It’s a common chant that we often hear and see in climate strikes, but what does it actually mean? When I say system change, I mean changing the imperialist system that we have today.

The climate crisis is a symptom of the current rotting profit-oriented economic system. Emissions started rising in the 1800s during the industrial revolution – the dawn of capitalism. This was when we began to see the global average temperature rise at a faster rate than usual.

With the capitalist system, overproduction runs rampant with the aim of continuous wealth for the few. This means environmental plunder and oppression of peoples for natural resources and cheap labor to maximize profits. 

These are the same countries that colonized to exploit Global South countries for our resources under the guise of trade. Put simply, through these endeavors, forests were destroyed, overly destructive mines were built, and the machines they used to process these resources led to emissions rising.

The system that wants uncontrolled everlasting profit on a planet with finite resources made us overly dependent on fossil fuels that benefit primarily the industrialized countries. It has kept colonies and neo-colonies, the countries also most vulnerable to the crisis, deliberately stunted so that we remain dependent on the global north countries for products and they can keep extracting cheap resources and labor.  This means we are not able to adapt because we do not have the research, technology, and infrastructure needed. A glaring example of this is when the largest polluters block meaningful climate action, especially in the realm of climate finance and reparations meant to be used for adaptation and addressing loss and damages.

These imperialist countries ignore the crisis at hand because they are least vulnerable to it. Yet even now, with ordinary citizens from these countries also starting to see and feel it, they continue to spew out empty promises. The wildfires across North America and the floods, and heatwaves across Europe are testament to this. This shows us that ordinary citizens from these imperialist or Global North countries aren’t our enemies – we must unite with them as well and target the governments, multinational companies, and the richest.

A lot of people will say that capitalism and imperialism are needed to keep growing but growth is still possible in a system that isn’t profit-oriented. In a system that is sustainable, growth is planned, and development will be for the majority based on what people actually need to flourish, and not just for the elite few.

It is possible to change the system, empires have fallen in the past. It will happen again. It must. The system that brought us the climate crisis cannot bring us out of it.

We must unite across the world to change the system and end climate imperialism. We must resist as one planet and build a new world together, one where no one is left behind.