Corruption is now the biggest driver of global warming

The ongoing failure to take meaningful climate action on the part of governments around the world might just look the most dangerous exhibition of collective incompetence the world has ever seen. 

If only that were the case. Instead, politicians have put self interest above the public good. There can be no question that those responsible understand the impact of their choices, the science is overwhelming. 

What is happening is a crime - one enabled by the fossil fuel industry and supported by the mainstream media. Massive financial lobbying by the fossil fuel industry - bribery in any other context - lines politicians' pockets in return for free license to drill, mine or dredge.

It isn't hard to find examples of this sort of activity. In the UK, the UK Petroleum Industry Association (UKPIA) – an alliance of eight of the world’s biggest oil companies – is playing a key role in the running of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Energy Costs. In the US, ExxonMobil has been accused of funding climate denial groups and misleading the public about climate change. The company has also been found to have close ties to politicians who deny climate change. Meanwhile in Canada, oil and gas lobbyists have built ‘very close relationships’ with politicians and governments, leading to legislation which favours their interests. 

The result of this corruption is faster global warming and more extreme weather. Eventually we hit tipping points which cannot be reversed and the impact of the climate crisis snowballs out of control.

Not to worry though, those responsible - politicians and executives - have an escape plan.

Whether their escape plan is a bolthole in New Zealand or a rocket ship to Mars, it seems there is a common belief that being rich will insulate against the ravages to come. Knowing that moving to Mars is ridiculous and New Zealand no more likely to be spared the worst extreme weather than the rest of the world might give you a brief warm glow.

What can we do about it? Surprisingly little. So long as demand exists, fossil fuel companies will exploit. We can, as individuals, do something to restrict demand and we can vote for politicians less likely to exhibit corrupt behaviour. Achieving either outcome is majorly restricted as a result of media bias. Still anything we do can and does make a difference, even if it is just to slow the rate at which things get worse.

Hopefully the next generation will have a better handle on what climate change really means and who is largely responsible for the terrible state of the world they inherit. That knowledge should help them to strip those who have profited of their ill-gotten gains.

Until then we will just have to accept that corruption - and the industries it enables - is what is driving the climate crisis.