From May 9 to 11, Climáximo attended the 6th International Ecosocialist Encounters (and the first ecosocialist meeting in Latin America and the Caribbean) in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
There were three days of meetings, sessions and exchanges of ideas between hundreds of activists from dozens of countries with the aim of building on the progress made at previous meetings to advance the construction of a global strategy to confront capitalism and move towards the construction of an international ecosocialist program.
There were around 20 sessions on various topics, such as environmental racism, militarism, ecosocialism in different parts of the world, ecofeminism, energy transition, among many others. We took part in the panel sessions “History of Ecosocialist Meetings”, “Climate, Science and Ecosocialism” and “COP30: First session of the Latin American and Caribbean meeting”. Many of the sessions are available on YouTube, while the report of all the other sessions will also be compiled and released later.
We learned from fellow ecosocialists from all over the world at the various sessions and shared our positions with honesty, ambition and commitment. We learned more about the state of the anti-capitalist and ecosocialist struggle in various countries, especially in Latin America, and got to know various ecosocialist organizations and activists from different countries who are fighting, from different contexts, for the same goal of systemic change towards a system free of oppression where life is above profit.
The next steps from this sixth edition of the ecosocialist encounters are:
1) that an international ecosocialist program will be created with the aim of articulating the anti-capitalist and climate justice struggles, directing them towards ecosocialism;
2) that there will be a second edition of the ecosocial meetings of Latin America and the Caribbean, in 2025 in Belém (Brazil), in the context of the counter-COP30;
3) that the 7th International Ecosocialist Encounters will be held in Belgium in 2026.
After 11 years since the first edition of the International Ecosocialist Encounters, and with Climáximo itself having organized (together with several other organizations) the fourth and fifth editions of these encounters (in Portugal), it was with great enthusiasm that we participated in the first edition of the encounters outside Europe, which not only contributed to the creation of the next steps in the ecosocialist struggle, but also made these encounters much more international and brought more perspectives and knowledge from Latin America to the ecosocialist debate.
However, in the face of the multiplicity of crises of the capitalist system and the unprecedented rapid worsening of the climate crisis, we remain frightened by the lack of plans by much of the left at international level for victory. In 2024, looking at the need to overthrow the capitalist system by 2030 to stop the collapse of civilization, we know that we need an ambitious programme and plans, as well as the courage to implement them, knowing that if we don’t dare to win, we risk losing everything.
We left these encounters aware of the scale of the task ahead of us, terrified by its complexity, and even more motivated and committed to fight for an end to oppression, exploitation and the destruction of everything we love, changing the system within the timeframes that climate science demands of us.
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Final remark:
Due to the devastating floods in Rio Grande do Sul in the days before the start of these encounters, several comrades were unable to attend these meetings whose aim is precisely to fight against these catastrophes that are unfortunately becoming commonplace. We reiterate our solidarity with all the victims of the climate crisis in Brazil and, unfortunately, in many other parts of the world.