Think Global, October 2021

THINK GLOBAL

Act locally with Global Justice Now

© Jess Hurd

October 2021

Contents

All out for climate justice this November

02 Welcome 03 News from Global Justice Now 04 Trade justice 06 COP26 07 Climate finance 08 People’s Vaccine campaign 10 Groups and activism news 12 Scotland news

Inserts Pharma

• Briefing: Fighting for a People’s Vaccine (shortened to four pages)

Climate

• Ninety-Nine magazine special issue • Briefing: Financing justice?

General

• Social media tips for local groups (groups only) 2 October 2021

James O’Nions Activism team To avert a much worse climate breakdown than we’re already seeing, the UN climate talks in Glasgow this November need to deliver legally binding emissions reductions targets with the most developed countries taking greatest responsibility.

That isn’t likely to happen. Most of the biggest emitters are continuing to play a game of brinksmanship where they will only commit to anything significant if everyone else does too.

At the same time, they’re being lobbied by corporations who have a massive stake in things remaining as they are (fossil fuel companies, agribusiness) or who want to encourage the kind of false, market-based solutions that will allow them to make more money (the financial sector).

At the heart of the problem is an economic system which is dependent on economic growth, and is based on competition between corporations to create profit for shareholders. Whatever the intentions of any individual, they’re hemmed in by the logic of a system that disregards the environmental consequences of economic activity, just as it does the welfare of people if their interests get in the way of profit-making.

So why should we be mobilising around the COP, and especially on Saturday 6 November, the global day of action for climate justice?

Firstly because this is an emergency and we have to pull the brake. The UN system isn’t going to deliver what we ultimately need, but it could deliver some breathing space while we push for more fundamental transformations. A strong response from civil society is part of pushing governments to act in the interests of the world’s majority.

Second because the UNFCCC is a terrain of struggle. The Paris Agreement in 2015 was utterly inadequate in many ways, but it did also affect global political and investment decisions. Most plans for new coal power plants have been scrapped since the agreement for instance.

But third, we need to mobilise because the only way we’re going to get the kind of system change we ultimately need is by building our power through a climate justice movement.

6 November is part of that effort. See you on the streets!

News from Global Justice Now ATTAC summer uni 2022

In 2014 and 2017 some members of our activist network joined staff at the European Summer University of Social Movements, organised by the ATTAC network in Paris and Toulouse respectively. Next year there will be another iteration of the ESU in Frankfurt in mid-August. If you’re interested in coming, please bear the date in mind. Frankfurt is relatively easy to get to by train from London.

Global Justice Now is the UK affiliate of the ATTAC network, and the ESU is a great opportunity to stay connected to European social movements and likeminded campaigners despite Brexit. For more on ATTAC, see globaljustice.org.uk/attac

Organisational strategy

Those of you who were able to come to our online AGM in June will have been part of a discussion about our ‘strategic identity’.

Finalising this document (which the council has now done) was a precursor to coming up with a new five-year strategy for the organisation.

The next print issue of Think Global, in February 2022, will include a draft of this strategy with an invitation for groups to send feedback. A final version of the strategy will then be presented to the 2022 AGM. In the meantime, if you would like a copy of the strategic identity, please email James: james.onions@globaljustice.org.uk

Action checklist

In the media

Our pharma campaign remains prominent in the news agenda, leading to a ‘inside the campaign’ feature in Vice, interviewing Global Justice Now director Nick Dearden.

Heading into the G7 summit, the People’s Vaccine Alliance secured a letter to Boris Johnson from 12 British Nobel laureates, calling for a commitment to waive vaccine patents, covered in the Telegraph and the Independent. A letter we arranged with Just Treatment from members of the Indian diaspora was covered in the i. We signed a joint letter with Oxfam Scotland, calling for Nicola Sturgeon to pressure the prime minister on vaccine patents, which featured in STV, the Scotsman, and the Daily Record.

After the summit, Nick Dearden criticised Boris Johnson for offering global south countries “crumbs from the table” in comments featured in Bloomberg, CNBC, the Observer, and the Daily Mirror. Writing in Al Jazeera, Nick reflected that the change we need will never come from a rich-world institution like the G7.

Working with Universities Allied for Essential Medicines (UAEM), Global Justice Now revealed that AstraZeneca’s “not for profit pledge” in perpetuity excluded 34 low and lower-middle-income countries, in an investigation in BBC Newsnight and The Guardian. We arranged a profile of a Kenyan GP suffering vaccine shortages in the Metro continued on page 11 ▶

Trade justice Send filled-out action cards back to the office by midOctober.

Climate justice Mobilise people to join the climate justice protests on Saturday 6 November.

Carry on getting signatures until the end of the year.

Write to your MP ahead of COP26 raising climate finance issues, plus the Energy Charter Treaty.

People’s Vaccine Consider taking part in our 12 October Day of Shame

October 2021 3

Trade justice

Outside ISDS law firm Gibson Dunn in the City of London

Successful day of action

Our day of action, Corporate Courts vs The Climate helped to reach many thousands more people and build the campaign.

•

stilt-walkers dressed as an oil baron and a lawyer. Watch the video of this at globaljustice.org.uk/climatecircus GJN groups and local climate groups held protests and stalls.

We projected messages such as ‘Uniper: profiting from corporate courts’ and ‘Fossil fuel criminal’ onto one of Uniper’s power stations in the UK. We projected ‘Corporate courts block climate action’ onto the offices of an Edinburgh law firm that specialises in ISDS. We ended the day with a webinar with great speakers from Bolivia, Argentina and Italy. If you weren’t able to make it, you can catch up with the recording at globaljustice.org.uk/18sep-webinar

Ahead of the day itself, we had great media coverage of our latest investigation, showing that fossil fuel companies are suing governments for more than $18bn (£13bn) in corporate courts over climate policies.

These are corporations that have caused the climate crisis - they should be paying to fix it, not demanding a payout. The story made the headlines on Sky News and was shared quite widely over social media, including by other campaign organisations with quite a big reach.

•

The video of the story on Sky’s news bulletin is quite a good two minute explainer which could be useful to share in your group or on social media globaljustice.org.uk/sky-ECT

What now?

During the day of action: • In London we did a ‘Corporate Courts Climate Circus’ walking tour of three of the law firms acting for fossil fuel companies in climate cases, with circus 4 October 2021

• •

Most of the fossil fuel corporate court cases that we’ve been highlighting (eg Uniper, RWE, Rockhopper, Ascent Resources) are using the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT). This is a giant corporate court deal between over 50 countries specifically for energy investments. It’s been part of our campaign all year, alongside the Canada, Australia and CPTPP trade deals, and for the next few

Perf

fold

Campaign postcards

In July we and over 400 groups all across Europe made a joint declaration calling on our governments to ‘Exit the ECT by COP’.

Our day of action last month was part of a wider month of action across Europe making this demand. Some governments are starting to listen – the French, Spanish, Greek, Slovenian and Polish governments, and the European Commission itself, have all said they will consider leaving. The UK is not there yet, but it could be if momentum builds.

US-UK trade

Freepost RRB Global Jus A-HAEG-YUHJ tice Now 66 Offley Road London SW9 0LS

weeks in the run up to COP26, we’re going to be focusing on the call to exit the Energy Charter Treaty before COP.

JoJo ininth m the ov em ov emem ent en to t stto op op corp por os ate a ur e co totsxi frc om bl uSocu king K tr cla im dateed ea ac tioln

action card

So we’ll be keeping up the pressure on this issue right up to and during the protests around the UN climate talks on 6 November.

Other trade deals

The UK government is hoping to start trade negotiations with India at the end of year. We made a submission to the UK’s consultation, highlighting our concerns around agriculture, medicines, climate, corporate courts and digital rights. More than 4,700 of you co-signed the submission.

We’re in touch with allies in India, and getting prepared for the talks to start.

Over the summer, Pakistan made the decision to get rid of corporate courts. It

2.indd 1

1 Sign and 1 Sign andretu this pet return rn this peitio titionn 2 2 Tic k the Tick thebox box on the tea on the tear roff offsec tohea sec hea tion r mo r mo tion re re to abo ab utout thethe cam ca mp pai gnaign 3 3 Fin Find d out outmo more re and and get getinvo involv movem cam lved edininthe paign entat the atglo globa balljus justtice ice.org .org.uk .uk/tra /trade de

no toxic trdA ond ’t e letdeAl W it corpoh ratetr cou urtm s p

bloc

k climate ac tion We’ll be handing in Would you do the petition signatures trade d a e with th al is we’ve collected so far man? ahead of COP, towards the end of October, so if you’ve collected signed postcards, please send them back to the office by mid-October.

Global Jus Glo tice Now bal Justice Now Offl 6666 Offl Road, Lon eyey Roa don, SW9 offleyroad@d, London 0LS SW9 offle yroad@gloglobaljustice 0LS baljustice.org .org.uk +44(0)20 782 .uk +44 (0)20 7820 9 4900 490 glo justice.org0 globalbal justice.org .uk .uk

desig n: nickc Design : revangeldeochra ne.co signs.co.uk m

19/09/2019

17:22:04

Having said this, we’d also like groups and activists to continue to use these postcards even after this first hand-in.

The wording makes them relevant at least until the end of 2021, and there is clearly an opportunity to build on the growing awareness around the threat of corporate courts to the climate.

terminated 23 that it had previously signed which contained ISDS. This adds to the growing number of countries taking steps towards this – including India, New Zealand, South Africa, Tanzania and even the US itself.

The UK-Canada trade deal went quiet during the general election that took place in Canada last month, but is likely to get underway again in the coming months.

Key resources Don’t let corporate courts block climate action Campaign postcard (May 2021).

Climate injustice How corporate courts block climate action. Four-page briefing (March 2021) How trade deals are fuelling climate breakdown Four-sided A5 leaflet (UPDATED September 2021)

Global Justice Glasgow at the offices of ISDS law form Clyde & Co.

Contact us to order these or find them at globaljustice.org.uk/resources October 2021 5

Climate justice and COP26 Mobilising for COP26

With just one month to go before the UK hosts the UN Conference of Parties, Boris Johnson has lifted his rhetoric, but little more. Having failed to put in the kind of diplomatic work needed to make COP26 any kind of step forward, the UK government has also been unwilling to even stop new fossil fuel projects such as the Cambo oilfield off the Shetlands going ahead. A strong mobilisation to push for climate justice is urgently needed.

The COP26 Coalition has firmed up plans for a countrywide (and indeed global) mobilisation on Saturday 6 November. The Global Day of Action for Climate Justice will see major protests in Glasgow itself, as well as a number of cities around the UK. There are a number of smaller places which also have plans for some kind of action.

To find out the details of the nearest demo to you, go to cop26coalition.org

Coming to Glasgow The UN talks themselves run from 31 October to 12 November. During that time there will be various things happening in Glasgow itself, particularly over the middle weekend.

Activists are planning on coming from around the UK, and although we understand that many of you won’t feel able to travel, for those that do and would like to be there, we’re organising a number of things.

Thursday 4 November, 6.30pm-10.30pm Meet GJN members and allies at our hub space: 72 Berkeley Street, Glasgow G3 7DS. Friday 5 November Climate strike, meeting Kelvingrove Park + Discussions and activities at our hub space 6 October 2021

Saturday 6 November Day of action for climate justice In Glasgow, Meet 12 noon, Kelvingrove Park We’re organising a Global Economic Justice Bloc with our international allies.

7-10 November People’s Summit for Climate Justice Taking place at venues in Glasgow, with some sessions online as well.

Travel subsidies and accommodation In order to help supporters come to Glasgow, we’ve pre-booked some hostel accommodation which we’re making available at half the normal price.

We’re also offering travel subsidies, which in many cases means you can get to Glasgow for only £35, even if you’re coming from quite far away.

For more details of our travel subsidies and accommodation offer, see our website: globaljustice.org.uk/coming-to-COP

Special issue of Ninety-Nine

To mark the UN climate talks coming to Glasgow, we’ve produced a special issue of our supporter magazine, Ninety-Nine.

Copies are included copies in this Think Global mailing for groups to distribute.

Apologies that this has meant a slight delay to the mailing of Think Global in order to accommodate the Ninety-Nine production schedule.

We still have plenty of copies left of the magazine, so if you think you can distribute more than we’ve sent you, email activism@ globaljustice.org. uk and we’ll send you some more.

Climate finance Grants not loans

In September both the UK and US increased their annual pledges of climate finance to the global south.

While this is good news, rich country governments are still falling short of the $100 billion a year target for climate finance established in 2010 – a target which critics argue is still insufficient compensation for the global north’s role in causing climate breakdown.

Furthermore, three quarters of this finance comes as loans, increasing the debt burden of southern governments, while Oxfam estimated in 2020 that the true value of support received by governments was only $20 billion a year. So we are calling on the UK and rich governments to agree a new deal on climate finance at COP26 that sees developed nations paying their fair share, and ensuring that finance comes in the form of grants not loans.

The last thing countries experiencing the severe economic impacts of extreme weather need is more debt from climate loans. Moreover, heavily indebted countries may be forced to turn towards fossil fuel exports to make their repayments, so it is vital that we break this vicious cycle of debt and climate chaos.

In September, activists in Edinburgh demonstrated outside HSBC, UBS, and Abrdn calling on them to cancel Zambia’s debt (see picture), while activists also delivered a letter to banks in Manchester. In October, we will be collaborating with allies in the UK and globally on a week of action for debt cancellation.

No new gas

And after the UK announced an end to its use of aid money to fund oil and coal projects overseas earlier this year, we are

working with allies to end public financing of gas projects. We joined 200+ organisations in a statement calling on Alok Sharma to work with other rich governments to produce a collective statement at COP26 to end all public financing for overseas fossil fuel infrastructure. With the International Energy Agency having said that no new gas projects should be commissioned after this year to achieve net zero by 2050, it is essential that the UK makes these commitments to adhere to its own climate targets.

Take action

Our latest petition calls on the UK to pay its fair share of climate finance. globaljustice.org.uk/fair-share As well as signing and sharing this the petition, you could write to your MP ahead of COP26, outlining how the UK can support climate justice at the talks, and asking them to write to the prime minister in support of our campaigns. For guidance, contact Daniel: daniel.willis@globaljustice.org.uk NEW: Financing justice? UK climate finance and how to increase ambition at COP26. Eight-page briefing (September 2021).

Included with this issue of Think Global.

Also at globaljustice.org.uk/resources October 2021 7

People’s Vaccine campaign

© Jess Hurd

At Labour party conference in Brighton: We held a successful fringe meeting on Labour’s policy with shadow development secretary Preet Gill, plus a People’s Vaccine rally at The World Transformed.

Vaccine apartheid

As rich countries start to roll out booster shots this autumn, the modest WHO goal of vaccinating 10% of the population of every nation by the end of September was not met. It looks unlikely that the WHO’s call for a 40% global vaccination rate by the end of 2021 will be achieved either. Of the 4.8 billion vaccine doses delivered to date globally, 75% have gone to only 10 countries, while vaccine coverage in Africa is at less than 2%.

Latest data shows that the G7 countries combined have enough surplus vaccines to redistribute 500m doses by the end of September, and up to 1.2bn doses by the end of the year. Yet Covax, the biggest buyer of vaccines and supplier of them to poorer countries, has struggled to get hold of the doses it has bought and has shipped only 303m this year. Even as production ramps up, global health inequality deepens.

And of course, healthcare systems in poorer countries are overwhelmed and under resourced not just with vaccines but also 8 October 2021

medication, oxygen, protective gear – all this would be covered under the temporary IP suspension proposed by the TRIPS waiver.

The TRIPS waiver

It is now a whole year since South Africa and India proposed a temporary waiver of Covid-related patents to the World Trade Organisation’s intellectual property body, the TRIPS Council. Over 100 countries in the global south supported the proposal at the time, and since then some rich countries including the US, France and Australia have done so too. But the UK, Germany, Norway and Switzerland in particular continue to block it.

On 22 September, President Biden convened a virtual Covid-19 Summit where he pledged an additional 500 million vaccine doses in donations, but failed to put pressure on pharmaceutical companies to share their technologies for expanded production. Boris Johnson did not even attend the summit.

Donated doses will come too late – lowand middle-income countries need the vaccines now, not by the end of next year.

Sustainable and timely supplies are needed immediately and in the future, and southern manufacturers need the technology and know-how to be able to produce them.

Day of shame: 12 October We know the coming months will be key.

With rising case numbers globally and close to 10,000 people a day still dying from Covid-19 across the world, equitable vaccine access is essential. With social democrats having just won elections in Germany and Norway, there is the possibility of a change of direction, coalition negotiations permitting.

However, the UK is still a stumbling block.

On Tuesday 12 October, the day before the TRIPS Council next meets, we’re calling a ‘day of shame’ with a sombre action in Central London in the early evening to remember the needless deaths in the last year and call the government out on its shameful behaviour. We need a decent number of people to make the action work, so if you can make it on 12 October, join us on the pre-action Zoom call at noon on Saturday 2 October. Register for it at globaljustice.org.uk/shame-call Our allies in ATTAC Austria, who are also campaigning on this issue, will be mobilising at the same time, along with other European allies. If you can’t make the call, but would still like to come to the action, email alena.ivanova@globaljustice.org.uk

Street campaigning Some local groups have run successful People’s Vaccine campaign stalls recently with the campaign postcards, leaflets and stickers (see ‘key resources’ section’). If you’d like to run one, you can order materials from activism@globaljustice.org.uk or by calling 020 7820 4900. As ever we will try our best to help with other requests and advice.

T-shirts

We now have campaign t-shirts available from our on-demand t-shirt supplier Teemill.

If you’d like to show your support for the campaign with a funky organic cotton tee, go to globaljustice.org.uk/tshirts We also have a limited number of preproduced versions of the End Vaccine Apartheid shirts in unisex black or white only which we can supply for £10 each. Email guy.taylor@globaljustice.org.uk

Key resources UK government: Suspend the patents Campaign postcard (2021).

Free Covid-19 vaccines from Big Pharma monopolies Four-page A5 leaflet (2021).

Fighting for a People’s Vaccine Supporter briefing, now shortened to four pages (February 2021).

Stickers The global south needs a vaccine too. Sheets of 12.

Contact activism@globaljustice.org.uk to order these or find them online at globaljustice.org.uk/resources October 2021 9

Local groups and activism news Global Justice Bradford held a climate walk in conjunction with Caildon and Shipley Friends of the Earth which attracted more than 200 people, all aimed at getting the local council to divest from fossil fuels and to go carbon neutral by 2030, instead of 2038.

Global Justice Leicester held a successful stall on ISDS and climate in Market Harborough for the Big Green Week, and another in conjunction with the Nottingham group. They attended both an eco-harvest festival and an interfaith event on climate change, and in July a group member organised a stall at the National Justice and Peace Network conference.

Global Justice Nottingham held a People’s Vaccine stall in July outside a vaccination centre, and distributed a lot of cards to people coming out (until they were moved on!). The group has been central to organising the Nottingham Hub of the COP26 Coalition, which is putting on a Nottingham protest on 6 November. Group members also held a fundraising/social barbecue.

Global Justice Reading held three stalls at various local events as well as a short action near the station on the ISDS/climate day of action. The group have also been lobbying both Reading MPs. Alok Sharma is President of COP26 so is hearing their views on issues such as aviation, expanding local airports and the Cambo Oil Field.

Global Justice Worthing are still meeting on zoom but did organise an ISDS stall in Worthing town centre, as well as a vaccines stall at a activism event attended by other organisations, handing out a lot of literature despite the loud music and competition!

Global Justice Rotherham held a good stall in the sun at the Rotherham Show, focussing on the vaccines campaign, and are mobilising for COP protests in Sheffield on 6 November.

10 October 2021

Activists out in Melrose, Scotland, for the day of action.

Global Justice Macclesfield got a photo and article in the local paper and online news about vaccine apartheid early in September and then repeated the trick for the day of action with a thunder maker and blue cloth photo op at the town hall!

Global Justice Cambridge had a good presence at the Cambridge Climate Fair and are busy in the Cambridge Hub for the COP protests. Global Justice Central London held successful People’s Vaccine stalls in Islington and Holborn.

For the climate/ISDS day of action, Global Justice Glasgow showed up with placards at the offices of Clyde & Co, a law firm which takes ISDS cases. Global Justice York campaigned outside a Shell garage and Global Justice Ayrshire ran a campaign stall in Irvine. Global Justice Bexhill and Hastings were out in both towns in their name for the day of action and had a good impact, while Global Justice Portsmouth ran a Climate Week display on corporate courts.

Non-GJN local groups also got involved in the day of action, including in Swansea, Hereford, Newcastle, Fife and Chesterfield.

...media contined from page 3 and railed against Pfizer for holding Brazil “to ransom” over vaccine access in the Guardian.

As Think Global goes to press, the youth network is busy recruiting new students at freshers’ fairs around the UK. We have some follow up events planned to mobilise for the UN climate talks in November and hopefully form some new youth network groups too.

Global Justice Stirling, which is a youth network group, has been particularly active on climate, organising the Stirling Climate Festival which runs from 11 to 17 of October.

There are some online-hybrid events, so it’s worth checking it out wherever you’re based: www.stirlingclimatefest.info. The youth network has also been planning for how it mobilises for the UN climate talks, whether by going to Glasgow or taking part in local protests and events across the country.

The youth network has also taken a leading role in the Stop TUI campaign. The high street holiday company have been running deportation flights for the government and the campaign aims to force them to pull out as British Airways did. TUI is certainly feeling the heat with eight street protests organised across the country on the day of action in August. The Leeds, Cambridge, Brighton, Manchester and Liverpool groups have been particularly involved in the campaign.

We worked with the Guardian to expose the UK’s hoarding of 210 million excess doses, demanding they be released to the global south, and responded to the UK’s eventual vaccine donations with comments picked up by the Guardian, Mail Online, and the Independent.

Aid led the news when parliament voted to keep cuts to the international aid budget.

Our campaigner Daniel Willis accused MPs who voted for the cuts of having “blood on their hands”, appearing in BBC News, BBC Radio 4 Today programme, the Independent, and the Guardian front page.

On trade, we slammed the secrecy of the UK’s new trade deal with Australia in the Daily Mirror, the National, and the Independent, while Nick wrote for the Guardian and Al Jazeera on why neoliberal trade deals are bad for the climate.

We co-signed a letter calling for the UK to exit the Energy Charter Treaty, with Jean Blaylock quoted in Politico and the Independent.

Jean’s research revealing that five fossil fuel companies are suing governments for $18bn for enacting climate policies was the top story on Sky News and featured in the New Statesman and The Independent.

Elsewhere in climate, Dorothy Guerrero worked with the Guardian to expose the UK government’s failure to make COP26 accessible to global south civil society groups. Dorothy’s reaction to the “terrifying” IPCC report was picked by international outlets including the Australian, France 24, the Japan Times, RTE, and the International Business Times, while Daniel Willis spoke out to defend Extinction Rebellion’s targeting of banks in the City of London, featuring in City AM, LBC, and AFP.

Our freshers fair stall at Leeds University

October 2021 11

TRIPS waiver motion

SNP MP (and health spokesperson for the party in Westminster) Philippa Whitford has publicly supported the TRIPS waiver of patents on Covid-19 vaccines but the Scottish government is yet to come out publicly and say anything on this issue. We want to put pressure on the Scottish government to speak out in support of the patent waiver - ideally before the TRIPS Council meeting at the World Trade Organisation in mid-October, so that it further isolates the UK in its opposition.

One way of doing that is via parliamentary pressure from MSPs. So we’re aiming to get a majority of MSPs to sign the motion put down by Labour MSP Sarah Boyack in the Scottish parliament that calls for an end to vaccine apartheid. Currently there are 50 MSPs supporting this motion, with15 more are needed to make a majority. If you live in Scotland: • Take the e-action to your MSPs and share it with friends and family: https://bit.ly/3BtzoxG • And if you’d like to help further with contacting other MSPs then please get in touch: thorn.house@globaljustice.org.uk

Drop the debt

In Scotland, our campaign for banks to cancel the debt of countries in the global south continues to focus on Zambia. The country was the first African country to default on its sovereign debt in the pandemic. It is also one of four countries that the Scottish government identifies as an international development partner and gives a small amount of aid to.

In September we organised an action in Edinburgh, protesting outside three of the banks that have bonds in Zambia’s debts: HSBC, UBS, and Aberdeen Standard Investment – or Abrdn plc as it has rebranded itself. It was great to have a number of Global Justice Now supporters with Zambian links at the protest. Earlier in the week we also projected ‘Blackrock: Cancel the debt’ onto the company’s offices. Blackrock is another creditor that has significant bonds in Zambia’s debts.

If you’d like to find out more, or hold a stall on this issue we have a briefing and leaflet on why Zambia’s debts need to be cancelled: globaljustice.org.uk/zambias-debt

Scotland news

ISDS and climate action

In Scotland for the Corporate Courts vs The Climate day of action, we focused on Clyde & Co, a law firm in the top 30 investment arbitration firms globally. Recently it was involved in an international arbitration case between Edinburgh-based oil buccaneers Cairn Energy and the Indian government.

In Edinburgh, we projected ‘Corporate courts block climate action’ onto the offices of Clyde & Co. Meanwhile, in Glasgow members of the local group stood outside the Clyde & Co offices in their city with placards, giving out leaflets to passers-by, explaining the problems of corporate courts.

We also have a new Trade Justice Scotland Coalition briefing for MSPs that focuses particularly on how trade deals block climate change. Scottish campaigners can use it to talk to your MSP about the issues. Download the briefing here: https://bit.ly/3CIhmZd

Online group

Global Justice Now Scotland runs a monthly online group for campaigners who don’t have a local group near them. It’s a good way to meet and keep in touch with other activists in Scotland. If you’d like to come along, just email Jane: jane.herbstritt@globaljustice.org.uk