YCL recrewitment poster 1 copyThe YCL sends warm greetings to the youth of Britain, including our own members, and the young people and workers around the world who participated in today’s international climate strike. The mainstream media would have us believe that young people in Britain are lazy, selfish and uninterested in politics. The fact of thousands of young people on the streets of Britain’s towns and cities today should put an end to this myth. Today’s protests were inspirational both in terms of size and energy. They clearly show the youth fear for the future of the planet and humanity. More importantly we have seen that Britain and the world’s youth won’t drift quietly towards climate suicide in the interests of big business and capitalism.

However this is no time for self-congratulation. This protest should serve as an catalyst, spurring us on to greater action and resistance. Protests must grow bigger. Direct action must be taken against the companies which are causing climate change and the financial institutions which are backing them. We must remove Boris Johnson’s corrupt and inept Tory government and put in place a left government prepared to implement a green and clean energy revolution. There is no denying the facts any longer, the planet is warming. Destructive and catastrophic weather events are increasing in frequency and severity. The world stands on a tipping point. Unless there is fundamental change now, the world as we understand it, will cease to exist.

We are told that climate change is a problem equally attributable to everyone, everywhere, regardless of their class. Ignoring the fact that the world’s richest 10% account for 50% of fossil fuel emissions, while the poorest 50% produce just 10%. Just 100 companies have been responsible for more than 70% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions since 1988. This crisis has been decades in the making and despite years of warnings and irrefutable evidence, capitalism and our ruling class have proven themselves unwilling and unable to solve it. Time is running out. In a few decades we may already be too late. The story of the human race might end, almost as soon as it started, here on a planet which has been made uninhabitable by greed. We call on Britain’s youth to build the struggle to save the planet in their schools, campuses, communities and workplaces.

Stand with young people across the planet in resisting the governments, companies and banks responsible for destroying the earth. The choice we have to make is clear – socialism or extinction. System change, not climate change!

Executive Committee, Young Communist League

20 September 2019 London, Britain

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