THINK GLOBAL Act locally with the World Development Movement

January 2015

Brighton WDM

protest TTIP

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Contents

Letter from the activism team

Action checklist

Campaign update: climate and energy justice

Scotland update

Campaign update: food sovereignty

Campaign update: trade justice

Events

Groups updates

Events

Current materials

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Inserts

• New agribusiness poster (groups only)• Energy justice booklet• Energy justice action card• Energy justice poster

You will receive new Global Justice Now materials in a seperate relaunch pack

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Letter from the activism team

Dear friend,

Welcome to the last Think Global of the year and, indeed, of our organisation before we relaunch as Global Justice Now. In this issue you will find some exciting information about developments within our campaigns, including an opportunity to travel to Brussels to protest TTIP, new materials from the food sovereignty and energy justice campaigns, and new materials to mark the new identity of your group.

Groups are preparing for their own relaunch in different ways. A number are holding events to mark the occasion, either with a relatively general global justice theme or using a particular campaigning angle. There may be an opportunity to engage with local press, which could draw on WDM’s national activities, including the ‘State of the World’ report that we will be launching.

At the national level, we will be marking the relaunch with the event Take Back Our World, at Rich Mix in London. This is a major event for our organisation and we hope as many group members as possible are able to attend and promote. For more, see the ‘events’ section. We are also developing plans to hold the AGM in Glasgow. Whilst we recognise that this will be difficult for some people to get to, we have not had an AGM in Scotland in at least a decade and there is a huge amount of political energy in Scotland at the moment – now is a good time to try and raise our profile there. If this plan goes ahead, we will work to support members with travel and accommodation arrangements.

Lastly, a quick personal note: I’m still new to WDM, but the last month has been very exciting for me. I’ve spent time with groups and activists in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Leeds and London and have been struck by the energy and political insight that I’ve encountered. This fills me with more enthusiasm for our work ahead – these strike me as very exciting times for our organisation. So I wish you a restful and peaceful holiday season, and look forward to a reinvigorated return to our political activity in January!

Ed

Food sovereignty

Check if your MP has signed EDM. If they have, write to them raising broader issues surrounding the campaign. If they have not, pressure them to do so!

Trade justice

Send a representative from your group to the Brussels mobilisation on February 3-4

Lobby your MP, MEP or local authority to oppose TTIP.

Energy justice

Create a Monopoly-themed stall to challenge energy privatisation

Action checklist

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Campaign update: Climate and energy justice

New materials and Monopoly themeWe’ve got some great new materials for campaigning on privatisation. We’ve gone with a Monopoly theme, given the game’s focus on private ownership of utilities, to highlight what is being done by big energy companies across the globe.

In Monopoly if you own a lot you win, and if you don’t, you lose. Likewise with corporate controlled energy, where some families have to choose between eating and heating while those who own the energy companies rake in massive profits. Privatisation hasn’t worked outside of the UK either, yet the UK government has a global agenda, funding energy privatisation from Sierra Leone to India and in Nigeria.

Here are the new materials included in this Think Global:

• Action cards which target our government’s strategy of exporting energy privatisation. We’ve used the symbol of the electric company from Monopoly but tweaked it slightly. We hope you like it.

• ‘10 Reasons Why Energy Privatisation Fails’: a poster showing why privatised energy is not the way forward if we want to create and energy system which is equitable and sustainable.

• Rays of Hope - a booklet as part of the Exploring Alternatives series, created with the Economic Justice Project. This series is designed to help activists give a more in-depth answer the question anyone campaigning for change will regularly come across: ‘so what is your alternative?’ As you will see from the guide, with energy systems there are plenty of alternatives.

You could use these materials to make a Monopoly themed stall, making use of an old Monopoly set and, if you have them, props from past actions, such as the bankers bowler hat and the money boa from the food speculation campaign.

Two campaign successes!Over the last few weeks we’ve had a couple of exciting campaign successes.

In November, we had good news from campaigners in South Africa who have been fighting plans by multinational companies Anglo-American and Vedanta to build a coal mine and power station. Both projects have now been put on hold. Earthlife, our allies in South Africa, sent a special thanks to WDM for organising solidarity protests in London outside investment bank Blackrock, one of the projects main financers.

Just days after this news, we welcomed the recommendations by MPs on the parliamentary business committee that companies wanting to list on the London Stock Exchange be screened on their social and environmental standards. This is something we and other groups have been demanding for several years, and which WDM policy officer Alex Scrivener gave evidence to the committee about as part of their inquiry. We’re

Protest at the GCM AGM

against plans to mine in Phulbari

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waiting now to make sure the government follows this recommendation. Read more at Kevin Smith’s blog – search “wdm unethical mining industry”.

‘Time to Act’ Climate march on Saturday 7 March, London2015 is a pivotal year in the fight against climate change. With the UK general elections and COP21 climate talks in Paris on the near horizon, Campaign Against Climate Change, along with its UK allies, are organising a mass creative climate action on 7 March 2015 in London.

Climate change has a direct effect on multiple spheres, so the march on 7 March will be staged in representative blocs: Food & Water, Energy, Jobs & Transport, Finance, and possibly a Natural World bloc.

Join us on 7 March and make your voice heard. Remind the people of the world: it’s Time to Act on Climate Change.There will also be a Global Justice Now bloc with our new banner! More details nearer the time.

And finally, saying goodbye! A note from Kirsty:I wanted to let you know that after nearly seven years with WDM, I have made a really difficult decision to leave. I’ve had so many amazing experiences, and one of the elements I’ve cherished most about WDM is working with people from our groups. Perhaps one of my favourite memories during my time here was sharing La Via Campesina’s truck with Denis from the Bexhill and Hastings group, just weeks after he had had heart surgery!

In Scotland the focus of our campaign work at the moment is TTIP. There’s a growing movement here opposing TTIP, including trades unions, anti-fracking groups, Peoples NHS groups and groups that formed to campaign for independence, all of whom see TTIP as a threat to democracy, social justice, public services and sovereignty. We’re working closely with all those groups to put pressure on Scottish MPs and the Scottish Government to oppose Westminster’s enthusiasm for TTIP and Scottish MEPs to oppose it in Europe.

At the Scottish Parliament, the European and External Affairs Committee have begun an inquiry into TTIP. We submitted evidence and took part in a round table debate on the issue at the Parliament last week. We will be lobbying MSPs further in the new year. We have also had some good coverage of TTIP in the Herald and the National, a new Scottish newspaper launched at the end of November.

Thanks to everyone who came along to our WDM Scotland local activists gathering and skill share at the end of November. There was a great turnout and loads of energy. Again, TTIP featured

prominently during the day and good links were made with local activists from different campaign groups who are keen to work jointly on TTIP. So, with all this interest, in the new year we are planning a training event for people who are keen to give talks on TTIP around Scotland and are also planning to set up a TTIP-focussed campaign group for keen activists in Edinburgh.

Scotland update

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We will be launching some new campaigning activities next year, releasing new research as well as working on some new materials. An overview of the campaign plan will be communicated to groups early in the new year in Think Global.

Update on GhanaThe Plant Breeders Bill in Ghana proposes a new intellectual property rights system for seeds that would allow powerful companies to patent seed varieties they lay claim to. Under the proposed law, companies would not have to disclose the origin of the seed that they have ‘created’ – opening the door to what opponents have dubbed ‘bio-piracy’. The right of that company would then be exempt from any future regulation put in place by the Ghanaian government. For small farmers, the bill will push them into buying protected seed varieties from big seed companies or face criminalisation for saving and exchanging these seeds.

There has been mass resistance to this bill over the past year. The Ghanaian parliament recently discussed the bill again and the speaker of the house has taken it back to its second reading stage in response to the public opposition in Ghana. The second reading is the stage where major changes can be made to the bill. Ghana’s civil society are seeing this as an encouraging development, buying them more time to defeat the bill.

This shows the importance of our current campaign against the New Alliance: the Plant Breeders Bill is just one of the many policy reforms that Ghana has signed up to as part of the New Alliance.

WDM’s recent e-actions and EDM action were launched in solidarity with Ghana’s small farmers who are challenging the proposed legislative changes. EDM 466 on seed sovereignty has 94 signatories at the time of press. Please check if your MP has signed the EDM. If they have, you could follow up with an email or letter to say thank you for signing and let them know that this is just one of the reforms as part of the UK-backed New

Campaign update: Food sovereignty Alliance. If they have not signed the EDM, you could contact them either directly or using our e-action to do so.

Infographic posterEarlier this year we produced an infographic to illustrate the parallels with the colonisation of Africa in the 19th century with the modern day colonisation of Africa through schemes like the New Alliance, which had good social media coverage. We have produced an A2 poster version of the info graphic which we hope will be useful for stalls and have enclosed one poster for each group contact. Do contact the office if you want to order more.

Promoting food sovereignty solutionsDuring the past six months we have been researching and gathering evidence to promote the case for small scale, agroecological agriculture in Africa. You may have caught a taster for this project through our online ‘A-Z of food sovereignty’ in September and October. We will be launching a new report early next year which will include many African examples of small scale agriculture in action and addressing head-on the claims that only investment from big corporations can ‘feed Africa’. More on this in 2015!

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Campaign update: Trade justice 1 million voices against TTIP!We reached a major milestone in our campaign early in December when the self-organised European Citizens’ Initiative against TTIP reached 1 million signatures – just three months after it was launched. Despite having been locked out of the official ECI mechanism by the EU, we have shown the breadth of opposition to TTIP across Europe.

There is growing evidence that the pressure is having an impact. The latest round of negotiations have been delayed by almost two months. Responding to pressure about the secrecy of the TTIP process, the EU have now taken steps introduce more transparency by publishing some documents from the negotiations (more info here: http://euobserver.com/news/126670).

Challenging TTIP in the public sphereWDM has continued to play a leading role in challenging TTIP in the public sphere in the past month. In the national media, WDM’s director Nick Dearden has recently written articles in The Independent and the New Internationalist, we have had letters in The Guardian and The Independent, and Nick also recently gave an interview to Russia Today.

WDM has also been invited to give evidence at the parliamentary level. Our head of campaigns Polly Jones gave evidence on TTIP to MPs on the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee. And Liz Murray, our head of Scottish campaigns, outlined our concerns to MSPs in the European and External Relations Committee of the Scottish Parliament.

Strengthening the parliamentary strategyWDM continues to lobby politicians on TTIP. A number of groups have met their MPs, resolutions

against TTIP have been passed by several local councils, and Polly and Nick have also met Vince Cable to express their concerns. To build on this, we organised a mass training event in Westminster at the start of December, attended by around 140 people. A cross-party of panel of politicians explained how best to lobby against TTIP, before working in groups on how to apply their learning in their constituencies.

We will be building on this to produce some more detailed guidance on how to lobby politicians at different levelts, including getting local councils to pass motions of opposition to TTIP. More in the New Year.

Take action: join the mobilisation in BrusselsSo far WDM’s actions against TTIP have been focused here in the UK. But to coincide with the next round of negotiations, on February 3-4 we’re taking the protest against TTIP to Brussels itself. Here’s the itinerary

Tuesday 3 February• Morning: Eurostar journey London-

Brussels • Afternoon: No-TTIP tour of the corporate

villains of Brussels • Evening: Meeting with speakers from the EU-

wide Stop-TTIP campaign

Wednesday 4 February • Morning: Protest outside the EU Parliament

(photo op) • Afternoon: Lobbying of MEPs / Meeting with

campaigning MEPs • Evening: Return to London

We’ve block-booked the Eurostar and arranged accommodation. Tickets for transport and accommodation are £150, though we can offer subsidised and heavily subsidised tickets for £100 and £50 respectively.

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For full-price tickets please phone the office on 020 7820 4900. For subsidised tickets contact our trade campaigner Guy: guy.taylor@wdm.org.uk, briefly outlining why you need the subsidy. Groups are encouraged to send one representative.

lEventsl‘Take Back Our World’: national relaunch conferenceWhere: Rich Mix, Bethnal Green, London When: Saturday 21 February

Plans are developing well for the relaunch conference. As well as an exhibition of Mexican street art, confirmed speakers include Paul Mason, Channel 4 economics editor, Luciana Ghiotto of Attac Argentina and Natalie Bennett, leader of the Green Party. There will also be a party in the evening with spoken word, live music and DJs.

Register for the conference here: http://www.wdm.org.uk/our-world. If you are unable to come, please still help us promote it – ‘Take Back Our World’ is the main way in which we will be presenting our new identity to the wider society. There are several ways to promote the event, one is through Facebook - please join the event page

and invite others: https://www.facebook.com/events/1522570028001512/?fref=ts.

We recognise that London is difficult to access for some members of our network, but we believe that Take Back Our World still has national reach, so are hoping that group members across the UK will help us promote it.

*Save the date*

Global Justice Now AGMWhere: tbc (possibly Glasgow) When: 13 June

Details of this, including the venue, are still to be worked out, but the date is fixed – get it in your diaries!

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¡Democracia real ya!Where: Rich Mix, Bethnal Green, London When: 6-28 February

An exhibition of Mexican street art by Rosario Martínez Llaguno and Roberto Vega Jiménez, members of the Lapiztola collective based in Oaxaca, Mexico.

Global Justice Now is hosting this exhibition of artwork reflecting struggles for social justice in Mexico, because we believe that cultural expression is fundamental to making another world possible. There will be a chance to hear from the artists about their work during the preview.

www.richmix.org.uk

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lGroups updateslAfter the flurry of activity in October WDM groups appear to have had a quieter month in November, with some focusing on developing plans for the new year and the relaunch. But that’s not to say that there hasn’t been some important activity going on. Here’s a selection:

Following their successful action against TTIP in October, Leeds WDM have gone from strength to strength. They actively participated in a large event for Leeds activists, Summat New; sponsored a showing of the film Poverty Inc as part of the Leeds Film Festival, which was attended by over 100 people; and organised a political dinner at a junk food cafe as a follow-up event. They have made good connections with students in Leeds which has helped them reach out to a wider range of people in Leeds.

London WDM members have decided to launch a new London action network to reinvigorate global justice activism in London. Plans are being developed – watch this space!

We remain hopeful of reinvigorating our activity in the south-west: the new Bristol group have had several meetings and are working towards a launch event in February.

Shropshire WDM organised a well-attended public meeting on aid, trade and justice at which our director, Nick Dearden, spoke. The following day they organised for Nick and Ed Lewis to run several sessions on global justice in a sixth-form college, helping us in our focus on young people.

Reading WDM recently attended a conference on climate change at which they made contributions about international dimensions of climate change and its connection with food sovereignty. They also had a positive discussion meeting focused on alternative economic systems, using the WDM booklet Another Economy is Possible and the film Alternative Economies by Tom Pursey.

Many group members also attended the TTIP lobbying event in Westminster and developed plans for future action. Richmond and Kingston WDM had a productive lobbying session with Zac Goldsmith shortly after, and South-East London WDM met new people to help them lobby the local council in Dulwich.

Shropshire WDM

Current materials

Food campaign materials• REPORT: Carving up a continent • BRIEFING: A new wave of colonialism• STUNT PACK: Stop the corporate takeover of African food • BOOKLET: Stop the corporate takeover of African food• BRIEFING: Questions and Answers• ACTION CARD: Stop corporations from slicing up Africa• BRIEFING: MP talking points • ACTION GUIDE: World food day • POSTER: Colonial infographic poster *new*

Food sovereignty• BRIEFING: Collective solutions to changing food prices.• BRIEFING: Food sovereignty• BRIEFING: Food sovereignty tricky questions• FILM PACK: Whose food? Our food! Includes discussion guide• DVD: Growing Change plus promotional leaflet• DVD: Seeds of Freedom• DVD: Best Before

Energy Justice• CARBON CAPITAL: Materials still available• BRIEFING: Energy justice introduction• LEAFLET: Energy Justice ‘campaign in a nutshell’ (individual and group versions) • SIGN-ON STATEMENT: Energy Bill of Rights (Fuel Poverty Action) • ACTION CARD: Energy justice *new*• BOOKLET: 10 reasons why energy privatisation fails *new*• POSTER: Energy justice *new*• BOOKLET: Ray of Hope alternatives booklet *new*• Trade• BRIEFING: Profiting from people and the planet: How new trade deals threaten democracy,

development, public services and the environment• BOOKLET: ‘Rough Trade’ - a collection of articles on the new trade deals published in Red Pepper• GUIDE: Building a Europe for people not profit - lobbying pack for WDM activists around the European

elections • NEWSPAPER: The #NoTTIP Times, second edition

General materials• DVD: Making Another World Possible: Talking alternatives at the World Social Forum (made by WDM)• LEAFLET: Join a local group leaflet (can be overprinted with groups’ contact details)• BOOKLET: Fighting the cuts, lessons from around the world