Ecology without class struggle is just gardening
ICOR, committed to proletarian internationalism, recognizes the devastating impact of climate catastrophes exacerbated by capitalism. The recent floods in Rio Grande do Sul and floods in Kenya, along with the drought in southern Africa, are examples of the global environmental catastrophe that has begun. Its manifestations affect all continents: extreme weather events, the rapid extinction of species, the destruction of the ozone layer and of forests etc. The organization rejects the notion that these disasters are merely natural and not man-made consequences, pointing to the capitalist exploitation of nature as cause and aggravating factor.
We declare:
Disasters are caused and exacerbated by capitalism/imperialism, which prioritizes the profit of a few and causes major environmental damage to the whole world. The survival of humanity is put into question.
Solidarity: Deep solidarity with the victims of disasters, with a commitment to support the struggles for aid and reconstruction.
Demands: Pressure on governments and multinational corporations to take action against climate change, including investments in renewable energy and sustainable practices.
Denouncement: Condemnation of capitalist exploitation that worsens climate crises and harms workers as well as the broad masses.
Struggles: For an environmental struggle orientated to changing society! Demonstrations, strikes and other highly visible actions; building of a national and international militant environmental movement.
Internationalism: Emphasizes the importance of the international union and struggle of workers and the broad masses in the fight against climate catastrophe and all other manifestations of the global environmental catastrophe.
Awareness: Encouraging member organizations to promote awareness of climate crises and environmental justice.
International Support: Solidarity initiatives to assist affected regions, focusing on the well-being of workers. Struggle for approval of asylum for environmental refugees.
Campaigning: Standing up in a lively way for the alternative to deadly capitalism, the collective and socialist society that respects humanity and nature.
We support all social movements and radical environmental actions all over the world directed against the overexploitation of nature’s raw materials and the capitalist destruction of nature that causes ecological and social crises and deepens the unequal terms of trade. ICOR believes that only through the collective and organized struggle of workers and broad masses, especially of youth and women, with revolutionary commitment to the construction of a socialist society, is it possible to overcome climate and other catastrophes and capitalist exploitation and oppression, guaranteeing the well-being of workers and broad masses and environmental preservation as far as possible.
“Ecology without class struggle is just gardening.”
(Chico Mendes, revolutionary, Brazilian socialist and environmentalist, murdered for fighting for rubber tappers in the Amazon basin.)
The ICOR calls for the protests on the occasion of COP29 and the International Day of Environmental Struggle on Saturday, 16 November 2024, to be prepared militantly and observed internationally in this spirit.
Signatories (as of 28 June 2024, further signatories possible):
CPK Communist Party of Kenya
MMLPL Moroccan Marxist-Leninist Proletarian Line
CPSA (ML) Communist Party of South Africa (Marxist-Leninist)
PPDS Parti Patriotique Démocratique Socialiste (Patriotic Democratic Socialist Party), Tunisia
SPB Socialist Party of Bangladesh
CPI (ML) RS Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Red Star
NCP (Mashal) Nepal Communist Party (Mashal)
RUFN Revolutionary United Front of Nepal
CPA/ML Communist Party of Australia (Marxist-Leninist)
БКП Българска Комунистическа Партия (Bulgarian Communist Party)
PR-ByH Partija Rada - ByH (Party of Labor - Bosnia and Herzegovina)
MLPD Marxistisch-Leninistische Partei Deutschlands (Marxist-Leninist Party of Germany)
UPML Union Prolétarienne Marxiste-Léniniste (Marxist-Leninist Proletarian Union), France
KOL Kommunistische Organisation Luxemburg (Communist Organization of Luxemburg)
RM Rode Morgen (Red Dawn), Netherlands
UMLP União Marxista-Leninista Portuguesa (Portuguese Marxist-Leninist Union)
RMP Российская маоистская партия (Rossijskaya maoistskaya partiya) (Russian Maoist Party)
MLGS Marxistisch-Leninistische Gruppe Schweiz (Marxist-Leninist Group of Switzerland)
TKP-ML Türkiye Komünist Partisi – Marksist-Leninist (Communist Party of Turkey – Marxist-Leninist)
MLKP Marksist Leninist Komünist Parti Türkiye / Kürdistan (Marxist Leninist Communist Party Turkey / Kurdistan)
KSRD Koordinazionnyj Sowjet Rabotschewo Dvizhenija (Coordination Council of the Workers Class Movement), Ukraine
UMU Union of Maoists of the Urals (Union of Maoists of the Urals), Russia
UoC Union of Cypriots, Cyprus
PCP (independiente) Partido Comunista Paraguayo (independiente) (Paraguayan Communist Party (independent))
PC (ML) Partido Comunista (Marxista Leninista) (Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist)), Dominican Republic
APR Ação Popular Revolucionária (People’s Revolutionary Action), Brazil
CPPDM Chinese People's Party for the Defense of Mao Zedong
UPC-Manidem Union des Populations du Cameroun - Manifeste National pour l’Instauration de la Démocratie (Union of Populations of Cameroon - National Manifesto for the Establishment of Democracy)
BP (NK-T) Bolşevik Parti (Kuzey Kürdistan-Türkiye) (Bolshevik Party (North Kurdistan-Turkey))
Additional Signatories (Non-ICOR):
SUCI (C) Socialist Unity Center of India (Communist)