This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs the Climate, Naomi Klein

“We are allowing sea levels to rise in order to protect an economic system that does not meet the needs of the vast majority of people on this planet, with or without climate change.”

The result of in-depth studies on the relationship between capitalism and the climate crisis, this text presents a learned perspective on the implications our economic model is having on the protection of our ecosystem.

It is a critique of “business as usual,” of the privatization of public resources, and it calls for an energy transition and a rethinking of labor. These are pressing issues, yet here they are addressed only through brief statements. Is that enough to offer a solid proposal for change? Probably not. Naomi Klein, a Canadian journalist, writer, and activist, achieved worldwide success with No Logo (2000), a manifesto against globalization, and with the 2014 publication This Changes Everything.

This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate offers interesting insights, but from a literary point of view, without a full reading of the 2014 book, it feels like an incomplete narrative. I would recommend her work to those who are skeptical of the capitalist system and its consequences for climate and biodiversity, bearing in mind that climate justice means social justice, though perhaps not to very new followers of Greta Thunberg.

edited:  Emilia S.