Act locally with Global Justice Now
June 2024
James O’Nions12 Our national conference
Fuel Treaty
• Fossil Fuel Treaty: Tricky questions answered
• Fossil Fuel Treaty petition sheet (groups only) Trade • Resisting green colonialism briefing
Nicola Ansell Chair of council
As we transition from one council term to another, it’s a useful moment to step back from immediate concerns and future plans to reflect on the role Global Justice Now have been playing in bringing about change.
The three-year term of the current council comes to an end this month, and after the AGM many of its members (including myself) will be stepping down and handing over to a new council. Three years ago, the Covid pandemic still dominated our lives. We held our first few council meetings entirely on Zoom but were energised by the clear role Global Justice Now was playing in demanding vaccines be shared fairly around the world. Our work was urgent and relevant and we received a good deal of media attention as well as some measures of success.
Today, news agendas have moved on and we are, of necessity, focusing our attention elsewhere. Fortunately, we are not entirely driven by external agendas, but are able to bring issues to public attention and achieve change in that way – most recently securing the exit of the UK from the Energy Charter Treaty. One of our greatest strengths in this regard is our network of local groups, whose relentless campaigning gets our message out regardless of the news cycle.
Think Global is Global Justice Now’s activist newsletter, published three times a year, with monthly email supplements (Think Global Extra)
Editing: James O’Nions, Daisy Pearson
Cover photo: Global Justice Now staff and supporters with the Climate Justice Bloc at the National Demonstration For Palestine on 18 May.
The last council initiated a theory of change process which has since been developed into a strategy that now informs planning throughout the organisation. A key issue that we have had to think through is how we respond to an incredibly fast-changing world. News moves on, making it harder to get attention for our campaigns. Trusts switch their funding priorities to different areas. (We’re very fortunate in receiving so much of our income from individual members, which helps us remain focused on our primary concerns.) As an organisation, it’s crucial for us to remain agile and flexible, seizing opportunities to draw attention to our issues, to build a movement for change and to secure shifts in policy.
In our most recent meeting, we discussed what we want to pass on to the new council. While doubtless there are things to be learned from past experience, what is most clear is that the world will change dramatically over the next three years. It will be crucial to recognise where change is needed, what Global Justice Now can do, and to seize opportunities to make a difference.
The biggest news of the last few months has been the UK government announcing we will leave the Energy Charter Treaty, with our reaction to our campaign win picked up in the Guardian, Reuters, Common Dreams and Positive News. Liz wrote an opinion piece for the National newspaper in Scotland on why the decision to leave the Energy Charter Treaty is great news for Scottish climate policy, while Nick wrote about it for Tribune.
In February, our climate justice campaigner Izzie wrote for Big Issue on why a Fossil Fuel Treaty is needed to secure the end of the fossil fuel era. The news that the Scottish government has dropped its 2030 climate targets has led to political turmoil ultimately resulting in a change of first minister, but before that happened, our initial reaction to the dropping of the 2030 target was picked up in Holyrood Magazine, PA Media, STV News, the Sun and Morning Star, while Dottie provided an internationalist perspective on the target dropping for BBC Radio Scotland.
On pharma, the Guardian published a powerful letter to the editor from our campaigner Tim on how ongoing medicine shortages are partly borne of political failure. This led directly to a Guardian editorial the following month urging the UK government to not add pressure to the NHS by succumbing to Big Pharma’s lobbying demands. Tim also wrote for New Statesman on how the UK-India trade deal threatens affordable medicines.
Alongside our main campaigns, the Guardian covered our joint coordinated letter with seven other organisations calling for the UK to reconsider trade links with Israel and we also earlier joined a large coalition taking out an advert in the Times calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. As Forbes magazine’s annual billionaires list came out, our campaigner Daisy’s comments critiquing billionaire wealth were picked up in the Guardian, and she also wrote for Big Issue on the news.
Don’t forget that this year’s AGM will take place online again, this time on Tuesday 11 June at 6.30pm. You will need to register by 9 June in order to receive the link. Groups are entitled to send a representative, but please state this when registering. Go to globaljustice.org.uk/agm-2024
With 12 valid nominations received for 12 council places, which met all our quotas for diversity and representation, including a minimum number of local group members, an election was rendered unnecessary. The new council’s term begins after our AGM, and its members are Victor Anderson, Nick Anim, Sally Brooks, Ludovico Caminati Engström, Aisha Dodwell, Mohammed Elnaiem, Natalia Guidorzi, Steven Jackson, Maggie Mason, Naveed Somani, Mary Steiner, Christine Thompson. You can find the candidates’ election statements at globaljustice.org.uk/elections-2024
Hold a summer stall for the Fossil Fuel Treaty.
Ask your MP to sign the Early Day Motion, ideally at a meeting with them.
Plan your campaign to get your local council to support the treaty.
Share our petition to end arm sales to Israel.
Consider contacting your MP. General
Reserve your free place at our national gathering in Nottingham on 1 June, and spread the word.
We’ve been meeting MPs in Westminster to tell them about the Fossil Fuel Treaty and have had positive responses to the campaign from MPs across the political spectrum. Ahead of our local lobbying days for the Fossil Fuel Treaty, Clive Lewis tabled an Early Day Motion on the campaign – a kind of parliamentary petition which MPs can sign. The motion outlines the escalating human rights threats posed to Pacific Island States – who have spearheaded the treaty – by the climate crisis and calls on the UK government to stand in solidarity with these countries by endorsing the treaty.
Many groups and supporters engaged directly with their MPs and MSPs as part of the nationwide lobbying days. In Bradford, Naz Shah MP joined our activists at a demo where she signed our petition to party leaders asking them to endorse the Fossil Fuel Treaty. Several other groups are in the process of scheduling meetings with their MPs and MSPs. We’re aware that some Conservative MPs in particular seem to have become quite unresponsive to
constituents and that, while the lobbying days were a great start in getting the message out to MPs, the exact timetable won’t have worked for every group.
How can you keep engaging with your MP after the lobbying days?
• Please have a look at Early Day Motion 743 (you can find the link in the lobby pack) and keep sending it to your MPs, asking them to sign it. Even if you don’t think they will, it’s really important that they hear about what matters to their constituents ahead of a general election.
• Keep pursuing your MP for a meeting if you haven’t managed to secure one yet! It’s vital that they keep hearing about the Fossil Fuel Treaty, and the nationwide lobbying days should be just the start. The lobby pack will be helpful for meetings beyond the lobbying day. You can find it at: globaljustice.org.uk/fft-lobby
We’ll keep thinking about ways we can support you to get as much MP engagement as possible.
If you’d like to chat through any ideas or just discuss which local target to prioritise, please email activism@globaljustice.org.uk.
Reading Borough Council has become the first council to endorse the treaty as a result of our campaign. Activists in Reading brought the treaty to the attention of a sympathetic councillor who raised the issue at a council meeting. Tony Goodchild from Global Justice Reading said:
“We’re thrilled that Reading Borough Council has joined the global push to end the fossil fuel era. The climate crisis is an issue with no borders – we need fast and effective international cooperation to end the devastation it’s causing around the world, most urgently in the global south. Our victory shows that people power works: when we gather together in our communities wherever we are, we can make change happen across the world.”
It’s great to see a UK town joining the global call for the Fossil Fuel Treaty; this should galvanise us all to keep organising to create a groundswell of support for the treaty in the UK, and the globally just transition it demands.
The newly formed Global Justice Scottish Borders worked with a councillor from the Scottish Green Party to put down a motion of support for the Fossil Fuel Treaty in the Scottish Borders Council. Unfortunately, this Conservative majority council was a hard nut to crack, and the motion faced a wrecking amendment put down by one of the Tory councillors.
However, the local group got lots of positives from this short-lived campaign – from a great demo held outside the council building to an article in the local press – and they’ll be keeping in touch with the council’s climate officer about the future of the motion.
Perhaps the most important thing to learn from the process is that, depending on the make-up of your local council, you might need to work with friendly councillors to build more of a campaign
around the treaty before putting a motion down. If you want to talk about strategy email activism@globaljustice.org.uk.
Many other groups and supporters have been trying to get motions on the Fossil Fuel Treaty put down at their local councils, including Dundee, Glasgow, East Lothian and North Ayrshire. If your group is also working on getting a motion passed at your local council, get in touch to let us know!
Green Party councillors are proving to be our best allies on getting council motions tabled, and with now over 800 councillors on 174 councils, they could be the starting point in a lot of local campaigns. For this reason we’re planning on being present at this year’s Green Party conference in Manchester (6-8 September). If you’re going to be there too and might be able to help with outreach, please get in touch with guy.taylor@globaljustice.org.uk. We’d also welcome more general help getting the message out to Green councillors and connecting them with Global Justice Now supporters locally.
Running a campaign stall or three over the summer can be a useful way to either build local support for your council to support the Fossil Fuel Treaty, or more generally to raise awareness and get extra names on our main national petition which is directed at party
After seven years as head of policy and advocacy, Dorothy Guerrero is leaving Global Justice Now for pastures new. Dottie has brought a crucial global south perspective to our work over that time as a Filipino climate justice advocate, as well as improving the organisation’s overall connectedness with movements and campaign organisations in the global south. We know groups will want to join us in wishing her the best of luck.
Not all Global Justice Now campaigns are simple to explain to the public, but the Fossil Fuel Treaty is at least in terms of the opening ask. We have plenty of useful materials we can share with you, from flyers to briefings – check out the resources box.
We’ve included printed copies of our tricky questions briefing with this Think Global (it was previously sent out electronically in Think Global Extra) which will be useful when preparing to speak to both politicians and members of the public. However, you should use the campaign briefing for distribution on stalls, along with the A5 leaflet and paper petition. Order more of any of these via activism@globaljustice.org.uk.
Also remember that our set of three A3 placards (pictured below) were designed for attracting attention to stalls, not just for use on protests, and you can still order any number that you like from the office!
Global Justice Now Scotland has teamed up with Paperboats, a writers’ collective taking action to tackle climate change. In their workshops, participants write personal letters to the Scottish government calling for a Fossil Fuel Treaty, and then fold them into origami paper boats. To find out more about the workshops, including how to run your own, check out their website: paperboats.org/ campaigns/fossil-fuel-treaty. Paperboats will be leading a workshop at the Scottish watch party for the national gathering on 1 June in Edinburgh (more about this on the back page) so come and get involved!
We’re planning a hand-in of the petition to the First Minister in September and are aiming for
3000+ signatories. You can find the petition online at act.globaljustice.org.uk/endingfossil-fuel-era and share it with family, friends and local organisations you are involved in. Gathering signatures at summer stalls would also really help boost our total. Contact Jane if you need any support in this area, including the paper version of the petition, and Scottish-specific leaflets: jane.herbstritt@globaljustice.org.uk
FFT lobby pack Google drive folder (April 2024)
The Fossil Fuel Treaty: Tricky questions answered 12-page pdf (March 2024)
The Fossil Fuel Treaty Six-page briefing (January 2024)
Let’s clear the way… Two-sided A5 FFT leaflet (January 2024)
Let’s clear the way… Bilingual English/ Welsh four-sided A5 FFT leaflet (January 2024)
Fossil Fuel Treaty petition sheet (January 2024)
How to convince your council to endorse the FFT Four-page guide (January 2024)
+ Scottish-specific FFT materials
See globaljustice.org.uk/resources and order from activism@globaljustice.org.uk
International agreement on a new Pandemic Treaty is set to reach conclusion by early June, with the UK and other rich nations currently working to block measures that would make vaccines and treatments available globally in future health crises.
Unequal access to vaccines was deadly during the pandemic, as billions of people went unprotected thanks to pharma greed. At root of this inequality was a broken system where all the major Covid-19 vaccines receiving huge amount of public funding, yet big pharma companies were still allowed to maintain exclusive, private monopolies over their sale.
Taking a lead from activists from the global south, we have been demanding that the new treaty makes sure big pharma is never allowed to profiteer from crisis again. With the pandemic fresh in our minds, there are clear and obvious lessons that the world should learn and apply.
The agreement, which is being negotiated at the WHO, is a sprawling document and you can certainly see big pharma’s fingerprints in places. However, we’re pleased that the most recent draft of the agreement does include provisions for suspension of intellectual property rights in the event of another pandemic – there has been a lot of legalistic wrangling over the wording of this, but it’s an important precedent to set.
Ending the concentration of medicines production in the global north is another priority. While many countries in the global south have invested deeply to produce domestic medicines, decades of unfair trade rules have put them at a disadvantage.
Together with our allies, we’re demanding commitments that ensure medicines technology is transferred to countries in the global south, especially where it has been produced with public funding. As things stand, the agreement “encourages” countries to put such terms on
public funding for medicines, but we are pushing for stronger language. We need commitments, not just good intentions.
You may have also seen that Nigel Farage and Suella Braverman have been spreading misinformation, warning that the Pandemic Treaty could give the WHO powers to put the UK on lockdown. Needless to say, this isn’t true. What’s more, if they were really interested in sovereignty, maybe they would join us in calling for public control over taxpayer-funded vaccines and treatments?
We’re sorry to say that pharma films project, Two Worlds, has run into some technical difficulties in the final stages of the edit. We’re receiving generous support from our team of film-makers to get them over the line and we will provide more updates soon.
Lives not profits Fold-out leaflet (June 2023).
Big pharma isn’t working Four-page briefing (June 2023).
Ten reasons why we need a new pharma system Two-page A4 factsheet (2022).
Who wants to be a pharma billionaire? Game for use on stalls (2022).
Lives before profits Petition sheet (2023).
Contact us to order these or view them at globaljustice.org.uk/resources
Following our campaign win in February, we’ve kept up engagement with the government to ensure the UK leaves the Energy Charter Treaty in a timely fashion. Energy department officials confirmed in a recent meeting that the formal letter kicking off the one-year notice period has been sent, so the UK should be officially out of the ECT in April 2025! We’ll continue pushing for a coordinated withdrawal with other exiting countries to avoid cases being brought in the ‘sunset clause’ period.
The UK leaving the ECT, followed by the European parliament voting for an EU exit, are just two of several recent wins chalked up to the global movement against ISDS. In April, people in Ecuador overwhelmingly voted NO to the country allowing a return of investorstate dispute settlement (ISDS) in its trade deals, in a referendum tabled by its right-wing government which threatened to overturn a 2017 constitutional change to prohibit ISDS.
Honduras, currently facing an outrageous $11bn claim by US cryptocurrency investors after its ‘special economic zone’ charter city was banned, has denounced the arm of the World Bank that hosts and enforces most ISDS cases. Tanzania has terminated its bilateral investment treaty with Canada, which had been weaponised by mining companies.
Finally, the US trade representative in April confirmed that the US is actively reviewing options to remove ISDS from its existing trade deals. With persistent campaigning, there’s every chance this anti-ISDS mood could become the new global norm.
You’ll find included in this issue a new policy briefing on trade and ‘critical minerals’. With the ECT campaign won and the issue of ISDS revealing the fundamental threat corporate globalisation poses to action governments must take on the climate crisis, we’ve been exploring where the next big fight around trade and climate justice sits. In a changing world where greater intervention in economies is being prioritised over free-trade dogma when it comes to the energy transition, we’re in thorny terrain.
Countries in Europe and North America are flouting neoliberal trade rules to pursue ‘green’ industrial policies, but are still forcing poorer countries to comply with them, aiming to gain unfettered access to those parts of green technology supply chains they cannot onshore while pushing the severe human and ecological costs of mineral mining onto people and places already heavily impacted by the climate crisis.
Both this briefing and our national gathering on 1 June are part of laying out the challenge of making the green transition globally just. Trade and investment rules are a big part of this, and we’ll be considering over the next few months what this means for our trade campaigning, and how we can make the biggest difference on these pressing questions.
Resisting green colonialism for a just transition Trade and the scramble for critical minerals. Six-page briefing (May 2024).
What’s wrong with the Pacific trade deal? Four-page briefing (March 2023).
Corporate courts versus the climate Photo booklet (February 2022).
Contact us to order these or view them at globaljustice.org.uk/resources
Since October last year, a part of Global Justice Now’s reactive campaign capacity has been focused doing what we can to help stop the war in Gaza. We joined many other organisations in calling early on for a ceasefire, and have subsequently launched actions to the UK government calling for an end to the arms trade with Israel, and a suspension of the UK-Israel trade agreement. We’ve also been encouraging supporters to join the national demos which have been held regularly in the past half year.
Although our primary remit as an organisation is around global economic justice issues, and we have historically left Palestine campaigning to allies such as War on Want, the shocking and unprecedented nature of Israel’s siege and bombardment of Gaza was not something we could stay silent on. Many local group members have also been active in some way, and we held a popular online ‘teach-in on Palestine’ with Palestinian historian Hazem Jamjoum earlier this year, which is available on YouTube for those who missed it.
Watch our teach-in: globaljustice.org.uk/teach-in-palestine
At the time of writing, Israel’s assault on Rafah is intensifying, despite aid workers warning that hundreds of thousands of people had nowhere safe to go, and would be “at imminent risk of death” if Israel carries out a military assault on the city. The whole world is watching, and Israel is committing war crimes regardless.
One important reason for this is the support of key western governments, which includes the UK. Unbelievably the UK government recommitted only last month to continued arms sales to Israel, and deeper trade ties. The International Court of Justice found in January that there is a “plausible” case that Israel is committing genocide. The UK should have put in place an arms embargo long ago. But Israel’s
violent raid on Rafah also appears to cross a red line set by the UK government itself.
In February, ministers said they would consider suspending arms export licences to Israel if its military launched a ground offensive on the city. The vast majority of UK voters think the government should stop exporting arms to Israel. Canada, Belgium, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands already have, to different degrees.
We’ve been running an online action to the foreign secretary for several months calling for an immediate end to arms sales to Israel. You can find this action online at globaljustice.org.uk/arms-israel
Taking and sharing this action is a first step. If any group would like a paper version of the petition for use on stalls, the activism team can sort one out for you very quickly (although we will be very busy around the national gathering). Just email activism@globaljustice.org.uk. We could also make a leaflet if there is demand for it from groups.
However, we’re also starting to see more and more MPs coming round to our position on this, including Conservative MPs, so groups could also consider contacting your MP about this.
Members of Global Justice Dundee travelled to Aberdeen earlier in May to join a protest at the office of Equinor, the Norwegian state-owned energy company which is a major player in the Rosebank oilfield which was granted a licence last year. The protest was timed to coincide with Equinor’s AGM.
Global Justice Bexhill and Hastings are holding a monthly vigil until the election at the office of their Conservative MP, Huw Merriman, to demand an end to fossil fuels. This is alongside a dialogue they are having with him on the subject, which is well-documented and impressively detailed.
Global Justice Cambridge were in touch with both local councillors and their MP Daniel Zeichner during the Fossil Fuel Treaty lobbying days. They have given themselves busy June with a stall at a local festival, and another during Refugee Week.
Global Justice Shropshire have been in touch with both their current Conservative MP and the Labour candidate about the Fossil Fuel Treaty. They also have a new venue for their meetings in a cosy pub, should you find yourself in Shrewsbury on the right night!
Global Justice Reading held their first stall of the season, introducing the Fossil Fuel Treaty campaign with an ‘oil barrel’ lucky dip containing quiz questions on fossil fuels, and coal and gas buckets containing prizes.
Global Justice Bradford’s marathon of weekly vigils at the West Yorkshire Pension Fund office bore some fruit last month when the fund announced that it would not make any new investments in fossil fuel projects. While this falls short of divestment, meaning the campaign (and the vigils) will continue, the fund is clearly feeling the pressure. The group also secured Naz Shah MP’s support for the Fossil Fuel Treaty and shot a video with her for social media about it.
top to bottom: Bradford’s weekly vigil outside the West Yorkshire Pension Fund; Bexhill and Hastings’ election vigil at their MP’s office (credit: Jeff Pitcher); the Dundee group gathering to celebrate the UK exiting the ECT.
Daisy from the activism team spoke at the Sheffield Festival of debate in May, hosted by Global Justice Sheffield and covering energy monopolies and the Fossil Fuel Treaty.
Global Justice South East London held their annual stall at Nunhead Cemetery Open Day. They got 50 letters to MPs asking them to endorse the Fossil Fuel Treaty signed by constituents to 17 different MPs in total.
We Rise, our youth network national gathering, held at Glasgow Women’s Library in February, was a great success, drawing well over 100 participants. The opening session was packed, creating a lively atmosphere that continued through the day. Attendees came from across the UK, with some travelling from as far away as south east England. The diverse range of topics covered was well received, and the event bolstered our relationship with existing members and introduced us to new allies.
Global Justice Stirling were already working on opposing the Rosebank oil field, and brought information on that to We Rise, and have now started working on the Fossil Fuel Treaty campaign. Global Justice Glasgow was able to gain some new members from the event and is now gearing up for a screening of the climate film How to Blow Up a Pipeline.
In April London youth activists came together to celebrate our recent victory on the Energy Charter Treaty campaign and also the launch of the four-programme podcast series, The Secret World of Investor Courts, a project researched and presented by youth network members. The podcast is available on Spotify and Soundcloud, or at globaljustice.org.uk/podcast.
Also in London the Our Future Now book club group held a pizza making and book club session in February. They read The Dawn Of Everything – if anyone wants the groups’ reading suggestions for this slightly dense but thoughtprovoking book please email sam.lund-harket@globaljustice.org.uk.
Manchester Global Justice Youth have been busy hosting workshops about engaging with media in campaigns, with one training addressing print media and a second on social media strategies. They are also organising to lobby their MPs on the Fossil Fuel Treaty.
We Rise, Glasgow, February 2024
Global Justice Youth activists continue to be involved in the protests against the genocide in Palestine with Stirling doing a banner drop in Edinburgh and others attending the student encampments in Reading and elsewhere, and mass mobilisations in Edinburgh and London.
The ecological crisis of capitalism and our alternatives
Does climate breakdown mean we need a green new deal, degrowth or something else? How do we undo our exploitative global economy? Can we build a world for the billions, not the billionaires?
The climate and ecological crises are deeply embedded in our economic system, which not only values profit above people and the planet, but drives global inequality. Multinational corporations are at the centre of an exploitative system whose social and environmental costs are borne elsewhere.
We urgently need to end the era of fossil fuels, but how do we ensure the race by global powers to secure critical resources for the energy transition doesn’t create new imperialist dynamics? Transforming the global economy can seem like a vast task, but change is possible.
Join us to discuss how we challenge neocolonialism and environmental destruction, and what that means for how we live.
Register for FREE via the QR code, or at globaljustice.org.uk/plunder
• Ulrich Brand, co-author of The Imperial Mode of Living
• Nadia Whittome, Labour MP for Nottingham East
• Ana Caistor Arendar, Progressive International
• Kirtana Chandrasekaran, Friends of the Earth International
• Fadhel Kaboub, Power Shift Africa
• Luciana Ghiotto, América Latina Mejor sin TLC (Argentina)
• Rachmi Hertanti, Transnational Institute (Indonesia)
• Melinda St Louis, Public Citizen (US)
Saturday 1 June, 11:15am-2:15pm Augustine Church, Edinburgh + online
Join us for a livestream (and group discussion) of the opening plenary, followed by a Paperboats workshop, in which we’ll write letters to the Scottish government calling for a Fossil Fuel Treaty, and turn them into origami paperboats.
With bring and share lunch
Reserve your free place at EdinburghSat01June.eventbrite.co.uk