Nepal: the deadly logic of capitalism in decomposition

At the end of August 2026, Nepal was struck by a devastating avalanche and debris flow originating in the Gyirong valley on the Tibetan side of the Sino‑Nepalese border. Entire communities were swept away in minutes. The bourgeois press quickly framed the event as a “natural disaster,” a tragic but inevitable consequence of life in the Himalayas. Yet such a description obscures the real causes of the catastrophe. Far from being a simple act of nature, the tragedy in Nepal is a concentrated expression of the destructive logic of capitalism, of its relationship with the environment, of its imperialist rivalries, and of its growing inability to manage the conditions of life on the planet.

Scientific institutions such as the IPCC, NASA’s Earth Observatory, and the World Glacier Monitoring Service have repeatedly warned that Himalayan glaciers are melting at unprecedented speed. The Himalayas have already lost more than forty percent of their glacier mass since 1980, and melt rates continue to accelerate. This is not a random fluctuation of nature but a direct consequence of global warming driven by capitalist production. As Engels warned long ago, “for each such victory nature takes its revenge on us.” This insight, reaffirmed by the ICC in its analysis of ecological catastrophe, captures the essence of the Nepal tragedy: capitalism’s domination of nature inevitably rebounds against humanity.

However, the tragedy became catastrophic not simply because of the avalanche itself. It was amplified by human intervention—specifically, by the intervention of the Chinese bourgeoisie on the Tibetan side of the border. Over the past decade, the Gyirong valley has been transformed into a major logistical corridor serving Chinese capital. Massive embankments, diversions, roadworks, and hydroelectric installations have narrowed the riverbed, creating a deadly funnel effect. When the avalanche struck, the debris flow accelerated and intensified, smashing everything in its path. Hydrological data from Chinese monitoring stations, which could have provided early warning, were not shared with Nepal. No evacuation was possible. The bourgeoisie’s secrecy—an intrinsic feature of imperialist rivalry—turned a predictable risk into mass death.

This is how capitalism transforms natural phenomena into social catastrophes. The infrastructures built in Gyirong were not designed for safety or ecological balance. They were built for commercial reasons, hydroelectric extraction, and strategic control of border flows. As the ICC insists, following Marx, capitalism’s logic is “accumulation for accumulation’s sake, production for production’s sake.” This blind, expansionist dynamic makes rational ecological planning impossible. China presents its hydroelectric mega‑projects in Tibet—198 dams planned or built—as “green energy.” But as the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction has repeatedly warned, large dams in fragile mountain ecosystems destabilise slopes, increase downstream flood risk, and create systemic vulnerabilities. Capitalism cannot “green” itself. It can only shift destruction from one terrain to another.

The Nepal tragedy also reveals the extent to which imperialist rivalry has penetrated the ecological fabric of the planet. The Tibet plateau is the “water tower of Asia,” feeding rivers that sustain two billion people. Control over these waters is a strategic asset in the China–India rivalry. China’s planned Motuo dam—three times larger than the Three Gorges—is not an energy project but an imperialist weapon. Hydrological data become classified military information. Infrastructure becomes a tool of geopolitical leverage. In the phase of decomposition, imperialist tensions become more chaotic, more unpredictable, and more destructive for civilian populations. As the ICC says, capitalism is “rotting on its feet,” and this rot expresses itself in the inability of states to cooperate even when human lives depend on it. The Nepal tragedy is a direct consequence of this dynamic. It is an example of how imperialist rivalry transforms ecological systems into instruments of domination.

As always, the victims are the poorest and most vulnerable. Nepalese villagers, informal workers, and small communities living downstream were sacrificed on the altar of capitalist development and imperialist rivalry. Their suffering confirms a fundamental lesson of marxism and of our organisation’s analyses: ecological catastrophe cannot be understood apart from capitalist social relations. As the ICC has argued, it is not enough to examine this problem through the lens of ecology alone… we have to understand their connection to the existing social relations. The Nepal tragedy is not only ecological—it is political, imperialist, and systemic.

The disaster in Nepal is therefore a warning for humanity. It reveals the dynamics that capitalism unleashes in its phase of decomposition: ecological destabilisation driven by profit and industrial growth; infrastructural chaos produced by uncoordinated capitalist development; imperialist rivalry that weaponises nature and information; global paralysis in the face of collective threats; and mass suffering imposed on the exploited and oppressed. Capitalism is not mismanaging nature; it is destroying it. Capitalism is not failing to coordinate; it is incapable of coordinating. Capitalism is not struggling to protect human life; it is structurally unable to do so. As the ICC has insisted, capitalism’s global expansion has meant the globalisation of ecological catastrophe.

Faced with this deadly spiral, the bourgeoisie has no solution. Its “ecological transition” is a mystification. Its “international cooperation” is a façade. Its “development” is destruction. Only the proletariat—through its struggle, its solidarity, and its historical mission—can impose a different logic: a logic of collective responsibility, global coordination, production for human needs, and a break with the destructive imperatives of capital. As the ICC has insisted, labour must emancipate itself from capitalist exploitation: this is a precondition for the survival of our species. Only the proletarian revolution will save the human species.

The catastrophe in Nepal is not a natural accident. It is a product of capitalism in decomposition—of its destructive relationship with nature, of its imperialist rivalries, and of its growing inability to manage the conditions of life on the planet. Our task is clear: to denounce the bourgeoisie’s lies, to reveal the real causes of ecological catastrophe, to defend proletarian internationalism, and to affirm that only the revolutionary struggle of the working class can open a perspective for humanity.

SN (September19, 2026 )