We left our previous meeting inspired by Jason Hickle’s talk on ‘degrowth’ so we continued the theme at this meeting.
Some members gave short talks to start us to think about ways we could ‘degrow’ our economy and about countries or groups that are already managing well with less. Then we broke into groups to continue the discussion.
Autumn Dates for your Diary
Sunday 10 September: A stall at Reading Cycle Festival. Please let me know if you think you will be able to help.
Saturday 23 September: ‘Make Polluters Pay Day’
7.30pm Wednesday 27 September: meeting at RISC
7.30pm Wednesday 8 November: Nick Dearden will be speaking about his new book ‘Pharmanomics’ that will be published in October. (Please note that this meeting has been brought forward by a couple of weeks)
‘How to Save the Planet: Degrowth vs Green Growth?’
Film and Discussion
Wed 24 May 7.30pm at RISC, RG1 4PS
How do we secure a thriving future for humanity and the rest of the living world? Green growth and degrowth proponents take very different stances but they agree that changing the current economic growth model is necessary.
In this video Prof. Samuel Fankhauser and Prof. Jason Hickel went head to head on one of the biggest questions of our time and gave us an interesting introduction for a discussion. The discussion, in small groups with feedback at the end, ranged from criticism of growth to those pressing for urgent action to curb growth. The contributions were lively and the small group format encouraged more to share their views.
‘The Big One’ Friday 21 April – Monday 24 April
Near the Houses of Parliament, London
Extinction Rebellion, Global Justice Now, Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and others came together for these four days. The streets were transformed with People’s Pickets outside government departments and a diverse programme of speakers, performers and workshops, awash with colour and culture. There will be art and music, talks from experts, places to listen and engage, and activities for the kids.
Global Justice Now had a stall and gazebo in Parliamentary Square, supported by stalwarts from Global Justice Reading on different days. It had an ambitious schedule of events, including workshops and talks, a walking tour, and even some comedy. These were very well attended, sometimes with so many attendees that the workshop spilled outside the tent. As part of the ‘People’s Picket’ we will joined our allies to picket the departments for trade and health on Friday 21 and Monday 24 April.
You can still find the outline of the weekend on Global Justice Now’s website, and FAQs about nearly every element of the protest on the Extinction Rebellion website.
A Just Transition & Environmental Justice
A Workshop led by London Mining Network
Wed 29 March 7.30pm
RISC 35 – 39 London Street RG1 4PS
At our March meeting, two speakers from the London Mining Network led a lively workshop. The term ‘just transition’ has centred on ‘green jobs for workers in the fossil fuel sector and related industries, to ensure that their labour rights and conditions are not sacrificed. However, communities on the frontline of extractivism, indigenous peoples, peasant movements and their allies – are raising important questions about what that means.
We were shocked to hear about the huge extent of mining needed for a green transition. We need to think more carefully about how we use materials and about our priorities.
Our speaker used a selection of slides from the following presentation: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/17MXY3l_6_fvnyb0m95L9MxZB2YcdW2nc/edit#slide=id.p32
Beanpole Day, Saturday April 22, 10am – 3pm
in Caversham Court Gardens
On what was forecast to be a wet and windy day, but was less wet than was promised, we staffed our regular stall at this exhibition for gardeners and nature loving attendees, with beanpoles also on sale. We focussed on The Energy Charter Treaty, as part of trade deals, which gives foreign fossil fuel investors the power to sue governments who enact legislation to curtail future fossil fuel extraction and so negatively impact potential investors’ profits through secret courts run by three arbitrators. The outcome is usually positive for the investors’ bank accounts to the tune of millions or billions of pounds, paid for by the taxpayers in the country being sued. Often it simply leads to governments withdrawing such legislation thus allowing climate change emissions to increase. Passersby engaged with us on the issues and signed our petition to withdraw from the Energy Charter Treaty and requested more information. A very successful day.
