Type: Think Global newsletter
Date: 1 April 2016
Campaigns: General

Welcome to the April issue of Think Global Extra, the bimonthly supplement to Think Global. Read it in conjunction with the last full Think Global from March.

Action checklist

General              

• Register to come to the national gathering and AGM if you haven’t already
• Buy tickets for the Take Back Our World festival and spread the word, especially among young people

Food

• Take action against Monsanto using our new stunt pack
• Lobby your MEPs to oppose the New Alliance during the ongoing scrutiny period

Trade

• Run a stall to get people to sign our new CETA postcard

Climate and energy

• Get involved in the direct actions in Wales and near Berlin this May
• Get trained up to take direct action at one of the regional events in May
• Join the Going Backwards on Climate Change demonstration in London on 8 May

National gathering – book your place now!

Our national gathering, incorporating our AGM, is taking place 4 June at the Human Rights Action Centre in London. Our keynote speaker is shadow development secretary Dianne Abbott who will feature as part of our exciting programme:

• Have corporations taken over international development?
  Diane Abbot will speak about what’s wrong with the government’s approach to aid.
• Unfair trade deals
  If you don’t already know about the latest wave of unjust trade deals; CETA, TTIP and TISA come and find out about them. Also an opportunity to hear the latest developments in the campaigns against them and how best to get involved.
• Energy democracy – switched on thinking
  Learn about the exciting campaigns to win energy democracy in the UK. Fighting for socially just and climate friendly approaches to energy.
• Our movement and what’s next
  Global Justice Now’s director Nick Dearden speaks about where we are as movement and where we need to be heading.

There will also be an open space session, which will give participants the opportunity to lead discussions, and a ‘campaign surgery’ – an opportunity to discuss specific issues with Global Justice Now campaigning and activism staff. 

Places are filling up and we may reach capacity soon, so if you haven’t booked then do so asap! Follow this link to book your free place.

Campaign update: climate and energy justice

This spring is an exciting time for climate action. From 4-15 May there will be 11 mass climate actions happening across the globe. All of them aiming to keep coal, oil and gas in the ground by targeting the world’s most dangerous fossil fuel projects.

Reclaim the Power

In the UK Reclaim the Power are focussing on a huge open cast coal mine in the south of Wales. The action camp will run from 30 April to 4 May culminating in a mass non-violent action to shut down the mine on 4 May. Some Global Justice Now staff and activists will be there in an informal capacity – email [email protected] if you’re interested in going and have any questions. 

Groundswell

Reclaim the Power are also holding a series of direct action trainings across the UK in April in the run up to the action. This is part of Groundswell – a project to encourage more people to take direct action in the UK. Here’s when and where they are taking place, click the links for more info:

• Cardiff Sunday 3 April
• Edinburgh Saturday 9 April
  Bristol Sunday 10 April
• Leeds Sunday 24 April
• London TBC (info will be made available on the RTP main Facebook page in due course)

European mobilisation: Ende Gelande

2016 is the year that will determine the future of the Lusatia opencast coal mine in east Germany.  Last August over 1500 people occupied an open-cast mine and blocked the coal diggers in a similar protest near Cologne, and this year we want to stop the Lusatia mine in its track.

People are going to Lusatia from 13-16 May to take action. If you’re interested, details are here: www.ende-gelaende.org/en/.

Going backwards on climate change

Join Global Justice Now on 8 May for Going Backwards on Climate Change, a demonstration in central London against the government’s backtracking on climate change. To symbolise these backward steps the protesters will be marching backwards in a line down Whitehall, and there will be other stunts and props to make it an exciting and engaging spectacle. 

The march will start at the Trafalgar square end of Whitehall at 12 noon near to a large statue. It will end outside the treasury at the other end of Whitehall at around 2.30pm.

Sign up at the Facebook event here. To join Global Justice Now, look out for our flags at Trafalgar Square before the march starts.

Campaign update: food sovereignty

Monsanto

We will dispatching the Monsanto stunt pack including stunt guide in mid-April. This pack will include:

• Spoof labels
• Spoof leaflets
• Stunt guide with ideas on how to use the pack
• Petition
• Monsanto leaflet explaining why we are challenging Monsanto

Please email [email protected] to order yours. 

New Alliance

For any groups who are planning to lobby their MEPs on the New Alliance, please use this briefing, which sets out all our key asks and which amendments to reject in the EU process.

Campaign update: trade justice

Turning the heat on CETA

There is now a clear timetable on the CETA negotiations. The council of Ministers will be considering CETA in June, and are expected to signal their approval and send it on to the European parliament in September. The EP will then announce if the deal is to be of single or mixed competency – determining if it depends on simply a vote in the European parliament or if it requires vote in all the Member States’ parliaments around Europe (we want it mixed with votes everywhere).  The European Parliament will vote on CETA in early 2017 – a key vote we will be pressurising as much as possible – after a ratification from the INTA trade committee.

If CETA passes through the European Parliament, it may be implemented provisionally before votes in national parliaments.

The work on stopping CETA starts now. Here’s what’s coming up in the immediate term, though there will be more to come soon:

• We have a postcard to send to MPs in Westminster which demands they insist on a mixed agreement, getting a vote in the UK’s parliament and using it against CETA. If you want postcards for stalls, we have them in the thousands here, let us know how many you want. Email [email protected].
• There will be an email action to MEPs asking them to express their intention to vote against CETA in the vote in Strasbourg in early 2017.

TTIP Free Zones

There is a conference happening in Barcelona on 21 and 22 April for Mayors and Councillors of places that have voted against TTIP. If there are councillors trying to get their council to take such a step, they can be invited as well. The second day of the conference is aimed at activists and civil society. If you would like to attend, please contact [email protected]. If you know of any elected local government officials who should be invited, also email Guy and he will ensure they are sent one.

Take Back Our World festival: early bird tickets available

After last year’s successful pilot, Take Back Our World festival is back! The festival is about building the knowledge, creativity and spirit of resistance needed for radical social change, as well as celebrating together. It’s set within the beautiful natural surroundings of Tapeley Park in north Devon with a lake, woods and permaculture garden, not to mention the sea within walking distance.

Early bird tickets are now available – book asap to ensure your place.

We’re building on last year to expand the festival, with more to offer and space for more people to come.

Speakers so far:

·         Paul Mason (Journalist and author of Postcapitalism: A Guide to Our Future)

·         Marina Prentoulis (Syriza UK)

·         Molly Scott Cato MEP (tbc)

·         Nick Dearden (Global Justice Now)

·         Dorothy Guerrero (Focus on the Global South)

·         Cat Boyd (Radical Independence Campaign)

Plus live music, DJs and a host of creative workshops and activist trainings. Including; Rohan Ayinde (Spoken Word), Ije Amaechi (Acoustic) and Xana (looper, beat boxer and poet).

Coaches will be running from Leeds, Manchester, London and Bristol.

Here’s the link for tickets again. As more information becomes available, updates will be posted on the Facebook page. And do spread the word to others, especially young people who you think might enjoy the festival.