We Can Survive the Climate Apocalypse if Capitalists Don’t Get in the Way – Watts Up With That?

Essay by Eric Worrall

“… One of the main barriers is the rise of anti-intellectualism and populist politics. Often aligned with unregulated capitalism …”

Environmental pressures need not always spark conflict – lessons from history show how crisis can be avoided

Published: September 10, 2025 8.04pm AEST
Jay Silverstein
Senior Lecturer in the Department of Chemistry and Forensics, Nottingham Trent University

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Bronze age aridification in Mesopotamia from roughly 2200BC to 2100BC, for example, is correlated with an escalation of violence there and the collapse of the Akkadian empire. Some researchers also attribute drought as a major factor in recent wars in east Africa. 

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In the 19th century, when Europe’s population surged and natural fertiliser supplies such as guano became strained, the Haber-Bosch process revolutionised agriculture by enabling nitrogen to be extracted from the atmosphere. This allowed Europe to meet its growing demand for food and, incidentally, munitions.

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In my view, dramatic action must be taken to avoid a spiral of conflict. Ideals, knowledge and data should be translated into political and economic will. This will require coordinated efforts by every nation. 

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One of the main barriers is the rise of anti-intellectualism and populist politics. Often aligned with unregulated capitalism, this can undermine the very strategies needed to address the unfolding crisis. 

If we are to avoid human tragedy, we will need to transform our worldview. This requires educating those unaware of the causes and consequences of global warming. It also means holding accountable those whose greed and lust for power have made them adversaries of life on Earth. 

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Read more: https://theconversation.com/environmental-pressures-need-not-always-spark-conflict-lessons-from-history-show-how-crisis-can-be-avoided-262300

Author Jay Silverstein doesn’t appear to realise he contradicted his own argument.

The Haber-Bosch process, which Jay Silverstein correctly claims revolutionised agriculture, wasn’t the product of an international government committee, it was the product of those unregulated capitalists author Jay Silverstein seems to despise.

My point is, there is no evidence societies which don’t encourage “unregulated capitalism” exhibit the kind of innovation required to overcome obstacles. Quite the opposite. Even communist China is struggling to keep up, although they did a fantastic job of industrialising their society, far better than the Soviets, especially after Deng Xiapong allowed the reintroduction of capitalism, China is now hitting the limits of communist struggles to innovate, with their struggle to keep up with the USA in high tech fields like artificial intelligence.

Capitalism is innovation – self organising groups of people solving problems and making money from those solutions, without having to answer at every stage of the process to the direction of government bureaucrats.

Obviously I don’t agree with Jay Silverstein’s views that we face a climate emergency. But it is inevitable something bad will happen one day. And when that day happens, we better have a few capitalists on hand, who can work on solving that problem by thinking outside the box, without having to answer to risk averse bureaucrats over ever paperclip used in their effort to overcome the challenges of the future.