In this talk from Revolution Festival 2019, Helena Nicholson of the LSE Marxist society discusses the climate catastrophe facing the planet, and the need for a revolutionary alternative.

The question of climate change has become the burning issue of our era, as a result of the fires, floods, hurricanes, and droughts that have devastated communities across the world. Urgent action is required; and yet world leaders have proven that they are incapable of taking any serious steps to address this existential environmental crisis.

At the same time, millions of young people have taken to the streets as part of the 'Fridays for Future' movement. And left-wing political demands to fight climate change have found an echo - most notably with the proposal for a 'Green New Deal' from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in the USA, and Labour's call for a 'Green Industrial Revolution' in the UK.

It is clear that capitalism is killing the planet. Immediate and radical action is needed. But how can workers and students link together to fight against the climate crisis? And what is the socialist answer to capitalism's destruction of the earth?