19.02.2026

Going beyond protest politics

On the one side, almost exclusively made up of the right and far right, there are those who blindly argue that global heating is not happening, or if it is, it is no big deal. On the other side, almost everyone else. So what is to be done? Bill McGuire takes a look at Jack Conrad’s The little red climate book

Climate breakdown should not really have a political dimension. After all, no-one - whether on the left, the right or somewhere in between - will be immune to the devastating societal and economic consequences of global heating arising from human activities. The reality, of course, is that nothing could be more political than our collapsing climate. In fact, it is probably the biggest political football of all time, given that it holds within it the future of our civilisation - and quite possibly humanity itself.

One side, almost exclusively made up of the right and far right, denigrates global heating - either arguing blindly for it not happening at all or, if it is happening, asserting that we are not the cause or it is not that big a deal. On the other side is almost everyone else. This dichotomy is not hard to explain, bearing in mind that the dire straits we find ourselves in are a function of longstanding neoliberal policies.

The truth is that global heating and the climate breakdown it is driving are entirely the consequence of the free-market capitalism that has captured our world. A political/economic system predicated upon greed, short-term profit, exploitation and environmental destruction has brought about a climate and ecological crisis that is tearing our planet apart, and bringing about a catastrophic transformation that is already seeing the prehistorification of our world.

It is common in protests organised by Extinction Rebellion, Just Stop Oil and others to see placards demanding “system change, not climate change”. This goes right to the heart of the matter, arguing that capitalism is incapable of tackling the very crisis it has brought about. I would go further and suggest that it is highly unlikely that capitalism will survive the climate emergency, the corollary being that something else is needed - both to limit its inevitably catastrophic consequences, and to rebuild a global community within a political system that promotes the stewardship of the planet rather than its destruction.

And this is where The little red climate book comes in. Published by the Communist Party of Great Britain, this pocket-sized volume packs a real punch, alongside a huge amount of information about the climate emergency. Inevitably, there is a political dimension - as there should be - but, even setting this aside, this is an excellent guide to global heating and the breakdown of our once stable climate that it is driving.

In barely more than 100 pages, the book manages to cram in a potted history of the climate across the 4.6 billion-year geological record - alongside a debate flagging why geoengineering is a dangerous distraction, and a discourse on the touchy topic of ‘overpopulation’. Of course, political discussion and philosophical thought are threaded through the entire narrative, and there is plenty of analysis of the relevance of Marxism to our predicament and its solution, along with interesting conversations about ‘greenism’ and its failings, and the pertinence of the writings of Hobbes, Rousseau, Pinker and others to the state we are in.

Central to the arguments made in this slim volume is the idea that protest is all well and good - and that groups such as Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil have done their bit to highlight key issues, but now protest must be superseded by power. If we are to prevent the very worst that climate breakdown can bring, then an enlightened programme of action has to be enacted by a different form of government that works for the people through the people.

The inevitable shattering of unfettered capitalism, as the toll of supercharged, extreme weather tears apart society and the economy, can only be a good thing, but it has to be replaced by something, or else the alternative will be unending dystopian anarchy and a wild-west free-for-all, that will once again favour the powerful and unscrupulous.

In the book’s appendix, in the form of extracts from the CPGB’s Draft programme, is a list of demands by which the climate crisis may be brought to heel - or at least ameliorated to some extent. What is striking is that the list - which included a rapid transition away from fossil fuels, swingeing taxes on polluters, and large-scale rewilding - chimes with the demands of pretty much everyone fighting for real, effective action on the climate and nature.

Most importantly, there is also an outline of what a capitalism-replacing system might and should look like - one that involves the “total reorganisation of society, and ... the ending of humanity’s strained, brutalised and crisis-ridden relationship with nature”. Certainly no-one with even an ounce of common sense or concern could or would argue with that.

Jack Conrad The little red climate book London 2023. Available for free download - communistparty.co.uk, or hard copy - www.lulu.com/shop/jack-conrad/the-little-red-climate-book

Bill McGuire is professor emeritus of geophysical and climate hazards at University College London. His next book - The fate of the world: a history and future of the climate crisis – will be published by Harper North in May