Benedict Mcaleenan

It’s capitalism, not socialism, that will beat climate change

When John Glenn was asked what went through his mind as he became the first American in space, he said it was the nerve-wracking thought that ‘every part of this rocket was supplied by the lowest bidder.’

It’s a revealing insight. Perhaps even more so than the ‘Blue Marble’ photograph of Earth taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, which inspired early environmentalists. Glenn was acknowledging that market economics made it possible for a government to achieve Herculean feats. True, the Soviets were in the race too, but then their system collapsed completely. Capitalism has staying power – and that’s what we need now in the fight against climate change.

The UK’s Committee on Climate Change (CCC) set an optimistic tone in its report on reaching net zero emissions by 2050. Not only can it be done, the report says, but its impact on the UK’s GDP will be minimal. The committee called for a combination of technologies and behavioural change, all of which were impressively ambitious and perfectly possible.

Meanwhile, protesters and writers have been calling for the downfall of capitalism as the only solution to climate change. MPs, columnists, authors like Naomi Klein and the Extinction Rebellion campaigners have all been waving the Marxist flag – some figuratively, others literally. They believe that capitalism caused this mess, so it must be dismantled. There is something in their premise, but their conclusion could not be more wrong.

Capitalism did contribute significantly to this mess, but it has also proved the most effective way of solving the problems faced by human beings. Since the Enlightenment, it has fed billions, cured diseases, reduced poverty and financed human freedom. As Stephen Pinker, Yuval Noah Harari and Hans Rosling have all pointed out, human history is a journey of problem-solving through the clever use of credit and markets to fund and spread new ideas.

Already a subscriber? Log in

Keep reading with a free trial

Subscribe and get your first month of online and app access for free. After that it’s just £1 a week.

There’s no commitment, you can cancel any time.

Or

Unlock more articles

REGISTER

Comments

Don't miss out

Join the conversation with other Spectator readers. Subscribe to leave a comment.

Already a subscriber? Log in