THINK GLOBAL
Act locally with Global Justice Now
February 2019 
Contents 02 Welcome 03 News from Global Justice Now 04 Trade justice 07 Degrowth event 08 Migrant solidarity 09 Pharmaceuticals 10 Groups and activism news 12 Current materials
Inserts Trade
• Briefing: The case against corporate courts • Briefing: Questions and answers about ISDS • ISDS case studies • Action card: Stop corporate courts • Leaflet: Stop corporate courts
General
• Groups survey (groups only)
2 February 2019
Despite Brexit uncertainty, one thing’s for sure ISDS has got to go James O’Nions Activism team This month we’re launching a new campaign within our trade justice work – a campaign against Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS), or ‘corporate courts’ as we’ve dubbed them. The uncertainty of the Brexit process means we don’t know where we’ll be when it comes to trade policy just a few months down the line. The government’s current strategy is that Brexit will allow us to strike trade deals with countries around the world, including the US. In the last two years, trade secretary Liam Fox has initiated ‘working groups’ with 21 countries on future trade deals. As with TTIP and CETA, the trend recently has been to include ISDS in trade deals – making them ‘trade and investment’ deals. The government hasn’t made its position totally clear on ISDS in new trade deals yet, although the Conservatives were supportive of it in TTIP. But corporate courts were clearly unpopular in the TTIP campaign and we want to build on that discontent to shift the government’s position. In January our European allies launched a petition aimed at the European institutions against corporate courts. At the time of writing it already has ¼ million signatures. They aim to run it for a year (a bit like the European Citizens Initiative in the TTIP campaign). We will launch our more UK-specific version this month, also for a year, which is probably the time we have to make ISDS thoroughly toxic. Of course, if we were to end up in a customs union with the EU after Brexit, an increasingly unlikely possibility now, the UK will not be striking new trade deals. That’s because the customs union is a single trading entity whose external trade rules have to be basically the same. There would be no independent trade policy. But there would still be an independent investment policy. That’s because investment has always been for national states to decide on within the EU – the UK has around 100 investment deals with other countries, including EU ones. So even then, our pushback on ISDS is still relevant. Globally, the advocates of corporate courts are on the back foot (see page 4) and nationally it’s an important moment for the future of ISDS too – whatever happens with Brexit.
News from Global Justice Now Media highlights
We have been regularly quoted on the Trade Bill as it makes its way through parliament. We had a joint letter in the Guardian ahead of the Lords committee stage and were quoted by the Guardian and Independent after the government was defeated on a trade democracy motion in January (see trade update). Nick Dearden was interviewed for a Radio 4 documentary on trade in November and was quoted several times in a special issue of New Internationalist on trade. Nick also wrote for LabourList and Red Pepper about our model motion on trade democracy. Back in October, our MPs Not Border Guards campaign was featured on the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire show and multiple news outlets after new figures were released on MPs reporting constituents. Ed Lewis was quoted by the Guardian on Penny Mordaunt’s aid shake-up, Heidi Chow wrote for Open Democracy on the NHS budget and drug pricing, and the Independent covered our updated corporate power statistics. Nick Dearden has also written comment articles on gagging civil society for the Guardian, on Italy and austerity for the Independent, and on Brexit for Al Jazeera and Red Pepper.
Action checklist
On the local groups side, the Bexhill and Hastings group’s protest against migration detention was covered in the Hastings Times, and the Bristol group’s Jacob Rees-Mogg protest was covered by Talk Radio as well as locally.
Group affiliations
Thanks to those groups who have already returned this year’s group affiliation form. If you haven’t, please get it back to us soon! If you didn’t recieve a letter about this around Christmas time, or have questions about it, get in touch with Effie - 020 7820 4900 or effie. jordan@globaljustice.org.uk.
Groups survey
All groups should find a groups survey included with this issue of Think Global. We haven’t done a general survey for a while and Guy is particularly keen to use it to get to know individual group needs better. We appreciate that filling these things in takes some time, but if your group is able to take the time to do it, it can be a real help. Please get it back to us by the end of February if you can, or during March if not. Online or on paper is both fine.
Pharmaceuticals Consider taking action using the activist pack mailed out in November.
Migration Be on standby for rapid reaction lobbying around the Immigration Bill!
Trade Discuss the new ISDS campaign and ensure everyone in the group is informed about the issue.
Events Discuss upcoming national events and book places as appropriate.
Start to plan an activity for the day of action on 16 March.
Put Saturday 8 June in your diaries for the national gathering. February 2019 3
Trade justice
Chicken run: Members of Global Justice Bristol challenge Jacob Rees-Mogg over his support for a UK-US trade deal at his surgery in October.
Trade democracy
The Trade Bill had its committee stage in the House of Lords at the end of January. At the time of writing the amendments on trade democracy had not been discussed. However on the first day of the committee stage, a Labour peer had tabled a motion that the Trade Bill would not progress to report stage until the government came back with full proposals on how parliament can have a meaningful role in scrutinising and voting on future trade deals. This motion was won with backing from Lords from all parties and now the government has to bring back full proposals for a proper democratic process for future trade deals before the Trade Bill can progress to the next stage. This is a serious blow to the government’s Trade Bill and is also testament to our campaign over the past 18 months. Baroness Smith who presented the motion said that: “In recent months, we have seen a growing public interest in how and on what basis we should negotiate and operate our trade policy in the future.” We will keep you updated with any further developments.
4 February 2019
New campaign: Stop corporate courts! This month we are launching our new trade campaign to challenge the system of corporate courts. You may remember the issue of corporate courts from our campaigns against TTIP and CETA. These courts, known officially as Investor-State Dispute Settlement or ISDS, enable multinational corporations and foreign investors to sue governments for making public policy decisions which affect not only their investment but also the profits they might have expected to be able to make. Billions of pounds in public money have already been paid out by governments to companies as ‘compensation’ for policies that protect the environment, public health or workers’ rights. This attack on democratic decision-making is now sparking resistance across the world. Countries including South Africa, Bolivia, Ecuador, Indonesia and Tanzania have all terminated investment treaties which include ISDS. Government officials, small businesses, academics, trade unions and civil society groups have spoken out against corporate courts.
In addition to this global resistance, ISDS is having an increasingly difficult time in Europe. An EU court recently ruled that ISDS between European Union countries was not compatible with EU law. The advocates of ISDS are on the back foot and a concerted push could result in a definitive rollback. That’s why our European allies have launched a major joint campaign against it, which we’re part of (see stopisds.org).
Campaigning in the UK While our European allies will be targeting the European institutions with an EU-wide petition, in the UK we’re launching a joint petition to the UK government, along with allies including SumOfUs, War on Want, Friends of the Earth, the Trade Justice Movement and trade unions. Although ISDS had its highest profile during the campaign against TTIP, the inclusion of the mechanism in big trade deals like this is relatively new. During the nineties and noughties it was included in lots of investment agreements, which were often bilateral deals – signed between just two countries. While trade is an ‘EU competency’, handled by the European Union of behalf of states, investment is at least partially a ‘national competency’ – and the UK has 105 bilateral investment treaties with countries ranging from Romania to Colombia. Whatever happens with Brexit, the UK will retain the power to negotiate and sign its own investment deals. The UK ranks in the top three countries globally for the number of companies suing other governments under this system. So UK investment deals are already a major problem, and there will be pressure to include ISDS in post-Brexit trade deals. But with our long history of campaigning on trade and a more recent track record of challenging the corporate court system in TTIP and CETA, Global Justice Now is in a good position to lead the charge against ISDS in the UK.
ISDS webinar briefing We’re planning on running a webinar for activists on our ISDS campaign on Monday 25 February, 6pm-7pm. You’ll be able to join online to hear our trade campaigner Heidi Chow explain more about what ISDS is, how it’s used by corporations to sue governments for public policy decisions, and what we’re calling for in the campaign. You’ll also be able to submit live questions and comments. If you’re interested, then please email Jane on jane.herbstritt@globaljustice. org.uk and she’ll send you all the details about how to join in closer to the time.
New campaign resources For this new campaign we have produced and enclosed a new series of materials for you to use for public engagement, on stalls and at events: • Campaign briefing: This is an A4 policy briefing that explains the basics of the issue. • Campaign action card: This action card calls on the Secretary of State for International Trade to ensure ISDS is not part of UK trade and investment policy. This ask is part of a wider petition that will also be hosted by organisations in the UK ISDS coalition and so we are hoping this petition will be promoted in lots of different ways. • Campaign leaflet: This leaflet has been specifically produced to be accessible for public engagement. • The ISDS Files: This is a series of four briefings which provide more detail into four ISDS cases to illustrate how corporate courts undermine democracy. We expect to add to these as the campaign goes on. • Tricky questions: This is for local groups to use to help build up knowledge and understanding of this issue. Local groups will find a set of these materials February 2019 5
enclosed with Think Global and individual activists getting the postal mailing will find samples of each. However, feel free to order more from the office.
Petition launch: 11 February The joint UK petition will be officially launched online on 11 February. However, the postcards can be used before that date if you’re keen to get started! The signatories that you collect from the postcards will be added to the online total. The European petition has already been launched. Look out for sharable content on social media on the launch date.
ISDS day of action - Saturday 16 March On Saturday 16 March, we are hoping that as many groups as possible will organise a day of action in order to raise public awareness locally about ISDS. One of the most scandalous examples of ISDS in recent years has been the case of multinational company Chevron suing the Ecuadorian government. The original case is based on environmental damage in the Amazonian rainforest by Texaco (now owned by Chevron) where toxic waste water and crude oil were dumped with devastating impacts on the local community. The original case in Ecuador’s courts found in favour of the community and ordered Chevron to pay USD$9.5 billion in compensation in 2011. After years of trying to appeal this decision, Chevron also proceeded with an ISDS case against Ecuador. In August 2018, the tribunal found in favour of Chevron and concluded that the original judgement awarding US$9.5 billion was based on claims that had been already settled by Ecuador and also that corruption was involved. The court is still to award compensation to Chevron but it is expected to cancel out the amount Chevron owes. Corporate courts only consider investor rights based on investment treaties and impacts on human rights and the environment are 6 February 2019
outside the scope of its consideration. To this day, the affected community still have not had any justice. What you can do: • Organise a stunt or protest at your local Texaco petrol station, as a way of building awareness about the campaign. We will be producing a template press release for local groups, as well as a leaflet about the case to use on the day. • Alternatively, you could run a stall in your high street about the campaign in general, asking whether corporations should have a special legal system that is biased to their interests.
Getting local allies involved The campaign against TTIP involved lots of allies from trade unions to campaign organisations and faith groups. Many of these could be part of the ISDS campaign. We’d like to enlist the help of local group members in enlisting these groups in the campaign. Could anyone in your group speak at a local Labour of Green party meeting for instance, or a trade union branch meeting – even one you’re a member of? We’re putting together a speakers’ pack, consisting of a template talk and powerpoint, and supplementary materials including an ISDS ‘activist’s argumentation guide’ produced by our allies Corporate Europe Observatory, Transnational Institute and Friends of the Earth International. If you’re up for getting the word out this way, email james.onions@globaljustice.org.uk
GROWTH, DEGROWTH & CLIMATE JUSTICE Saturday 23 February, 12noon-5pm
St Mark’s Church, 337 Kennington Park Road, London SE11 AND Kennington Park Community Centre, Harleyford Street, London SE11 5SY With speakers including: • Jason Hickel, author of The Divide: a brief guide to global inequality and its solutions • Ann Pettifor, prizewinning economist and author of The Production of Money We’re rapidly racing towards the precipice. Billions of people are directly threatened by climate breakdown. But the reality is that this is completely avoidable. The problems that hurtle us towards collapse are systemic. While the benefits of fossil fuels and growth accrue to the few, everyone else shoulders the costs. Our economy puts corporate profit ahead of ordinary people and the planet. So our choice is clear, system change or climate change. The degrowth perspective is one conception of system change. Supporters say we have to detach living standards from growth to save the planet. But what would our lives look like in a post-growth world? Is something like a Green New Deal an alternative way of dealing with the climate crisis, or does it fail to get to the heart of the problem?
And do people in the global south still need economic growth to achieve a dignified standard of living? This afternoon of workshops and discussion has been organised by Global Justice Now’s climate network and is proving very popular - originally we’d just planned a small event in the community centre, but we’ve had to expand to the next-door church to meet increased demand for places. Workshops will include: • Degrowth and the global south • The commons, the solidarity economy and climate justice We also hope that the discussions at the conference will lay the basis for future Global Justice Now policy on degrowth and generate activities for the climate network to take forward. If you’d like to come, please do register via globaljustice.org.uk/growth
February 2019 7
Migrant solidarity New immigration bill
Just before Christmas, the government published a long-awaited immigration white paper, setting out its plan for immigration after Brexit, followed the next day by an immigration bill. The central message of both documents is the same - Brexit marks the end of free movement and the creation of a single system for all immigrants to the UK. Global Justice Now advocates the reverse of this approach - defend free movement and ultimately extend it beyond the borders of the EU. But beyond this fundamental objection to the direction of government policy, there are a number of major concerns with the plans laid out by the government.
A massive expansion of the hostile environment With the end of free movement, three million EU citizens will be subject to much greater levels of monitoring, surveillance and control by the UK’s border regime. In other words, the reach of the government’s ‘hostile environment’ will increase drastically. We should therefore expect that, over time, there will be a greater number of EU migrants finding themselves unable to access essential services and an increase in the number of EU migrants detained, deported or forced to leave the country.
Fortress Britain In the white paper, the government calls for ‘tougher and tighter’ borders and ongoing co-operation with countries such as France, Italy and Turkey in controlling the flow of migrants to Europe and the UK. This suggests an intensification of the hostile politics invoked by Sajid Javid when he declared a national crisis in response to a handful of migrants crossing the channel by boat and deployed warships to deal with them. Talk of co-operation with Turkey suggests the UK may be intending to remain part of the EU-Turkey deal, which has been condemned by leading human rights organisations for 8 February 2019
confining migrants to detention camps in Greece and Turkey, and forcing them to take more precarious journeys across the Mediterranean. So Fortress Britain might still be an active player in Fortress Europe.
Immigration detention Notoriously, the UK is the only country in western Europe to maintain the practice indefinite detention of immigrants. The white paper signals no retreat from this, let alone any intention to close immigration detention centres, despite the widespread evidence of human rights abuses that take place in the immigration detention system.
An authoritarian, unworkable system Like the trade bill, the immigration bill gives the government ‘Henry VIII powers’ to amend legislation at will. Given the dysfunctional nature of the Home Office, which oversaw the Windrush scandal and makes mistakes as a matter of course, we need more, not less scrutiny of the government’s management of immigration.
Responding to the government’s plans At the time of writing, we are looking at opportunities to run a rapid campaign to either scrap or amend the immigration bill before it is passed, with a focus on writing to MPs. If you haven’t received an email by the time you read this, please be on standby! Longer-term, we need to continue fighting against the hostile environment and are scoping the possibilities.
Migration activists’ e-list
Following the successful national activists’ meeting on migration in January, we have set up a new migration activists’ network. This will primarily consist of an email list where Global Justice Now staff and activists from different local groups can share experiences, resources and discuss campaigning options. If you would like to be added to this list, email guy.taylor@globaljustice.org.uk.
Access to medicine People’s Prescription campaigning This month we will be working in coalition with STOPAIDS, Youth STOPAIDS, Universities Allied for Essential Medicines and Students for Global Health to launch an online action calling on MPs to push our proposals for alternatives to big pharma up the political agenda. The action will be to ask MPs to ask their party leadership to support our proposals based on the lobby action from last November’s activist pack. If you need any further copies of the activist pack, please email activism@globaljustice.org.uk or call 020 7820 4900. Staff recently met with Norman Lamb MP, chair of the UK parliament’s Science and Technology Committee. He was very supportive of the proposals in The People’s Prescription report and we are working with him to table a parliamentary debate. We have also submitted a joint consultation response with our allies on the ‘Balance and Effectiveness of Research and Development’ inquiry. Our 2017 report Pills and Profits was cited in the recently-published World Health Organisation report, Pricing of Cancer Medicines and its Impacts. This is an influential global report which has been commissioned by the World Health Assembly and will be used as a reference point by global health decision makers. The section on public return on public investment for R&D has been taken largely from our report.
Scottish campaign success
Last year we supported the Just Treatment campaign calling on the Scottish government to use a compulsory license to enable NHS Scotland to be able to afford life-prolonging drug pertuzamab (brand name ‘perjeta’) for breast cancer patients. This month we heard the great news that the medicine, that’s been available on the NHS in England for a while, will now be available in Scotland. But of course, patients shouldn’t need to fight for the right to access treatment. And the NHS, and other health services around the world, should not be forced to make difficult choices based on what they can afford.
Inexpensive roller banners for your group Global Justice Ayrshire is the latest group to get themselves a bespoke group roller banner and group-specific leaflets. We suggested in the group materials insert (included with October Think Global) that a roller banner would cost in the region of £80, but we’ve now found somewhere that does them for around £25. And of course if you’d like one for your group, you can ask for this to be covered by the Groups Project Fund if necessary. Email activism@globaljustice.org.uk or phone 020 7820 4900 if you want some group-specific materials making.
February 2019 9
Groups and activism news
Global Justice Cambridge have been involved in founding Cambridge Welcome with other local groups to help counter the government’s hostile environment policy. Group member Ursula Stubbings also led her band in a Christmas fundraiser for Global Justice Now in the main shopping arcade (photo above). Global Justice Portsmouth were involved with a number of activities during One World Week at the end of October, including a public meeting with Dorothy Guerrero on A World Without Borders, which was linked into a local festival of refugee arts. They also showed the film Samsara. Global Justice Reading’s December meeting was titled ‘E-Pocalypse Now – How the e-commerce trade agenda promotes corporate power and threatens the global south’. Group co-ordinator Jackie Oversby gave a talk based on Global Justice Now’s briefing and an interesting and thoughtprovoking discussion ensued. If you’d like a copy of her talk for use in your group, email globaljusticereading@gmail.com Global Justice Glasgow joined the Scottish TUC’s St Andrews day anti-racism march in November and then took their Paddington costume down to Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre for the St Andrew’s day vigil, where they met the Bishop of Galloway. Global Justice Shropshire organised a successful public meeting on migration with Ed Lewis in October. The group has also 10 February 2019
reinvigorated their meetings by having a book group discussion one month, Think Global actions the next and a public meeting in the third. Their first book discussion was on Kate Raworth’s Doughnut Economics, which they got into a Twitter discussion with the author about! Global Justice Macclesfield put up a display about the Hostile Environment in Macclesfield library during the week before Christmas and marked International Migrants Day on 18 December with a stall around the campaign. They met their MP to discuss migration issues at the end of January and plan to screen Human Flow soon. Global Justice Central London organised the Global Justice Now presence on the Together for Climate Justice protest, which was timed to coincide with the opening of the latest UN climate conference in Katowice, Poland. In November Global Justice Bexhill and Hastings organised a protest (photo below) at the UK headquarters of General Dynamics, a US firm involved in the child detention system on the US-Mexico border. They were joined by members of Hastings Against War and received coverage of their protest in the Hastings Independent and Hastings Online Times.
Events and diary dates Degrowth and climate justice
SATURDAY 23 FEBRUARY, LONDON Global Justice Now event - see page 7 for details
¡No Pasaran!
Youth network
Our Future Now, the London youth network group, joined protests in London including the anti-fascist demo ‘No to Tommy Robinson, No to Fortress Britain’ and the climate justice march in December (see photo above). They have also released the first episode of their podcast ‘Act Your Rage’. At the university of Bristol, Global Justice Now activists joined forces with other student organisations on the These Walls Must Fall campaign against UK detention centres. They managed to get a motion passed by Bristol City Council calling for an end to indefinite immigration detention in the UK. Our Brighton youth activists collaborated with climate action groups at the University of Sussex to organise a well-attended viewing of the documentary on climate justice This Changes Everything. The Manchester youth network united with local migrant activists for a MPs Not Border Guards action outside Afzal Khan’s surgery in Fallowfield, Manchester (see cover photo). At the University of Leeds activists organised a successful screening of Ai Wei Wei’s documentary on migration Human Flow. Activists at the University of York set up a cake sale to raise funds for the Stansted 15.
SATURDAY 2 MARCH, LONDON Confronting the rise of the far right. Organised by Transform UK with Global Justice Now speaking and running a workshop. See globaljustice.org.uk/ events
Summat 2019
SATURDAY 9 MARCH, LEEDS Get connected, share skills and join in action for change. Organised by Leeds TIDAL. Global Justice Now will be running a trade workshop and stall.
We Rise
SATURDAY 13 APRIL, LONDON The national event for Global Justice Now’s youth network with speakers, workshops and live performance. Further details soon at globaljustice.org.uk/ events
National gathering and AGM
SATURDAY 8 JUNE, BIRMINGHAM We’ve already secured two international speakers - Pia Eberhardt, an expert on ISDS and trade from Corporate Europe Observatory in Brussels, and Gyeke Tanoh, head of the political economy unit at Third World Network-Africa. As in previous years, the AGM will start at 10am, with a public conference after lunch until about 6pm. Further details to follow, but put the date in your diary!
In Liverpool an activist from the youth network organised a discussion on alternative economic systems with speakers Beth Stratford, an ecological economist and Global Justice Now’s Ed Lewis. February 2019 11
Current materials Our main campaigns
Other work
Trade
Climate and energy justice
• • • • • • • •
ACTION CARD: Stop corporate courts LEAFLET: Stop corporate courts BRIEFING: The case against corporate courts BRIEFING: Corporate court Qs and As BRIEFING: ‘ISDS Files’ case studies x4 BRIEFING: E-pocalypse Now (e-commerce) BRIEFING: Giving away control DISCUSSION PAPER: Ten alternatives to a corporate trade agenda • BRIEFING: Trading with Trump
Pharmaceuticals and corporate power
• REPORT: The people’s prescription • BRIEFING: Taking public control of medicines • ACTIVIST PACK: Alternatives to the current pharmaceutical system • REPORT: Pills and profits • BRIEFING: Ending corporate impunity • MP BRIEFING: Pill and profits • LEAFLET: Sick of corporate greed • ACTION CARD: Sick? • POSTERS: Shocking facts (x4, laminated)
Migration • • • • • • • •
POSTCARD: End the hostile environment STICKERS: End the hostile environment BADGES: Migrants welcome (Paddington) POSTER: This is not a migrant crisis POSTCARD: MPs not border guards BRIEFING: Hostile environment ILLUSTRATED BOOKLET: Free movement BRIEFING: Migrant crisis or poverty crisis?
• LEAFLET: Change the system, not the climate • LEAFLET: Repowering the future: Municipal energy in practice • BRIEFING: Towards a just energy system • BOOKLET: Rays of hope - energy justice
Food sovereignty
• BRIEFING: Post-Brexit alternatives to the Common Agricultural Policy • BOOKLET: On solid ground (agroecology) • REPORT: From the roots up (agroecology) • BRIEFING: Problems with corporate controlled seeds • BRIEFING: From handouts to the super-rich to a hand-up for small-scale farmers
General materials
• ACTIVIST READER: Making another world possible • BRIEFING: The Dangers of Trump • ‘HOW TO’ GUIDES: Guides to various aspects of activism • SIGN-UP SHEET: Double-sided, Global Justice Now branded • STICKERS and BADGES: People before profit/ Global Justice Now logo
Scotland-specific materials
• BRIEFING: What’s a risk here in Scotland from post-Brexit trade deals • BRIEFING: Scottish migration briefing • BRIEFING: Principles for a just trade system
Aid
• REPORT: The Conflict, Stability and Security Fund • REPORT: Re-imagining UK aid • BRIEFING: Re-imagining UK aid executive summary • REPORT: Honest Accounts 2017 - How the world profits from Africa’s wealth
You can now find this list online, with links to electronic versions of the materials so you can see what they’re like. Just go to globaljustice.org.uk/current-materials