The Gates Foundation is one of the world’s biggest charitable funds. But it holds investments in fossil fuels. How can an organisation dedicated to wiping out poverty justify contributing to climate change? Now there is a petition asking Bill and Melinda Gates to divest the Gates Foundation of fossil fuels. Anyone can sign!
climate change
Speak Up! Climate action day
The things we love are threatened by climate change – but we can protect them by urging politicians to act. In June, come and meet your MP and tell them why fighting climate change matters to you.
What? A day of action on climate change. Thousands of us will come together from across the UK to celebrate all that we love, and meet our representatives to ask them to commit to strong action on climate change during this crucial year.
Where? Palace of Westminster, Central London.
When? Wednesday 17th June, 12pm-5:30pm.
More details to follow. This event is not organised by Global Justice Now.
http://fortheloveof.org.uk/speakup/
Global Justice Oxford relaunch event
Climate change, capitalism and citizen power were just a few of the things discussed at last night’s Global Justice Oxford relaunch. Nick Dearden, director of Global Justice Now, travelled from London to help us celebrate.
Why the relaunch? We used to be known as WDM (World Development Movement) but in recent years it’s become clear that the meaning of the word “development” has changed to the point where it actually describes the kind of approach we’re fighting against.
So WDM polled members around the country, consulted all the local groups (like ours) which form such an important part of the organisation, then took a democratic decision to change the organisation’s name to Global Justice Now in January 2015. Local groups have renamed themselves on the same pattern and have been holding relaunch events up and down the country to celebrate the change.
It was cheering to see a healthy turnout for our event – surely they weren’t all motivated by the delicious cake on offer! – and so much engagement with the issues. We talked about corporate takeover of global resources, alternative models for energy generation, higher education, the Greek economy and more.
We showed three films to give some context about our campaigns. If you missed the event, you can watch the (short) fims on YouTube..
How our banks finance climate change (4mins)
The story we’re told is that there’s no money to fight climate change… but apparently there’s plenty of money spare for causing climate change?
Naomi Klein Says Climate Activists Need to Get Comfortable Attacking Capitalism (8 mins)
Interview with the author and activist, whose Oxford book launch sold out the Sheldonian Theatre last autumn.
IBEKA, micro hydro power in Indonesia
Energy doesn’t have to be corporate-owned, environmentally damaging and expensive. The IBEKA story presents a positive alternative to the “Big Energy” model.
A consistent theme in everything we talked about was the idea of challenging the narrative: not accepting the stories we’re told about how the world does and should work, but coming up with our own stories. One great example is the dreaded Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (better known as TTIP) which might have been accepted as a broadly positive trade deal if there hadn’t been such a well-orchestrated campaign against it. Global Justice Now has been working in collaboration with other organisations to expose the truth of TTIP at national and European level; meanwhile, at a local level, several of the campaigners from Global Justice Oxford have been working with Oxfordshire campaigners from other groups such as 38 Degrees.
We had to bring the fruitful discussion to an end when time ran out, but we hope to see some of the people who came last night at our next “regular” meeting on Tuesday 14th April.
Time to Act London march: coach seats available
On Saturday 7th March there will be a huge march against climate change taking place in London. There is a coach going from Oxford (picking up in central Oxford and Headington) with seats priced at only £6. At the time of writing there are still seats left.
Time to Act: public meeting
Come to the Long Room at Oxford Town Hall on 5th February to hear Natalie Bennett of the Green Party and other speakers discuss the urgency of action on climate change. This event is organised by Oxford Campaign Against Climate Change.
Talk on Zero Carbon Britain
Kit Jones of Zero Carbon Britain is speaking in conversation with COIN (Climate Outreach and Information Network).
Background: Zero Carbon Britain 2030 was a report commissioned by The New Economics Foundation and prepared at CAT, the brilliant Centre for Alternative Technology in Wales, by a fleet of top consultants. It gives a precisely audited route-plan for Britain to go carbon neutral by 2030. After this no-one can ever again say it’s impossible!
The book is very long and has since been supplemented by other studies – but this talk will give you the gist without doing all that reading! Come to the Turl Street Kitchen at 7pm on Tuesday 2nd December to hear it. This event is not organised by WDM.
