions that aree taken at the climate summits of the COP have binding power. “If the World Trade Organization or any free trade agreement is binding, why aren’t decisions on correcting the climate crisis? Why are they just suggestions in the midst of the catastrophe? ”, She questioned herself.
In line with this, this new capitalist regime would have to make the treaties of the organizations such as the WTO or the IMF, submit to climate pacts.
“Decarbonized capitalism would have to achieve that the climate agreement seeks bluntly the reduction of the consumption of coal, oil and gas until reaching zero emissions in the short term”, reinforced the head of state.
On this point, he later added that this scheme “can no longer protect the fossil economy”, which “must enter a serious and definitive stage of devaluation”.
(Read: The plan proposed by Petro to achieve investment in clean energy).
Upon the idea of swapping debt for climate action, the president pointed out that this has to be a mandate of the new capitalist regime, “in such a way that nations can finance the costs of adaptation and, above all, those of mitigation through the reduction of their debt.” He also asked that decarbonized capitalism has to devalue the debt that weighs globally on production processes and on nations.
“Is decarbonized capitalism possible? The great transformation of capital, as Polanyi said, is now or there will not be decarbonized capitalism, not even capitalism, and it is possible that there will be no humanity”, concluded the Colombian president.
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