No single country can prevent climate catastrophe on their own. Unless countries band together and agree to follow the same course of action, it is impossible to address a problem as serious as the climate crisis.
The United States, China, Russia and India account for more than half of the world’s total carbon emissions between them. Together with the UK and the EU, these countries are responsible for nearly three-quarters of all the world’s carbon emissions.
These are the countries that must work together to save the planet. And these are also the countries that have nuclear weapons pointing at each other.
Global solidarity for peace
From Chapter 18 – Building a Movement
We cannot make progress on nuclear weapons or climate change without also addressing the elephant in the room: the animosity that undermines all prospects for global cooperation.
There are many tools available for resolving international differences. The future of the world depends on pushing the US, Russia, and China to use those tools and find a way to work together for the sake of humanity.
For the sake of survival, we must join the calls for peace in Ukraine and for an end to the hostilities between the US and China. This is not about “taking sides” or passing judgment on who is to blame for what. It is about demanding that these conflicts be brought to an end so we can cultivate mutually beneficial relationships.
For many in the US and Western Europe, this is not going to be easy. Sympathies have coalesced around the Ukrainians fighting for their homeland against a very large and powerful invading force, and around the students of Tiananmen Square, the protesters in Hong Kong, the Buddhists of Tibet and the Muslim Uyghers of Xinjiang.
But even if it’s difficult, we must build solidarity with the voices for peace around the world calling for an end to hostilities with Russia and China. That’s an essential component of any global campaign for survival.
These voices for peace include Pope Francis, the Dalai Lama, and the Secretary-General of the UN. They include President Lula da Silva of Brazil[1], President Lopez Obrador of Mexico[2] and President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa.[3] They include scientists and Nobel Laureates[4], health professionals[5], faith leaders[6] and war veterans[7]. These voices have been marginalized in western media, but they represent public opinion in the vast majority of the world.[8]
Global solidarity for peace, in the context of an ongoing wars in Ukraine, the Middle East and elsewhere, means amplifying these voices and challenging the prevailing narrative in the West that equates peace talks with “appeasement” and sees negotiation as “surrender.” It means standing our ground as representing the global majority who want peace and quite frankly don’t care who is to “blame” for current tensions, whether they are in the Middle East, China, Russia, or Ukraine.
[1] Jones, J. (2023, April 24). Brazil’s Lula pitches ‘peace coalition’ for Ukraine, but he treads a thin line. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/24/americas/brazil-lula-ukraine-peace-coalition-intl-latam/index.html
[2] Mary, K., & Cortes, R. (2023, July 31). Mexican president urges end to “irrational” Ukraine war, wants Russia at peace talks. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/mexican-president-urges-end-irrational-ukraine-war-wants-russia-peace-talks-2023-07-31/
[3] Radford, B. A. (2023, June 17). Ukraine war must end, South African President Ramaphosa tells Putin. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65940655
[4] Max Planck Society. (2022, March 3). Call for peace. https://www.mpg.de/peace-declaration-nobel-prize-laureates
[5] International Council of Nurses. (2023, February 23). One year on – ICN renews call for peace in Ukraine as nurses around the world stand in solidarity [Press release]. https://www.icn.ch/news/one-year-icn-renews-call-peace-ukraine-nurses-around-world-stand-solidarity
[6] Post, K. (2022, December 21). Nearly 1,000 faith leaders call for Christmas cease-fire in Ukraine. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2022/12/21/christmas-truce-ukraine-russia-war/
[7] Condon, G. (2023, March 20). US veterans call for holiday truce, ceasefire, and negotiations to end war in Ukraine. Common Dreams. https://www.commondreams.org/views/2022/12/18/us-veterans-call-holiday-truce-ceasefire-and-negotiations-end-war-ukraine
[8] See, for example, opinion polls conducted in India, China, Turkey showing very little support outside of Europe and the US for continuing the war. Ash, T. G., Krastev, I., & Leonard, M. (2023, February 22). United West, divided from the rest: Global public opinion one year into Russia’s war on Ukraine. European Council on Foreign Relations. https://ecfr.eu/publication/united-west-divided-from-the-rest-global-public-opinion-one-year-into-russias-war-on-ukraine/
See also Lewsey, F. (2022, October 21). War in Ukraine widens global divide in public opinion. University of Cambridge. https://www.cam.ac.uk/stories/worlddivided