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Campaigning for justice for the world's poor in Oxfordshire

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Carving up Africa at Oxford Folk Festival

28 April 2014 by kate Leave a Comment

Cake in the shape of Africa being cut upAfrica was up for grabs in Oxford WDM’s latest stunt. Our activists arrived at Oxford Folk Festival with an elaborate cake in the shape of the continent and invited passers-by to compete for a slice.

It was part of the usual Folk Festival fun and games, but with a serious message: Africa is being carved up by large corporations with the connivance of the UK government.  Initiatives such as the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition sound good on the surface, but the real aim behind them is to make Africa’s resources more accessible for corporate profit. The claim is that the New Alliance will reduce hunger in Africa, but corporations such as Diageo, Monsanto and Unilever are using it to make a grab for Africa’s land, labour and natural resources.

We don’t think it’s acceptable that our own government supports this corporate takeover of African food. So we were asking passers-by to sign postcards to the Secretary of State for International Development, calling on her to withdraw UK support from the New Alliance. If you missed us on Saturday, you can write to her via our website.

High-resolution photos of the day are available on request.

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Filed Under: News Tagged With: africa, food, food sovereignty

Africa is so tasty!

16 April 2014 by kate Leave a Comment

Yum, Africa is so tasty! Executives from corporations such as Diageo and Monsanto and celebrated the corporate carve-up of Africa with a cake…or did they? OK, we admit it, those people in suits were actually WDM activists. We were trying to highlight the way that the UK government’s Department for International Development is using aid money to help multinational corporations get a piece of Africa. The two-minute video went viral and it’s worth watching if you haven’t already seen it!

Video: Corporations celebrate new scramble for Africa

More info on our Africa campaign at www.wdm.org.uk/food

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Filed Under: News Tagged With: africa, food, food sovereignty, video

Time to come clean on dirty energy

18 October 2013 by kate Leave a Comment

We have a problem with dirty energy – so we’re going after the banks. Doesn’t make sense? WDM’s Carbon Capital campaign might seem counterintuitive, but it reflects the complex reality of dirty energy funding.

Woman walking in foreground, oil fire in backgroundWhen we talk about “dirty energy”, we mean energy production that accelerates climate change and harms communities in the area of energy extraction. That’s mostly fossil fuel projects such as oil wells and coal mines, but it also covers other projects such as dams.

Lots of energy companies are investing in these projects right now: Shell’s oil operations in Nigeria, Anglo American’s investment in a Colombian coal mine and so on. Dirty energy projects that make life worse for local people are happening all over the world. If locals actually benefited from these hugely profitable projects, Nigerian people would have a great quality of life. But the reality is the opposite: people are frequently displaced, or have their livelihoods taken away, or have to live in a polluted environment.

So why are we going after the banks, rather than the energy companies? The answer is that all energy companies need funding for new projects, and they don’t get it from their own coffers. They raise money through borrowing (loans from banks) and equity (selling shares, which are often bought by pension funds). They can’t go ahead without the backing of the financial sector.

But right now, the banks don’t have to disclose the fact that they’re loaning money for dirty energy. The law has recently changed so that British businesses have to declare their carbon emissions, which is great news – but they only have to declare direct emissions for things like travel to meetings or office lighting, not the true impact of the projects they fund. Even though those projects would not happen without the bank’s help.

The Carbon Capital campaign isn’t asking banks to stop funding dirty energy (well, not yet). We’re simply asking for transparency. We’re petitioning Vince Cable as business secretary to toughen up the rules and make banks declare all the emissions they cause.

Tell Vince Cable to make the banks come clean

How can we expect banks to think carefully about the ethics of their own investments when they know they won’t be held to account for any of it? And if banks don’t have to declare their full emissions, how can we as consumers make an informed choice about which bank to choose?

Banbury Canal Day

That’s why Oxford WDM was at Elder Stubbs and Banbury Canal Day asking people to sign postcards to Vince Cable. We’ll also be at the One World Fair on 16th November. Please support us and sign.

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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: africa, carbon capital, climate change, corporate lobbying, fossil fuels

Beyond Forgiving: documentary, Fri 18 Oct

14 October 2013 by kate Leave a Comment

Abingdon Quakers are screening the award-winning film Beyond Forgiving on Friday 18th October at the Health and Wellbeing Centre, Audlett Drive, Abingdon OX14 3GD. The film depicts the journey of two South Africans trying to move beyond their pain towards forgiveness and healing. Free entry and refreshments. This event is not organised by WDM.

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Filed Under: News Tagged With: africa, not WDM, south africa

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Next meeting

We usually meet on the 2nd Tuesday of the month at 19:30, in-person at the Oxford Town Hall and online on Zoom.

There will be no meeting in August.

Write to your MP

Banbury, Victoria Prentis
Henley, John Howell
Oxford East, Anneliese Dodds
Oxford West and Abingdon, Layla Moran
Wantage, David Johnston
Witney, Robert Courts

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Local Links
  • Fairtrade at St Michael's
  • Farringdon Fairtrade
  • Friends of the Earth Oxford
  • Greenpeace Oxford
  • Oxfam Oxford Group
  • Wallingford: Just Trading
  • Witney Fair Trade
General links
  • Fairtrade Foundation
  • Focus on the Global South
  • Jubilee Debt Campaign
  • Trade Justice Movement

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