We’ve been campaigning for a long time to reduce food speculation, the so-called “hunger casino” where bankers bet on food prices and make food less affordable for the world’s poorest people. Now this campaign has achieved a big victory: the EU will be introducing regulations to stop irresponsible betting on food.
The regulations aren’t perfect and we’d like them to go further. But they do two key things:
- force financial traders to be more transparent about their dealings
- limit the number of food contracts that can be held by banks and other financial organisations.
This means it will be much harder for traders to distort the market, pushing up global food prices and causing price spikes. That means that food will be more affordable and food prices more reliable.
And there’s another reason why it’s significant: until now, the EU had no rules on food speculation at all. The fact that it does is mainly thanks to the tireless campaigning of WDM and other groups – and your support.
If you’ve signed a petition, donated money or come to one of our events: thank you.
Leave a Reply