Think Global Extra December 2015 - Global Justice Now Global Justice Now

Type: Think Global newsletter
Date: 23 December 2015
Campaigns: General

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

Action checklist

Organise a community film screening of This Changes Everything
Order and distribute The Road Through Paris newspaper
Pressure your council to become a TTIP Free Zone
Pressure your MP to sign the Early Day Motions on TTIP and TiSA

Campaign update: food sovereignty

Food sovereignty gathering

Over 250 people came to Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire for the national food sovereignty gathering in October, representing a wide range of groups including fast food workers, bakers, allotment holders, food activists, community workers, farmers and growers – all with a shared vision for a food system that is controlled by people and local communities. Global Justice Now was part of the organising group and held workshops and discussions on connecting the national movement here with the international struggle for food sovereignty.

There was a strong awareness that the food sovereignty movement in the UK is much bigger than just those who attended the gathering and so there are action plans around outreach and mobilisation as well as ideas for key outputs such as the Landworkers’ Alliance’s call for a national food policy based on food sovereignty.

Food speculation

In November’s Think Global, we updated you on the latest on developments around the implementation of the EU directive which will tackle excessive speculation. The European parliamentary negotiators were supposed to meet with the Commission in mid-November to agree how the direct should be implemented. However discussions were dominated by the Commission’s proposal to controversially delay the start date of the legislation. Instead of the previous agreement that the start date should be 1 January 2017, the Commission wishes to delay this to January 2018. We believe this latest tactic is a reflection of the heavy corporate lobbying against the regulation. The Commission now has to undertake a series of impact assessments to back up their proposal for a delay.

We will keep you updated with news and actions as the situation unfolds. You can read our blog post on this here.

Campaign update: climate and energy justice

Corporate Monopoly

We’ve turned our Corporate Monopoly board game, which was so popular with groups over the summer, into an online game. Have a go at playing it here: globaljustice.org.uk/infographics/corporatemonopoly/

You can still order boards from us so that you can play at home or with your group. Email [email protected].

COP mobilising

Climate marches across the UK

We were present at the climate marches this weekend, which were some of the biggest in UK history, and organised blocs in both Edinburgh and London. We co-hosted the System Change not Climate Change bloc in London, for which we had a strong turnout with groups members, youth activists and other supporters.

The people’s summit in Paris

Anyone travelling to Paris with us for the climate mobilisations should be getting separate updates on our plans, which have had to see some change in the wake of the terrible attacks there in November. We are still going and still determined to make our voices heard within the bounds of restrictions put in place by the French authorities. Nick Dearden has written a piece on why this is now more important than ever, and we’ve joined with allies to call on President Hollande to lift the restrictions, a call which you can sign too.

All our train tickets have been sold, but if you are interested in travelling with us we may be able to get hold of a few more tickets so please email [email protected]

The Road Through Paris newspaper

We’ve had a very positive reaction to our newspaper, The Road Through Paris, which connects the COP to wider systemic issues, and looks beyond Paris to what next for climate and energy justice. It features articles by Naomi Klein, Caroline Lucas MP and activists from around the world. Order multiple copies for your local area from [email protected]

Campaign update: trade justice

In parliament

If they haven’t yet signed them, ask your MP to back two Early Day Motions in the House of Commons. EDM 146 focuses on TTIP and has 97 signatures, including all SNP MPs; but it lacks many Labour MPs. Also there’s EDM 677 against the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) which has only recently been tabled by Roger Godsiff MP.

Earlier in the month, at the Scottish Labour party conference, 90% of party members voted for a motion opposing TTIP outright.

TTIP Free Zones

Thanks to the persistence of local activists there are now 29 TTIP Free Zones across the UK. Sefton and Southwark are the most recent additions, along with four councils in Scotland just in the last month. We continue to promote the campaign and are working on developing the website to give more help, background and support for those campaigning. If you have anything you’d like to see on the site, or would like to contribute some of your experience in campaigning for this, please feel free to email suggestions or text to [email protected].

Students Against TTIP

Students Against TTIP has planted some roots in Scotland. We had three different meetings in two universities and a student housing cooperative over one weekend in November, which were well received. Activist team intern and student Mathilde Dahl came up to Scotland to speak at the meetings which were organised by a student volunteer in the Scottish office, Christina Hellevik, who will coordinate the growth of the network in the New Year.

The network is also organising some anti-TTIP Christmas carolling in London and Leeds this Saturday 4 December. Details for the events are on Facebook – see here for the London event and here for the Leeds one.

If you know of any potential contacts or interest at universities please let Ed Lewis know: [email protected].

New materials

We’re aware that we promised to mail out new TTIP leaflets by now and apologise for the delay. However, they have now arrived. In addition, we have produced a new two-page flyer for use by Global Justice Now and Stop TTIP local groups, which can include groups’ individual contact details.

You can preview the flyer here and the leaflet here.

We will be sending them out in the January Think Global mailing. However, if in the meantime you would like to order copies please email [email protected].

Scotland: events and activism officer vacancy

With a growing base of activists in Scotland, and with greatly increased levels of political engagement since the independence referendum, we’re looking to recruit a new events and activism officer in Scotland. We are looking for an energetic, creative and resourceful organiser to help us support, extend and diversify our network of local activists. The post is for three days a week, for one year. If you’d like to apply or know anyone who might be interested, the closing date is 10 December. Find out more from our website: https://www.globaljustice.org.uk/activism-and-events-officer-scotland.

New groups agreement and affiliations

Thanks to those groups who have filled in their new groups agreement and returned it to the office. If your group has any concerns at all, please don’t hesitate to contact Alice on [email protected]. In particular, the requirement to have five national members as members of your group is a longstanding one in our constitution, and relates to the groups’ ability to vote at the AGM as a group. If you are a smaller group and have trouble meeting this requirement, it definitely doesn’t disqualify you from existing as a Global Justice Now group. Please just get in touch if this is the case.

Merry Christmas!

Ed, Alice, James, Laura and Mathilde (Global Justice Now activism team)