Part 1: The climate crisis and our (eco)fascist future

Claims around who is, and is not, a fascist can be overblown so our intention is not to point fingers. Instead, in this two-part blog, we define eco-fascism and draw attention to how business-as-usual, including ‘green’ versions, are eco-fascism writ large (Part 1) and describe how some ideas within the climate-environment movement also channel eco-fascist sentiments (Part 2).

Those supporting, and working, for equity and democracy are facing some hard truths in the 21st century. The world is in irreversible climate-ecological collapse, and in these times of scarcity and fear, our grim reality includes the rise of fascism.

Fascism can be broadly defined as dogmatic and oppressive ideals that demand acquiescence to a ‘supreme’ leadership favouring one group of people whilst persecuting others. Fascism creates and encourages structural violence by de-humanising some and benefiting others. 

Eco-fascism encompasses dogmatic and oppressive ideals (or regimes) that use climate and environmental claims to support anti-democratic governance and prioritise the status and well-being for an ‘eco-elite’. 

Eco-fascism is a label applied liberally by some – to those who talk about population as a contributor to our climate-ecological predicament. For some, just mentioning the word ‘population’ represents a dog-whistle for fascism. Apportioning blame on the basis of race is highly problematic, however, blanket application of the ‘eco-fascist’ label to anyone who says anything about population is overly simplistic. Despite good intentions, it is often used to shutdown conversations about the severity and intractability of our predicament. 

There is no need for obtuse finger-pointing. As we describe below, eco-fascism is already writ large in economic growth, capitalism, colonialism, ecocide, extinction, and many actions emanating from crumbling democracies – like monocultural industrial agriculture and the oppressive treatment of refugees. 

Ecocide

This is the Sixth Mass Extinction, the scale and speed of which is unfathomable. This ecocide is a result of ecological overshoot – using and abusing the Earth way beyond its capacity to recover and replenish.

Overshoot is unevenly distributed – poorer parts of the world have zero or minimal overshoot, often because they lack access to significant energy surplus such as fossil fuels. 

Affluent countries, with access to the most fossil fuels, are the main drivers. Globally, the natural world has been subjugated and exploited based on ideas – largely within capitalism and economic growth – that (some) people are superior to, and separate from, the natural world. 

Six continent supply chains may distance affluent populations from the impacts of ecocide and the exploitation of poor populations, but this is eco-fascism writ large. 

Inequity and inequality

It is frequently argued that an alternative energy source can address or stop ecocide, failing to recognise that it is energy that is the driver of overshoot, not fossil fuels per se. In fact, an energy transition involves a hyper-growth because of all the mining and infrastructure development required. It is greenwashed ecocide.

An energy transition is also infeasible because fossil fuels, like them or not, are a unique energy source that cannot be replaced at scale. Furthermore, the quantity of minerals required for the proposed transition simply does not exist. 

Given these limitations, support for a ‘clean’ energy transition is inherently eco-fascist. Not only is it ecocidal, it also lends tacit support for inequality and inequity because these technologies will mainly be available to those who already have wealth and privilege. This includes the very people and corporations that many claim to be responsible for our climate-ecological predicament. Big Oil, for example, is a major investor in so-called ‘renewables’ – benefiting from the essential role fossil fuels play in powering the mines and manufacturers for ‘clean’ energy. 

Atmospheric geoengineering is another technology that both supports, and depends upon, the inequity of business-as-usual and, thus, also channels ecofascist sentiments. 

As the climate continues to spiral out of control, these untried and untested technologies will inevitably be applied. Available evidence indicates that the effects will be unevenly distributed. Nations and regions with the capacity to deploy such technology will be inclined to do so for their own benefit, leaving poorer and more marginalised places potentially even worse off.

In a collapsing world, where those least responsible for the predicament are those impacted first and foremost, where lies the justification other than to fulfil eco-fascist ideals?

Colonialism

Through the subjugation of those deemed ‘less worthy’, colonisers have reaped the benefits of land, ecosystems, and populations brought under their control – through extraction, exploitation, and enslavement. 

Impacted peoples have experienced the harsh realities of local and regional socio-ecological collapse. Unfortunately, these peoples are also some of those who are experiencing, and will experience, the first and worst impacts of global socio-ecological collapse. 

While many continue to demand rights and equity with tenacity and resilience, the legacy of colonialism persists. Today, the assumed right of a few to benefit to the detriment of those struggling against past injustices is, again, eco-fascism writ large. 

Eco-fascism is not a distant threat. Neither is it only evident on the right of politics. It is alive and kicking in the very substance of business-as-usual, including ‘clean’ energy greenwashing by big environmental groups and green parties. There is no waiting around for jackboots, armbands, and little black notebooks. Act now to avert the worst – act now for a #JustCollapse!

See: Part 2: The climate crisis and our (eco)fascist future.