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THINK GLOBAL Act locally with Global Justice Now October 2019 Photo: Jacob Murray
THINK GLOBALAct locally with Global Justice Now
October 2019
Photo: Jacob Murray
2 October 2019
Nick Dearden Director
Inserts Trade• No toxic trade deal with
Trump action cards• Five reasons why trade
deals are terrible for the climate briefings
• ISDS case file on the Lydian case in Armenia
Contents
02 Welcome
03 News from Global Justice Now
04 Trade justice
06 Climate justice
06 Aid watch
07 Access to medicines
08 Groups and activism news
10 Current materials
Fifty years young
Britain is in the deepest political crisis in living memory. And we are not alone. Across the world, an economic model based on turbo-charged exploitation and short-term profits is wrecking our planet, driving astronomical levels of inequality and eroding political legitimacy.
Global Justice Now has warned about the consequences of this exploitative economic model for many years. In fact, for almost fifty years. Next year we celebrate our 50th birthday. We were born in a very different world, where we looked to newly liberated countries of the ‘third world’ as a tremendous source of hope for building a more equal planet.
Sadly illegitimate debt, toxic trade deals and vastly over-powerful corporations crushed this hope for many millions of people. And those same economic weapons of mass destruction have led, more slowly, to the political, economic and environmental crisis we are now living through.
Now we have reached this deep crisis, we’re at a crossroads: we can learn the lessons of the disastrous economics of recent decades and begin to build a world with the principles of social justice as its foundation, or we can follow the global strongmen into a world of conflict, division and environmental breakdown. We have a vital role to play in this historic battle for justice.
Next year we will have no time for navel gazing. As part of our 50th anniversary activities, we are planning events and materials to promote our perspective on the crisis. The first thing we want to do in what is increasingly a ‘war of values’ is to think more about the core values of Global Justice Now.
With this in mind, I have a simple but important ask of you now: what three words do you think best sum up Global Justice Now as an organisation and our approach to changing the world? You can let us know via this online link: bit.ly/GJN50
We’d love to hear this from as many of you as possible so please do share this with your local group, and others who you know are active on our campaigns. And we’ll get back to you with more details of our anniversary plans soon, but in the meantime, stay strong and keep campaigning.
October 2019 3
Media highlightsOur chlorinated chicken protests with the Bristol group outside Liam Fox and Jacob Rees-Mogg’s constituency surgeries featured in a Channel 4 Dispatches programme during the Trump visit. We have also appeared (sometimes dressed as chickens, sometimes not) in the Observer, BBC London (via Our Future Now members), the Guardian, the Wall Street Journal and on Canadian TV warning of the dangers of a US-UK trade deal.Elsewhere on trade, our Armenia campaign has been covered by BBC World Service, the Independent, Open Democracy and Germany’s Deutsche Welle. Our work on the sale of surveillance equipment to repressive regimes has been variously reported in the Guardian, Computer Weekly and South Africa’s Daily Maverick. Our legal challenge over post-Brexit trade deals picked up a smattering of coverage and we hope for more when it arrives in court.
Nick Dearden had comment articles in the Guardian on Liz Truss’s trade agenda, Al Jazeera on Boris Johnson’s government, and Left Foot Forward about the aid budget. Guy Taylor, Radhika Patel and James Angel have all written for the Ecologist. And our London
youth activist network Our Future Now wrote for Red Pepper on their hostile environment subvertising on the tube.
Finally on climate, Daniel Willis was interviewed by Novara Media about the Amazon, and BBC News online covered our participation in the climate strike
Activism team newsWe’re very pleased to let you know that we have some new part-time staff in our activism teams in London and Scotland. Zinzi Mangera-Lakewa and Blake Turner both started recently in London and Scotland respectively, and Cameron Joshi will be starting in London soon. All three of them will be focusing much of their time on supporting and expanding our youth activist network.
News from Global Justice Now
Action checklist
Trade Order No toxic trade deal with Trump action cards Organise a stall outside your local supermarketOrder an ISDS film screening packClimate Order climate justice stickers and our updated briefing on climate and trade deals
AidOrder Pupils before Profit action cardsEvents If you live in Edinburgh or London, book a place at one of our events with Walden Bello, then share on social media. More info at globaljustice.org.uk/events
4 October 2019
Trade justice
Getting ready for TTIP 2.0?Over the past month we’ve started gearing up our work on a US-UK trade deal. Although the political situation remains incredibly volatile, the danger that a trade deal with Trump of some form could be coming very soon is real. Thus, as we updated you last month, we’re making this our primary focus in the trade campaign.
Over these months, we want to be talking about the risks of a US-UK trade deal for climate action, NHS and public health, food standards & animal welfare, control over data and much much more – everything from renationalising railways to chemicals in cosmetics. Our work on corporate courts also fits in here – it has not explicitly been said that the deal would include ISDS but it has not been ruled out either.
New materialsWe have a new leaflet/action card, No toxic trade deal with Trump, included with this Think Global. This is a great introductory tool for the campaign, with a short introduction to the risk of a US-UK trade deal, and a tear off postcard version of our petition opposing a UK-US trade deal addressed to the trade minister.
We’ve also updated our briefing, Five reasons modern trade deals are terrible for the climate. While this isn’t restricted to a US-UK deal, it’s very relevant for it. And of course it’s also great for making the connections between campaigning on trade and climate.
We’re still working on updating our Trading with Trump briefing, and we’ve got plans for lots of other materials – videos, a quiz, and resources for some subversive actions. So, coming soon! To order more materials contact [email protected] or 020 7820 4900.
Global Justice Now staff and local campaigners held a protest outside the Armenian embassy in solidarity with the community resistance in Amulsar against the constuction of a toxic gold mine by Lydian
October 2019 5
Action ideas – supermarket stallCould your group hold a stall outside a local supermarket with the action card, and talk to people about the risks of a trade deal with Trump for our food?
Over 19,000 people have signed the petition against a US-UK trade deal online, which is great, but it would be really good to get out there and push it a bit further.
The Trading with Trump briefing covers key risks of a deal, but for some more in depth background to help you talk about risks to food (and some other issues), these resources are helpful:
• Top 10 risks from a US trade deal: from our allies, the Soil Association.This two side briefing lists ten problems with the US food system that could pose risks for the UK: https://bit.ly/2oqPQOQ
• ‘Costly medicines and pus in milk’: this Guardian article by our director, Nick, sets out problems that go beyond chlorine chicken: https://bit.ly/2nPAJi3
Reaching out
We’re in touch with other groups working across the range of issues that could be impacted by a US-UK deal at national level. If there are connections your group made locally, perhaps during the TTIP campaign, it would be great to start reaching out. Do let us know if there are materials that you might find useful to help you contact groups. Email [email protected] or [email protected]
Update on Armenia Recently we’ve been hopeful about the situation in Armenia, where the mining company Lydian is threatening a corporate court case to bully the government into evicting protestors blocking construction of a toxic gold mine. However now things seem to be at a stalemate.
Last month, the government seemed to be on the point of caving in to the pressure from Lydian. But then protests in the capital Yerevan and the scale of the public response caused the government to backtrack, and say it would take longer to decide. This was great news, and many thanks to all of you who took action at short notice – joining our emergency demo, sending tweets and solidarity photos.
Damning evidence about the risks of the mine from the independent evaluators, was given in government hearings. Despite this, the government has again said that the mine should go ahead – but not until next year. Meanwhile the local community say they have no intention of lifting their blockade.
As the activists in Armenia say, they are saving Amulsar day by day, and they are not giving up!
The processes around the ISDS case are very secretive. However it seems likely that Lydian is holding off on taking the next step with the case, for as long as the governmentsupports the mine’s continued constuction. If the mine goes ahead, we expect they will drop the case entirely because its purpose - to bully the Armenian government - will have been served. But until that happens, Lydian continue to hold the threat of a case over the government’s head.
New materialsWe’ve done a new ISDS case file about the Lydian case, included with this mailing.
Several groups have been holding film screenings of our documentary: More precious than gold: community resistance v corporate courts, along with three other short videos about ISDS cases in Romania, Croatia and Italy. If you are interested in this film pack, contact [email protected] or 020 7820 4900.
6 October 2019
Climate JusticeOur governments are finally acknowledging that we face a climate emergency. That’s all down to many years of campaigning and the huge surge in public concern that we’ve seen recently. But, of course, there’s a lot more work to do to challenge the economic system and the bad political decisions that have brought us to this precipice.
Following on from the motion passed at our AGM in June which called on us to do more work on climate justice over the next two years, we have had a number of planning sessions and are also in the process of producing a policy briefing which will bring together all the threads of our position on climate justice.
In the meantime, our staff and activists in Scotland have been working doggedly on the Scottish climate change bill which has been going through the Scottish parliament for most of this year. As a result of their work, together with the other members of the Stop Climate Chaos coalition, the bill was amended to set a target of zero greenhouse gas emissions in Scotland by 2045 (five years ahead of the UK government target). As we write, the bill is just coming to its third and final stage at Holyrood on 27 September and the battle at this last stage is to get it amended to include a target of 80% emissions reductions by 2030.
And of course, we were all out on the streets for the climate strike on Friday 20 September!
Aid WatchThis month, we have co-ordinated a meeting with a group of NGOs to discuss how we might work more collaboratively to critique the current direction of UK aid policy. The financialisation of UK aid in recent years has been damaging to public services and efforts to tackle inequality in the global south. It is time we took a greater stand against this strategy.
In this sense, we were pleased to hear the shadow secretary of state for international development Dan Carden reference our report In Whose Interest? in parliament this month. It is crucial that we continue to oppose the use of UK aid funding to privatise public services. You can support our campaign by signing the petition online: go to globaljustice.org.uk/aid. And you can also order our campaign postcards to write to your MP.
We are also conducting new research on the UK government’s ‘development finance institution’ , known as the CDC group. We are examining how CDC makes its investments in developing countries and want to explore why it is giving money to private hospitals, fossil fuels, fracking and other damaging sectors, with serious social and environmental consequences for local communities. Keep an eye out for this research in the coming months.
If you have any questions on our aid campaign, get in touch with our new policy and campaigns manager Daniel Willis. Email: [email protected].
Photo: Jacob Murray
October 2019 7
Access to medicinesCampaign successLast year we launched a report, The People’s Prescription which we co-wrote with Just Treatment, STOPAIDS and the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose. The report included a set of policy proposals to address the failings in the way that we research and develop new medicines.
Thanks to your ongoing campaigning on this issue over the past two years, contacting MPs and helping to raise public awareness, we were happy to see many of our policy proposals were taken up by the Labour party. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn announced in his speech at the Labour party conference their commitment to tackling the crisis in medicine prices, and to adopting transformative policies to address this.
It is fantastic that the opposition have moved on this, and a huge thank you to everyone who has campaigned on this issue.
New working paperWe have just published a new working paper: Democratic public ownership in the UK pharmaceutical sector. This paper is based on a Labour party consultation response that we submitted in June with The Democracy Collaborative and Just Treatment and argues for democratic public ownership within the UK pharmaceutical sector: globaljustice.org.uk/resources/democratic-public-ownership-uk-pharmaceutical-sector
Upcoming eventsDuring the first week of October, Walden Bello, a towering figure in the international peace and justice movement for many years, is coming to the UK to speak at three events that we’re organising in London and Edinburgh. He will be speaking at Edinburgh University on Wednesday 2 October from 7pm - 9pm.walden-bello.eventbrite.co.ukAnd he has two events in London: on Thursday 3 and Friday 4 October.globaljustice.org.uk/events
Walden Bello speaking at the 2003 World Social Forum
8 October 2019
Groups and activism news
Global Justice Bradford involved local MP for Bradford West, Naz Shah, in actions during the week of action for the climate from the 20-27 September. That involved writing to the secretary of state for the environment on making the government’s environment bill stronger and robust in enforcement and pressurising Bradford Council to get fossil fuels removed from the West Yorkshire Pension Fund’s portfolio of investments (they control it on behalf of the five West Yorkshire Metropolitan Councils). The group also had two trade campaign stalls at local galas during the summer to draw people’s attention to the ISDS campaign. They had someone dressed up as a judge with gown and wig, which drew much curiosity from passers by
During Refugee Week, Global Justice Cambridge hosted with others in Cambridge Welcome a ‘Share a Dish’ meal. Sharing delicious food (from Somalia, India, Britain & more) stimulated sharing stories with friends new and old. The group’s stall at a local community festival attracted quite a range of people, particularly to hear why opposing ‘corporate courts’ matters.
Global Justice Cleveland has held a meeting on ISDS, in order to educate themselves and also inform others about the negative impacts of the corporate courts.
Following a meeting devoted to the case of Ecuador versus Chevron-Texaco, Global Justice Gloucestershire then went on to hold a further meeting on ‘Gold Mines and Corporate Courts’. They focused particularly on two case studies, and showed videos about Amulsar, Armenia and Rosia Montana, Romania.
Global Justice Hastings once again took part in the Hastings and District Interfaith Forum: Garden of Cultural Delights, August 2019, which is a splendid local annual multicultural event. They made good use of the new Top Trumps game which proved to be a useful tool for engaging people with the difficult subject of corporate courts.
‘Share a dish’ meal organised by Cambridge Welcome during Refugee Week
The Mayor of Cambridge visits the group’s stall at a local community festival
Global Justice Hastings at the Hastings and District Interfaith Forum: Garden of Cultural Delights
October 2019 9
Global Justice Portsmouth has been busy planning some meetings around the theme of climate change, linked to One World Week at the end of October. They’ve got an evening on climate and migration and are showing a new film The Race is On at the university with the producer and presenter leading a discussion. They are also organising an evening exploring the idea of system change – circular economics, planetary limits, doughnut economics and the economy for the common good - also at the university.
Youth NetworkMembers of our youth activist network, along with staff and other group members hosted a day of workshops and talks on climate justice and the arms industry, at the same time blocking one of the main entrances to the ExCeL in London during the Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) arms fair.
The blockade and workshops were part of a week of action outside DSEI, each day highlighting a different perspective on the scandal of the arms industry.
Twenty youth activist network members attended The World Transformed (TWT): a four-day politics, arts and music festival running alongside the Labour party conference in Brighton, working to build left power both inside and outside of parliament. Several Global Justice Now staff also spoke in sessions at TWT.
As part of our plan to extend our youth activist network across the UK, our activism team staff have been out and about at fresher’s fairs during September, visiting Liverpool, Brighton, Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester. They’ll then be following that up with an event in each location later in October.
Below: Global Justice Now youth and local group campaigners block the entrance to the DSEI arms fair
Current materials Our main campaignsTrade• ACTION CARD: No toxic trade deal with
Trump• 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 x6• NEW BRIEFING: ‘ISDS file’ on Lydian• 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)• ILLUSTRATED BOOKLET: Free movement
Aid• ACTION CARD: Pupils before profit• REPORT: The Conflict, Stability and Security
Fund
Climate justice• BRIEFING: Five reasons modern trade deals
are terrible for the climate• 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
Other workFood 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
