Capitalism as we know it is over
These are the pathways that keep us under already catastrophic 2°
Our system of exploitation & short-termism will never achieve the precipitous drop needed
Under our current system emissions are still rising
Capitalism cannot even achieve a leveling off of emissions - and that is the easiest part
Regulations & incentives are already failing: the inherent incentives of the capitalism will always empower those who cheat and game the system
The question is just what comes next:
A more equitable world for all
Or fascist corporate feudalism
@The_ogier #capitalist EU countries were able to significantly reduce their CO2 footprint while capitalist USA wasn't; "capitalism" is a extremely broad spectrum https://ourworldindata.org/co2-and-other-greenhouse-gas-emissions
@kravietz definitely a valid point! However, there is the question how much of the EU's emissions have merely been effectively exported to Asian countries.
Also, all the emissions reductions achieved by the EU are very low hanging fruit.
Things will get progressively harder and harder as we approach net 0.
I do think the problem is capitalism as such. Entities in capitalism that extract maximum value through ruthless exploitation and gaming systems will inherently out-compete those that do not.
That is why I believe regulations will not be enough to curb the system.
And I believe we can already see it: There is already significant fraud in the carbon credit trade and large parts of the "legitimate" trade are far less efficient than could be as, of course, their aim is profits above all else (e.g. planting monoculture forests instead rewilding, cutting down primary forest to plant new forest for credits, etc)
@The_ogier what capitalist approach *does* prevent today indeed is transfer of clean technology from high-income countries to low-income countries; the former have invested into it heavily so they now want ROI, but it's like Salk releasing polio vaccine into the public - climate change will impact everyone, including those enjoying thei ROIs
