ICOR declaration on International Day of Environmental Struggle 2026:
Natural disasters? The disaster is the capitalist system!
The flash flood in Nepal on August 26, which claimed thousands of lives and devastated an entire region—including villages and power plants—has shaken many people around the world. ICOR Asia Coordinator Alik Chakraborty comments: “This was not simply a natural disaster. For ‘under the conditions of the capitalist mode of production, the relationship between humans and nature is increasingly mediated by markets and capital.’ A river is no longer just a river. It is transformed into a potential source of hydroelectric power. Mountains are no longer simply mountains. They become sites for roads, tunnels, mining, and tourism projects. Land becomes a capital good. Consequently, the value of nature is increasingly determined by its exchange value and no longer solely by its ecological function. (…) A worker’s life is merely a component of production costs.” The exploitation of nature is driven worldwide by the ruthless capitalist pursuit of maximum profit. In response, the Asia Coordinator calls, among other things, for the establishment of early-warning systems, safety measures for workers, and the expansion of infrastructure for rapid rescue operations. And he notes that such measures must be fought for against the social role of a capitalist state.
The global environmental catastrophe is already unfolding as a result of the overexploitation of nature. It ultimately destroys the very foundations of human life. Global warming is already causing permafrost to melt in the Himalayas and the European Alps, which can no longer hold the rock together. During a historic heat wave this past summer, more than 30,000 people died in Europe alone. Worldwide, uncontrolled wildfires broke out on every continent this year due to prolonged heat waves, extreme drought, and the El Niño climate phenomenon. Since 1900, global sea levels have risen by about 20 cm. The rate of rise is currently accelerating to nearly 4 millimeters per year, threatening entire islands, major cities, and countless people. Ongoing wars are fueling environmental destruction. And all of this is just the beginning.
In November, government representatives from around the world will once again gather at this year’s UN Climate Change Conference, COP31, in Turkey and attempt to give the impression that concern for the environment is in good hands with them. Yet all of these meetings to date have been nothing but a declaration of failure. Many of those meeting here bear significant responsibility for the global environmental catastrophe through their policies.
At last year’s World Climate Conference in Brazil, there were mass protests for the first time in a long while. Environmental awareness is growing. ICOR supports the renewed development of environmental awareness and environmental struggles. Today, they must prevail against attempts to downplay the issue—claims that humans can adapt to climate change through reforms. And environmental awareness must contend with fascist climate deniers. For example, U.S. President Donald Trump in all seriousness refers to global warming as a hoax. Contrary to scientific findings, greenhouse gases are no longer officially considered a health hazard in the U.S. This demonstrates that fascism embodies capitalism’s tendency toward the most ruthless exploitation of people and nature. Capitalist propaganda claiming that environmental protection threatens jobs is intended to drive a wedge of division between the environmental and labor movements. “System change, not climate change!” was an anti-capitalist, international slogan of many young people in the mid-2020s. Opinions, however, certainly differ on what is meant by “system change.” Here, we as ICOR are called upon to contribute the experiences from the formerly socialist Soviet Union and the people’s democracies—with their goal and promising approaches to building socialism—where the unity of humanity and nature served as a guiding principle. Above all, this entails the fact that this guiding principle has already proven, in practice, its superiority over the inhuman profit-driven economy with its exploitative treatment of humanity and nature.
Strengthen ICOR!
Let us fight for a world in which the exploitation of people and nature is eliminated and the unity of humanity and nature has become a guiding principle for society as a whole. Let us fight for socialism!
For a society-transforming environmental struggle!
Come out for the International Day of Environmental Struggle on November 14!
Status of the signatories 23.10.2026. Further signatures possible. Current list of signatories at www.icor.info
- MMLPL Moroccan Marxist-Leninist Proletarian Line
- CPSA (ML) Communist Party of South Africa (Marxist-Leninist)
- PPDS Parti Patriotique Démocratique Socialiste (Patriotic Democratic Socialist Party), Tunisia
- SPB Socialist Party of Bangladesh
- Chinese Communists (MLM) Chinese Communists (Marxist Leninist Maoist)
- CPI (ML) MassLine Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) MassLine
- SUCI (C) Socialist Unity Center of India (Communist)
- NCP (Mashal) Nepal Communist Party (Mashal)
- RUFN Revolutionary United Front of Nepal
- NDMLP New-Democratic Marxist-Leninist Party, Sri Lanka
- CPA/ML Communist Party of Australia (Marxist-Leninist)
- БКП Българска Комунистическа Партия (Bulgarian Communist Party)
- PR-ByH Partija Rada – ByH (Party of Labor – Bosnia and Herzegovina)
- MLPD Marxistisch-Leninistische Partei Deutschlands (Marxist-Leninist Party of Germany)
- UPML Union Prolétarienne Marxiste-Léniniste (Marxist-Leninist Proletarian Union), France
- BP (NK-T) Bolşevik Parti (Kuzey Kürdistan-Türkiye) (Bolshevik Party (North Kurdistan-Turkey))
- KOL Kommunistische Organisation Luxemburg (Communist Organization of Luxemburg)
- RM Rode Morgen (Red Dawn), Netherlands
- TKP-ML Türkiye Komünist Partisi – Marksist-Leninist (Communist Party of Turkey – Marxist-Leninist)
- MLKP Marksist Leninist Komünist Parti Türkiye / Kürdistan (Marxist Leninist Communist Party Turkey / Kurdistan)
- KSRD Koordinazionnyj Sowjet Rabotschewo Dvizhenija (Coordination Council of the Workers Class Movement), Ukraine
- PCP (independiente) Partido Comunista Paraguayo (independiente) (Paraguayan Communist Party (independent))
- PC (ML) Partido Comunista (Marxista Leninista) (Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist)), Dominican Republic
- Communist Party of China (Marxist-Leninist)
