THINK GLOBAL
Act locally with Global Justice Now
January 2016
Contents 02 Welcome 03 News roundup 04 Food sovereignty campaign 06 Climate and energy justice campaign 09 Trade justice campaign 10 Groups and activism news 12 Current materials
Being part of a global movement makes us stronger Ed Lewis Activism team Global Justice Now stands in a long and important tradition of international solidarity activism. At least since the days of abolitionists fighting against slavery, ordinary people have organised themselves to fight injustice in other countries. Today, from the climate mobilisations in Paris to the World Social Forum, organising and activism on a global scale has become an increasingly important way of challenging the power of transnational elites. That’s why we’ve agreed as an organisation to deepening our commitment to the global movement for economic justice. Our recent mobilisation around the Paris COP is a clear sign of that – alongside the marches here in the UK, many of you travelled to Paris to stand directly alongside partners in the global movement for climate justice (see more on Paris on pages 6 and 7). I’ve spoken to and heard from many activists in the last few weeks who have told me how energising they found joining the international movement in Paris. Similarly, when we organised around the European Citizens Initiative against TTIP, helping to raise over 3 million signatures across Europe, activists found it motivating to know they were working on a common project with others right across the continent.
Inserts General
• Groups survey (groups only)
Trade
• 4-page TTIP leaflet • Group-specific TTIP flyer (sample) • TTIP and climate briefing 2 January 2016
This year we’re looking for more opportunities for such international encounters. For instance, it looks likely that there will be an international TTIP Free Zones conference in Barcelona in April which activists could attend. It’s an opportunity not just to build activism against TTIP, but also to learn from the upsurge of inspiring grassroots organising that’s happened in the city, which led to the election of housing activist Ada Colau as Barcelona mayor a few months ago. The World Social Forum in Montreal in August is another opportunity to engage with inspiring groups from around the world. And we also want to strengthen our relationship with Attac, so I would encourage any group members who can to attend the event with Attac in January (see back cover). All this points to an approach beyond simply having an internationalist political outlook, to both staff and activists directly participating in global movement-building ourselves.
News from Global Justice Now Media highlights
During the climate talks in Paris, our new research on big agribusiness companies and their climate impacts was featured on the Guardian. We also wrote a comment piece about climate injustice for the Independent. Our critical take on the final outcome of the negotiations was included in the Guardian, the Daily Mail, the Telegraph, the main BBC reporting of the agreement and a series of other news sites around the world.
Planning your year
Congratulations to Alice
Global Justice Now AGM and National Gathering Saturday 4 June, London EC1. This year we’re aiming to get group members and activists engaged in thinking about the future of the activist network, debating the organisation’s policy, as well as hearing from a keynote speaker. More info to follow.
In December, the activism team’s Alice Hooker-Stroud won a closely fought contest to be the leader of the Wales Green Party. Unfortunately, this means she’s leaving the activism team sometime in January. She’s been a real asset in the short time she’s been here and we wish her the best of luck in the Welsh Assembly elections where she is also the lead Green list candidate for Mid and West Wales where she lives.
Goodbye to Katharine
Some of you will know that Katharine Talbot is currently on maternity leave after having her second child last year. After 10 years on the staff team, Katharine has decided not to come back. That means that James O’Nions will continue to manage the activism team on a permanent, full-time basis – a role he was jobsharing with Katharine until her maternity leave. She’s made an invaluable contribution to WDM/Global Justice Now over the years, and we know the decision to leave was a difficult one. She was particularly keen to let groups know how much she has enjoyed working with you over the years.
Action checklist
Here are some details of the events we already have in store this year that you may be interested in coming to. Further events are expected – especially into the autumn, but plans are not yet in place. We will let you know when we have the details. Students Against TTIP gathering March (exact date and venue TBC)
Take Back Our World festival 15-17 July, Tapeley Park, Devon. Last year’s festivalgoers were enthusiastic about our min-festival, so we’re going to run it again. Coaches will be provided from London, Manchester, Bristol and elsewhere. World Social Forum Montreal, Canada, 9-14 August. Organisers are expecting 80,000 people in Montreal for the first World Social Forum to be held in the global north in 15 years of its existence. We don’t expect many group members to come, but we will have a presence, so be aware of it if it fitted in with other plans. www.fsm2016.org/en/
Groups only
Complete the groups survey
Trade justice
Lobby your council to become a TTIP Free Zone
Climate/energy
Organise a community screening of This Changes Everything
January 2016 3
Food sovereignty Challenging corporate power in the food system This year we will continue to challenge the New Alliance and there are new opportunities opening up for us (see below). However, we also want to turn some of our attention to challenging the underlying model of corporate agriculture that the New Alliance represents. This means exposing the role of some of the other major corporations and initiatives. For example, Monsanto and the Gates Foundation are dominant players in the food system and are connected to the same ecosystem of corporate players who are pushing initiatives like the New Alliance. As well as new calls to action that will come out of our campaign developments, here are some campaigning opportunities in 2016: • Feb/March 2016 (TBC) - Campaigning for tough rules on food speculation in the European parliament • Feb/March 2016 (TBC) – Opportunities to campaign on European parliament report on New Alliance. • 17 April - International day of peasant struggle (opportunity for solidarity food sovereignty actions) • 16 October - World Food day (opportunity for solidarity food sovereignty actions) • 12-16 October - Monsanto tribunal, Hague (just announced, more info here: monsanto-tribunal.org) There will be other opportunities and hooks but for now we just wanted to give you an overview. More details to come. We also want to create some new materials to help groups connect food issues in the UK with those faced in the global south. This will build solidarity, help us explain our campaign, engage a broader audience and make our issues more relevant.
4 January 2016
Dan Iles with Stanslaus Nyembea, policy advisor of the MVIWATA, an organisation that represents small-scale farmers in Tanzania.
New Alliance
The Development Committee of the European Parliament is producing a report on the New Alliance. This will be approved by a plenary vote in the European parliament, after which the European Commission will have to respond to the recommendations of the parliament. This process will put the spotlight on the New Alliance and will hopefully draw out the problems of the New Alliance in a political space, and we hope to use our influence to produce an outcome that is critical of the New Alliance. Olivier De Schutter, the former UN special rapporteur on the right to food, was also commissioned by the parliament to produce his assessment of the New Alliance. His report is critical of the New Alliance and can be found here: europarl.europa.eu/committees/ en/deve/home.html
If groups are doing any lobbying with their MPs, it would be good to mention this report to MPs to demonstrate the growing evidence that the New Alliance benefits big business at the expense of small-scale food producers and to challenge the UK government’s support of the initiative.
Tanzania trip and speaker opportunities Our food campaigners Aisha and Dan went to Tanzania at the end of November to meet with allies who are resisting corporate agriculture and active in promoting agroecology. They are making a short film about their trip, we’ll let you know when it’s available. Aisha and Dan are also available to come and speak about the trip. Please contact dan.iles@globaljustice.org.uk
Food speculation update
The legislation on food speculation that our campaigning helped to win back in January 2014 is currently at risk of being watered down and delayed in its final implementation stages. The European Commission is going to push for a year’s delay on the start date of the legislation (originally intended to take effect from January 2017 but now proposed for January 2018). At the time of writing, parliamentary negotiators are also waiting for the European Commission’s final proposals for where position limits should be set and the extent of exemptions to the regulations. Alongside our European allies, we have exerted pressure both on the parliamentary negotiators and the Commission to stand up for tough new rules. However, if the Commission’s final proposals are still weak, we will need to continue to lobby MEPs to reject these proposals. We will keep you posted as developments happen.
Global Justice Now’s Aisha Dodwell filming with the Sustainable Agriculture Tanzania group in Soweto.
January 2016 5
Climate and energy justice UN climate talks outcome and mobilisations “For us people who are really affected by climate change, we need to change the [slogan] ‘1.5 to stay alive’ to ‘1.5 we might survive’, because already at 0.8 degrees, we’re already suffering loss of lives. We will pay in the global south in terms of millions of lives and millions of people displaced.” Lidy Nacpil, Filipino campaigner from the Global Campaign to Demand Climate Justice While the French government and parts of the media trumpeted the UN climate talks in Paris as a game-changing world historic moment, many of our allies in the global south were distinctly less positive.Yes, we have a deal, and yes, it says world leaders will try to limit global warming to 1.5°C. But there are no means to actually achieve this. The emissions reductions actually promised by all the countries involved in the talks still leave us with a catastrophic 3°C+ of warming. And even those reductions are not legally binding - no country can be penalised for not meeting them. Worse still, rich countries used their supposed ambition to gut the deal of any sort of equity. The US and allies worked tirelessly to undermine the whole premise of the climate talks up till now - that rich industrial countries are responsible for climate change and should take greater responsibility for fighting it. Anything else means climate change can only be halted at the price of neverending poverty in the global south. But we always knew that the same world leaders pushing industrial agriculture, subsidising fossil fuel companies, and promoting free-trade agreements such as TTIP, would be unable to halt climate change. It needs a vibrant climate justice movement. The good news is that the Paris 6 January 2016
‘Red Lines’ demonstration in Paris.
mobilisations were a step forward for that movement.
Taking part in the mobilisations Global Justice Now played an active role in the civil society response to the UN climate talks. There were several spaces where the climate movement came together over the two weeks of the talks, including a climate justice activist conference and a week-long Climate Action Zone in a huge building in north-east Paris. In both these spaces Global Justice Now staff ran workshops and discussions on topics including energy democracy and why free trade deals are a disaster for the climate. We worked particularly with Attac France, who had been central to bringing together the climate justice coalition in France. Around 150 activists came with us to Paris for the final weekend, when the movements
planned to ‘have the last word’, although some were there for a week or more (with a special mention of South Lakes Global Justice Now who had a whole delegation). The orginal demonstrations and actions which had been planned for months in advance were thrown into dissrray by the government-imposed State of Emergency after the Paris terrorist attacks. This meant that all protests were illegal, supposedly for safety reasons, although it was clear that there was some very political policing going on. Not only were Christmas markets and football matches allowed to go ahead, but so was a trade union pensions demonstration. The movement was determined not to be cowed, however, and spent a lot of time planning protests which would defy the ban while remaining as safe as possible. In the end, after much uncertainty, the government was forced to back down and allow both planned protests to go ahead as a result of the expected attendence. Thousands of people formed a ‘red line’ from the Arc de Triomphe, symbolising the red lines which cannot be crossed if we are to have a safe planet to live on.
More on Paris
For more detail on the outcome of the Paris climate talks and our analysis, see the Global Justice Now website. In particular: Seven flies in the ointment of the Paris climate deal euphoria http://gju.st/1IRJCLu Final COP 21 text a disaster for the world’s most vulnerable and future generations http://gju.st/1my7LwP
This Changes Everything film
A great way to follow up on the UN climate talks is to show Naomi Klein’s documentary, this changes everything. Naomi spoke powerfully at several big meetings in Paris about the problems with the deal and about how the climate justice movement is winning victories anyway. Get in touch with the activism team if you want to show the film - and we could also provide a speaker to talk about the Paris outcome.
Global Justice Now director, Nick Dearden, speaking at the Climate Action Zone in Paris.
January 2016 7
Thousands of people joined the ‘red lines’ demonstration in Paris on 12 December
Responding to NIAF review
We are expecting a DFID review of the second Nigeria Infrastructure Advisory Facility (NIAF II) sometime in late December or early January, to which we will be producing a response. We are preparing evidence from national opinion polls in Nigeria and we already know from Freedom Of Information requests that the controversial project has not reduced the price of energy for the vast majority of Nigerians. We also hope to include some evidence from our allies at Social Action in Nigeria. Following our response to the review, we will continue to push our petition asking DFID to end its funding of the scheme. We are petitioning Nick Hurd MP, a junior minister in DFID. We plan to deliver the petition in March 2016. If you haven’t already, you can sign it by going to globaljustice.org.uk/take-action and scrolling down for ‘Support for energy privatisation in Nigeria is not acceptable’.
8 January 2016
Adam Smith International report In late January we will be launching our report on Adam Smith International (ASI). It will expose how UK aid money is being channelled into attempts to build the profits of this private development consultancy company. This is part of our work exposing the side of UK aid that taxpayers rarely see, how for-profit private contractors are increasingly part of how our money is spent overseas, ASI primarily carry out work promoting privatisation and pro-business reforms in developing countries, including Nigeria’s NIAF programme.
Trade justice TTIP Free Zones
We have teamed up with 38 Degrees to make sure as many people as possible are involved in the TTIP free Zones initiative. In the new year we will be launching a jointly organised TTIP Free Zone dedicated website, with more graphics, more tips for the campaign and a video. The website will have lots more info and experiences of campaigns for TTIP Free Zones around the country. If your local council has passed a motion and you’d like to share your experience of winning this, please send in your story to guy.taylor@globaljustice.org.uk. Also, we are organising a survey of all groups who have attempted to get a TTIP Free Zone motion passed, successfully or otherwise. If your group has attempted this but has not been contacted, please email guy.taylor@ globaljustice.org.uk.
TTIP Free Universities
We are supporting efforts by Students Against TTIP and the Universities and Colleges Union (UCU) to launch a campaign of TTIP Free Universities nationwide. This will help to raise awareness, to boost the Students Against TTIP groups (which in turn provide a boost of energy for local NoTTIP groups) and increase pressure on MPs in university constituencies.
Tens of thousands call on the SNP to oppose TTIP outright We were very pleased to support the handin of a 38 Degrees petition at the Scottish parliament, with 28,500 signatures calling on the SNP to toughen their stance on TTIP and oppose it outright. To add to that, and to show the breadth of opposition to TTIP in Scotland, we got a letter published the same day in The National, from the 21 member organisations of the Scotland Against TTIP coalition.
PEOPLE POWER NOT CORPORATE POWER!
New materials
A new introductory leaflet and briefing on TTIP and climate change are both included in this mailing. To order more copies email effie.jordan@globaljustice.org.uk. We’ve also got a new leaflet for local Stop TTIP groups that gives information about all three of the huge trade deals currently being negotiated by the EU: TTIP, CETA (between Canada and the EU) and TiSA (Trade in Services Agreement). The flyer has been designed to encourage members of the public to join a local campaign group and includes a space for local groups to fill in their own contact details. There are different versions available for groups in Scotland and south of the border. Copies are included as inserts. There are different staff members to order copies from, depending on the location of your group: • Scottish groups email jane.herbstritt@ globaljustice.org.uk • English/Welsh groups email effie.jordan@ globaljustice.org.uk January 2016 9
Groups and activism news Climate justice mobilisation
Global Justice Now groups took active roles in the swathe of mobilisation that has taken place around COP21, demanding system change not climate and bringing a critical, structural perspective to the events.
Marches for climate, justice and jobs In late November there were marches for climate, justice and jobs across the country and worldwide. Global Justice Merseyside participated in the Liverpool People’s March for Jobs and Climate, and groups contact Kathleen Zimak spoke about energy justice at the closing rally. Global Justice Leicester joined with local allies Leicester Friends of the Earth and the Knighton Justice Group for a march through Leicester city centre. Global Justice Horsham, Global Justice Reading and Global Justice Manchester all participated in local marches, while in Scotland, Global Justice Now group members and Stop TTIP activists converged on Edinburgh for a march with 5000-8000 people. Many group members supported the successful ‘system change not climate change’ bloc on the London demonstration, including members from groups across London and beyond. Global Justice Worthing attended the London march as part of two weeks of activity with local allies to under the theme ‘Time to Act on Climate Change!’, including running stalls and using questionnaires to engage the public, and organising in churches.
South Lakes, and Global Justice Reading, the latter two getting local media coverage about their trip. Groups also organised to support those who were cycling to Paris – Global Justice South Lakes teamed up with the Mayor of Kendal to welcome a group of climate cyclists passing through Kendal from Scotland to Paris, and members of Global Justice Worthing joined a local group of cyclists on their way to Brighton, where they joined a mass cycle ride through Brighton to support 125 cyclists riding to Paris.
Talks, events and film screenings on climate justice Global Justice Hereford organised a climate change-focused event for around 50 people,”Where there’s a will, there’s a way”, highlighting the possibility of a zero carbon future. Global Justice South Essex participated in a Chelmsford Against Climate Change event, at which activism team coordinator James O’Nions spoke. Meanwhile, a number of groups have organised showings of the Naomi Klein film This Changes Everything. Global Justice
Global Justice Bexhill and Hastings distributed over 100 copies of The Road Through Paris newspaper in the centre of Bexhill.
D12 and the Red Lines demo in Paris A number of group members travelled to Paris for the climate talks and participate in the Red Lines demonstration, including activists from Global Justice Bradford, Global Justice Brighton and Hove, Global Justice 10 January 2016
Mollie Somerville of Global Justice Bradford in Paris as part of the COP climate mobilisation.
Students Against TTIP (SATTIP) in Paris for the protests around the COP climate negotiations.
Nottingham collaborated with the local group This Changes Nottingham for a screening, and Global Justice Manchester managed to get 80 people to attend a screening, with 20 staying for a discussion on energy democracy afterwards.
TTIP
Global Justice Cambridge has been using email to lobby Eastern Region MEPs about TTIP, and developing contact with the American anti-TTIP group Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. Global Justice Merseyside successfully lobbied Sefton council to become a TTIP Free Zone. Global Justice Calderdale continued to lobby Calderdale council hoping for a successful motion in February. Global Justice Bristol are using a mechanism in the council’s rules to force a discussion of the TTIP motion by collecting 3,500 signatures (they were most of the way there by the time Think Global went to press). The motion had been tabled twice, but never reached during council business. We continue to support Students Against TTIP,
who organised a series of anti-TTIP Christmas carolling singing actions in London, Leeds, Manchester and Paris.
Agribusiness and agroecology Global Justice Leicester and Global Justice Cambridge have both run agribusiness stalls recently, with the Leicester group meeting a number of young people at the Leicester Vegan Fair. Meanwhile, Global Justice Richmond and Kingston have been lobbying their MP Zac Goldsmith around the New Alliance, who wrote to DfID at their request – although he received an evasive reply. The group is seeking to meet two other MPs in 2016.
Other talks and events
Global Justice South Lakes held a belated launch event, with Nick Dearden as guest speaker, attended by 60 people, registering several new supporters. Global Justice Merseyside members have been talking at several groups and events recently, including Unite the Union, Momentum and Liverpool University Fossil Free. January 2016 11
Current materials Exploring alternatives booklets
• BOOKLET: Another Economy is Possible economic democracy • BOOKLET: Seeds of Change - food sovereignty • BOOKLET: Rays of Hope - energy justice
Food sovereignty
• REPORT: Irresponsible Investment • BRIEFING: Growing evidence against the New Alliance • ACTION CARD: Growing Power • BOOKLET: On Solid Ground (agroecology) • REPORT: From The Roots Up (agroecology) • POSTER: Colonial infographic poster • BRIEFING: Agribusiness campaign questions and answers • BRIEFING: MP talking points (agribusiness) • BOOKLET: Stop the corporate takeover of African food • BRIEFING: Problems with corporate controlled seeds • BRIEFING: Food sovereignty • BRIEFING: Food sovereignty tricky questions
Energy justice
• NEWSPAPER: The Road Through Paris, climate justice newspaper • BRIEFING: COP out: Why Paris won’t deliver and what we need instead. • LEAFLET: Give corporate controlled energy the boot • BRIEFING: Energy privatisation in Nigeria • BRIEFING: Towards a just energy system (campaign overview) • ACTION CARD: Energy justice in Nigeria • BRIEFING: 10 reasons why energy privatisation fails • FILM GUIDE: List of films relating to the campaign •
EVENT Learn more about Attac Around a year and a half ago, Global Justice Now became part of Attac, the anti-globalisation network with groups in many European countries and around the world. The European Attac groups get together every six months to co-ordinate their work, and we’re hosting the meeting in January. The meeting itself is 3 days long, but we’ve arranged a social on the Friday evening as a chance for Global Justice Now to meet and find out more about Attac in other countries. 7pm, Friday 15 January South London venue to be confirmed All group members welcome, but please RSVP to activism@globaljustice.org.uk (and we will send you venue details)
Trade
• ** NEW LEAFLET: 4-page TTIP leaflet • ** NEW FLYER group-specific TTIP flyer • ** NEW BRIEFING: Five reasons TTIP and CETA are a disaster for the climate. • BRIEFING: Regulatory Cooperation • BRIEFING: CETA • TTIP Free Zone campaign pack: POSTER, BADGE and LEAFLET • NEWSPAPER: The #NoTTIP Times, third edition • BRIEFING: Profiting from people and the planet (general trade briefing) • BRIEFING: Campaigning on TTIP in local authorities
General materials
• LEAFLET: Another world is possible (about Global Justice Now with joining form) • LEAFLET: Join a local group leaflet (can be overprinted with groups’ contact details) • SIGN-UP SHEET: Double-sided, Global Justice Now branded • STICKERS and BADGES