World Development Movement News

Kent facing huge threat from climate change: new map

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 10:26:03 GMT

New map shows Medway's climate change threat.

Today, the World Development Movement has published a shocking new map and data, clearly showing the very real affect that climate change could have in Kent, especially in Medway.

Download this map as a pdf - share this map on your website

The research shows that unless we radically reduce emissions now, the following affects could be seen in Kent:

Loss of coastal land:

Current models for climate change predict that without serious action to cut emissions the sea-level in Kent could rise by 74cm by 2080. But this does not include the melting of land-based ice from the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets. Predictions that take the melting of the ice caps into account point towards a 5 metre sea-level rise by the end of this century.[i]

The dark purple areas on the map show that by the end of the century, the following areas could be below sea-level:

some of Gravesend
most of the Hoo peninsula, including the site of Kingsnorth
parts of Stroud, Rochester and Gillingham around the river Medway
most of the Isle of Sheppey, and Sheerness
the coast from Ramsgate to Deal, including much of Sandwich
an arc encompassing Romney Marsh from Hythe round to Winchelsea.

Although, some of the impacts of sea-level rise could be countered by increased flood defences, Kent County Council says that it will “become increasingly unsustainable, both economically and environmentally” to build and strengthen sea defences.[ii] Coastal communities already fear the loss of their homes, as it becomes too difficult and costly to maintain sea defences.

Storms and floods:

There are currently around 44,000 properties in Kent at risk of flooding from coastal flooding, and a further 26,000 from rivers flooding.[iii] Climate change is increasing those risks. Areas at risk of increased flooding include the Thames Gateway and Ashford growth areas, the Wantsum Channel, the Isle of Sheppey and Romney Marsh.[iv]

There is a significant overlap between areas at risk of flooding and areas of poverty in Kent. The worst effects of climate change will be felt by the poorest both globally, and the poorest people in Kent.[v]

Leila Deen, coal campaigner at the World Development Movement said:

“Kent is at the fore front of the fight against climate change right now because of the proposed power station at Kingsnorth. But climate change is a very local issue in Kent, and is not just something that is going to happen to other people far away. But climate change is not inevitable, we can change the shape of this map, if we campaign together and make the government act.

“It’s madness to build a new generation of power stations burning coal, the most climate-damaging fuel of all. Seven new coal-fired power stations are in the pipe line, starting with one on the Hoo Peninsula. All those people who love Kent should join us and oppose this backward step.

”Unless we act now, climate change will have a disastrous impact on people in Kent and all over the world. And it’s the poorest people who will be hit first and worst.”

A local issue going global

The World Development Movement will be holding a film and discussion night on ‘Kent, coal and climate change – A local issue going global’ on 17 July, from 7.30pm at Fort Amherst, Dock Road, Chatham, ME4 4UB

Speakers include Sean Furey from the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England Kent and UK premieres of films from Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Robert Redford and the World Development Movement.

The World Development Movement have begun an advertising campaign to counter E.ON’s green spin. The first advert was unveiled last week at a bus stop on the Hoo peninsula, showing that the peninsula would suffer a major loss of land by the end of the century.

The World Development Movement is running a campaign to stop the new coal fire power station at Kingsnorth, to get involved go to www.stopkingsnorth.org

The map can be downloaded at www.wdm.org.uk/kentfloodingmap

ENDS

For more information and interviews please call

Kate Blagojevic
Press officer, World Development Movement
0207 820 4900/4913, 07711 875 345, Email:

Notes to editors

The projections that the World Development Movement have used are based on the latest science but are not inevitable, as we still have time to prevent the worst effects of climate change.
Climate Change Impacts, South East Climate Change Partnership, November 2002; Kent County Council Select Committee on Climate Change, October 2006; Proceedings of Tomorrow’s Kent Climate Change Conference, February 2008; Medway council
Map drawn by Andrew Lathwell based on NASA data and map projections at http://flood.firetree.net.

Models predict that sea levels will rise around Kent by 16 centimetres by 2020 and 74 centimetres by 2080. But this prediction can not include Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets which are already melting. Predictions that try to take account of this suggest sea levels could rise by five metres by the end of this century.
Other factors, including storm surges and heavier rain in winter, are combining with sea level rise to make flooding events more likely and disastrous.

[i] Hansen, J. (2007). Huge sea level rises are coming – unless we act now. New Scientist. 28/07/07.

[ii] Kent County Council. (2006). Select Committee on Climate Change Report. October 2006.

[iii] Email to the World Development Movement from the Environment Agency

[iv] Kent County Council. (2006). Select Committee on Climate Change Report. October 2006.

[v] Kent County Council. (2006). Select Committee on Climate Change Report. October 2006.

Disappointment for campaigners on climate bill

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 12:00:00 GMT

The UK government has rejected amendments by the House of Lords that would have strengthened the UK’s flagship climate change bill. The bill sets targets for reducing UK carbon emissions by 26 per cent by 2020, and 60 per cent by 2050, on 1990 levels.

A major flaw of the bill is that it allows the emission reduction targets to be met through paying for carbon ‘offsets’ from developing countries, rather than reducing emissions in the UK. The House of Lords amended the bill in March so that a maximum of 30 per cent of the reduction in emissions could happen through buying ‘offsets’.

The bill began its passage through the House of Commons on Monday, with the government rejecting the House of Lords amendment. This means that there is no limit on how much of the emissions reduction targets which can be met through buying carbon ‘offsets’ rather than making genuine reductions in the UK.

Tim Jones, policy officer for climate change at the World Development Movement said: “The World Development Movement is very disappointed that the government has thrown out amendments made by the House of Lords which would have strengthened the climate bill. The government has weakened this bill so that, as it stands, it will not require any reduction in the UK’s contribution to climate change.

“The government is still refusing to include aviation emissions within the bill. It is also allowing targets for reducing emissions to be met through paying for carbon ‘offsets’ rather than actually reducing emissions in the UK. The government has failed to acknowledge that the success of this bill is vital for the future of millions of people in the developing world.”

The World Development Movement has shown that the current climate bill does not require any reduction in the UK’s emissions by 2050. Read Mind the Gap (pdf, 34 pages).

Over 250 MPs, 167 of them Labour, have signed an Early Day Motion calling for aviation emissions to be included in the bill, and for the reduction target to be increased to 80 per cent by 2050. As well as refusing to include emissions from aviation in the bill, the government have also failed to raise the target for reducing emissions from 60 per cent to 80 per cent.

Kate Blagojevic
Press officer, World Development Movement
0207 820 4900/4913, 07711 875 345, Email: kate.blagojevic@wdm.org.uk

Real solutions to the global food crisis

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 12:00:00 GMT

The UN Food and Agricultural Organisation held a summit in Rome this week to focus global attention and action on the food price crisis that is currently hitting the world’s poorest people.

The World Development Movement highlighted the role of unfair trade rules and the rush to biofuels as key contributors to this emergency and called on the EU and US to stop their drive to open developing country markets to their agricultural produce, thereby undermining local farm production.

Benedict Southworth, director of the World Development Movement said:

“The food crisis is hitting poor people hard. This week the FAO’s attention must focus on the root causes of the crisis and long term solutions. A good start would be for the EU and US to stop relying on World Bank funding schemes for agriculture and biotechnology fixes. Instead the EU and US must halt their drive to open poor countries’ markets to their subsidised agricultural goods, which destroys local food production and so creates dependency on foreign imports. The price of these imports is sky-rocketing and as such is a clear contributor to the current global emergency.”

Watch a video here from Antonio Tujan, international director of the IBON Foundation in the Philippines, talking to WDM director Benedict Southworth about how donor aid and trade policies have contributed to the rice crisis in his country.

The World Development Movement is part of a coalition of over 230 civil society organisations from around the world that have urgently written to the leaders of the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organisation. In the letter, we argue that the Doha round of trade talks, as currently proposed, will intensify rather than alleviate the food crisis by making developing countries more dependent on food imports, the prices of which are now sky rocketing.

WDM has also contributed to a joint letter with ActionAid UK, War on Want and Friends of the Earth which appeared in the Guardian on 5 June 2008.

Kate Blagojevic
Press officer, World Development Movement
0207 820 4900/4913, 07711 875 345, Email:

The World Development Movement praises new wind power plans

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 12:00:00 GMT

Responding to the government’s announcement today for a plan to deliver up to 25 gigawatts of electricity from wind power in 12 years, Benedict Southworth, the director of the World Development Movement said:

“We have been waiting for the government to make a meaningful commitment towards renewable energy. This scheme will give us the energy security that the UK needs, will help the UK to meet its EU targets on clean energy and will further reduce our need for new coal power stations, like the proposed site at Kingsnorth in Kent. This announcement gives us hope that the government is listening not only to energy lobbyists, but is starting to hear the voices of people in the developing world, who are already suffering from the effects of dangerous climate change.

In response to E.ON CEO, Paul Golby’s comment that climate campaigners always say no to business ‘solutions’, Benedict Southworth continued:
“To combat climate change, there are many issues that we need to confront. We need to say no to coal; no to corporate lobbyist’s scaremongering; and yes to renewables and mean it.”

Kate Blagojevic
Press officer, World Development Movement
0207 820 4900/4913, 07711 875 345, Email: kate.blagojevic@wdm.org.uk

Ethical ranking for Euro 2008 teams: who should I cheer for?

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 12:00:00 GMT

With no British team qualifying for Euro 2008, many football fans are asking: who should I cheer for? The World Development Movement has developed an ethical ranking website that may help football fans to answer just that question.

At www.whoshouldicheerfor.com globally conscious football fans can find out how well each country performs on a range of ethical indicators. So if you want to find out which country is doing the most to protect the environment or which spends the most on aid or the military, www.whoshouldicheerfor.com could be just the website you’re looking for.

The criteria include aid spending, carbon emissions, military spending and corruption. According to the indicators, Sweden is the most supportable country with Russia coming in last place. England’s ranking, if they had qualified, would have been second to last.

Tim Jones, Policy Officer at the World Development Movement said:
“This website is for people who love football and want to know more about the world we live in, it’s a fun way of talking about some serious issues. Millions of people in the UK participated in Live Earth and Make Poverty History, now they can check which country is doing the most to tackle climate change or which is the best aid giver.

“For example, if France and Switzerland are playing, and people are interested in climate change, they can quickly find out which country is investing the most in renewables or which country has the highest CO2 emissions.

“Our supportability ranking is not an overall ranking of how ‘good’ or ‘bad’ we think each country is. It is intended to be a fun and interesting way to think about some serious issues.”

For more information contact:

Kate Blagojevic
Press officer, World Development Movement
0207 820 4900/4913, 07711 875 345, Email: kate.blagojevic@wdm.org.uk

Notes to Editors

* Supportability Criteria information: whoshouldicheerfor23052008.pdf

* Carbon dioxide emissions
Climate change is a horrendous injustice. The rich are primarily responsible for global warming but the poor will suffer the most. The Netherlands create the highest amount of carbon dioxide of countries in the European Championships, emitting a huge 16 tonnes per person. Turkey, Romania and Croatia emit the least with 3-to-4 tonnes per person. In contrast, India emits 1 tonne per person and Bangladesh 0.3 tonnes. The UK emits 10 tonnes per person. To learn more about climate change go to: http://www.wdm.org.uk/campaigns/climate/index.htm
Data source: US Energy Information Administration
* Aid spending
In 1970, the world’s richest nations committed themselves to spending 0.7 per cent of their national income on international aid each year in order to fight global poverty. Few have ever done so (the highest the UK ever got was 0.51 per cent in 1979). We applaud Sweden and the Netherlands as the two nations in Euro 2008 spending more than 0.7 per cent in aid. However, the Czech Republic, Greece and Italy all spend less than 0.2 per cent.
Despite the rhetoric from the Labour government, the UK gives less in aid than most European countries; just 0.36 per cent of income.
Obviously the poorest European countries do not give aid, so they are excluded from this category. Data source: OECD
* Military spending
In terms of the proportion of a country’s economy spent on their military, Russia and Greece are the worst, spending a whopping 4.1 per cent of their national incomes on their armed forces. Austria is the most peaceful country, spending 0.9 per cent of national income in the military. The UK spends the most of any country in Western Europe - 2.7 per cent (compare that with the 0.36 per cent we spend on international aid). If the UK reduced its military spending to the European average of 1.8 per cent it would free up £8.5 billion for spending elsewhere.
Data source: United Nations Development Programme
* Health spending
Does what it says on the tin. Nurses and teachers good. Guns and bombs bad.
Data source: United Nations Development Programme
* National income per person
Global inequality is massive. The richest 5 per cent of the world’s population receive 114 times the income of the poorest 5 per cent. There is also huge inequality between countries. Whilst Europe is seen as a developed region, there are still stark differences in income between countries. If you want to cheer on the poorest countries taking part in Euro 2008, then Turkey and Romania are the teams for you. Their national income per person is a quarter that of the richest country taking part; Switzerland. Data source: United Nations Development Programme
* Perception of corruption
Corruption is the use of power for private gain. It is present throughout the world, but the poor - those with least power - suffer the most. The global corruption watchdog Transparency International say “Corruption is as much a problem in rich countries as it is in poor countries”. Corruption thrives where the checks and balances within the political system are inadequate to control it, and where countries cannot afford to pay their public servants enough to feed their families. Of our Euro 2008 teams, there is the greatest perception of corruption in Russia and Romania.
Data source: Transparency International
* Electricity from renewable energy
In order to tackle climate change the rich need to waste less, cut consumption and get more of their energy from renewable energies such as wind, wave, tidal and solar. Austria, Croatia, Sweden and Switzerland already get over 50 per cent of their electricity from renewable energy. The UK gets just 4 per cent, which is less than most European countries. For instance, Germany and France both get 10 per cent of their electricity from renewable energy.
Data source: European Commission
* Happiness
Does money make you happy? In the rich world the huge increases in wealth in recent decades has not increased happiness. Data source: New Economics Foundation
* Companies in Europe’s largest 500
Astonishingly for every £1 given in aid to developing countries, multinational companies take out £1.50 in profits.
There are over 15,000 people employed in Brussels to lobby the European Union on behalf of companies. Unsurprisingly EU trade policy ends up being for the benefit of corporations rather than being in the interests of the world’s poorest people.
To learn more about trade go to: http://www.wdm.org.uk/campaigns/trade/index.htm
Data source: Financial Times
* Inequality
As well as inequality between countries there can be huge inequality within countries. In Turkey, the richest 10 per cent of the population earn 17 times more than the poorest 10 per cent. The Czech Republic is the most equal country taking part in Euro 2008, followed by Sweden, Austria and Germany. The UK is one of the most unequal countries in Europe: the richest 10 per cent earn 14 times more than the poorest 10 per cent.
Data source: United Nations Development Programme

UK government lobbies for ‘disastrous’ mine scheme

Mon, 12 May 2008 10:49:58 GMT

The UK government has been actively supporting plans by a British company to build an open-cast mine in Bangladesh. The mine in Phulbari, proposed by UK company Global Coal Management, would destroy the homes of more than 40,000 people and threaten the water supplies of a further 100,000.

In response to a question asked in the UK parliament, the Department for Business has disclosed that it has lobbied the Bangladesh government for the mine to go ahead.

Gareth Thomas MP, UK Trade Minister, has now admitted that the British government “have lobbied to ensure that the Government of Bangladesh take the company's interests into consideration and do not prohibit opencast mining. The British high commission will continue to remain in touch with the company and will represent their interests as appropriate.”

Tim Jones from the World Development Movement said:
“It is scandalous that the UK government has been actively supporting plans for this potentially disastrous mine. If implemented, it would destroy the livelihoods of thousands of people.

“The British government are putting the profits of British business ahead of the welfare of thousands of people in one of the poorest countries in the world.

“Gareth Thomas is both a Minister for Business and for International Development. Phulbari is a test case for whose side he is really on - the only development the mine will promote is that of a British company.”

Community leaders from Phulbari said earlier this year that the mine “will increase the poverty of the local population as well as cause environmental disaster.”

Global Coal Management’s investors include British bank Barclays and Swiss banks UBS and Credit Suisse. In April 2008, the Asian Development Bank announced it was pulling out of funding the scheme.

Take Action:www.wdm.org.uk/bangladeshmine

Kate Blagojevic
Press officer, World Development Movement
0207 820 4900/4913, 07711 875 345, Email: kate.blagojevic@wdm.org.uk

Turning up the HEAT: can big business really save the planet?

Wed, 07 May 2008 09:43:17 GMT

Turning up the HEAT is a series of Debates from the World Development Movement on climate change.

London - Can big business stop climate change?

Panel - Claire Fox, Institute of Ideas; Caroline Lucas, MEP; Walden Bello, Focus on the Global South; Peter Hardstaff, World Development Movement Chair – Stewart Wallis, New Economics Foundation

Video contributions include – John Redwood, MP; KT Tunstall, singer; Rob Newman, writer and activist; Leo Murray, Plane Stupid; and many more.

London 8 May 7.30 – 9.30pm Amnesty International Human Rights Action centre, 17-25 New Inn Yard, London EC2A 3EA

Anti-globalisation activists and proponents of economic growth will be battling it out over climate change at a free event organised by the World Development Movement. The debate, which will also be streamed live on the web, will examine whether economic growth and big business have a positive role to play in tackling climate change.

Extolling the virtues of economic growth is the well-known commentator Claire Fox, director of the Institute of Ideas and John Redwood MP. On the opposing side are Caroline Lucas MEP, Peter Hardstaff from the World Development Movement and Walden Bello from Focus on the Global South. Both John Redwood MP and Patrick Bond, a South African activist and writer are giving their thoughts in pre-recorded interviews.

Read more about the London event.
Cardiff - Biofuels: saint or sinner?

Panel - Asad Rehman, Friends of the Earth; Deepak Rughani, Biofuelwatch; Camila Moreno, Landless Rural Workers’ Movement Chair – Murray Benham, World Development Movement

Pre-recorded video contributions include – John Redwood, MP; KT Tunstall, singer; Rob Newman, writer and activist; Muzammal Hussain, London Islamic Network for the Environment, Simon Retallack, Institute of Public Policy Research

Cardiff University Saturday 10 May 2.30 – 4.30 pm

The World Development Movement is holding a free debate, which will also be streamed live on the internet, examining whether the use of biofuels will deliver a much-needed low carbon economy? And if ’food’ for cars becomes the priority, what are the implications for food security, human rights violations and the environment in poor countries?

Read more about the Cardiff event
Manchester - Worried about climate change but still want to go on holiday?

Panel - Rt Hon Brian Wilson, Flying Matters; John Stewart, Airportwatch; Ricardo Navarro, Friends of the Earth El Salvador; Chair – Juliette Jowit, The Observer Pre-recorded

video contributions include – Nick Clegg, MP; KT Tunstall, singer; Rob Newman, writer and activist; Leo Murray, Plane Stupid; and many more.

Manchester Conference Centre Tuesday 13 May 7.30 – 9.30pm

Worried about climate change but still want to go on holiday? The World Development Movement has lined up pro-flying, former energy minister and current chair of the lobby group Flying Matters, Rt. Hon Brian Wilson to go head-to-head with John Stewart, chair of the anti-airport expansion campaign group to debate the rights and wrongs of flying in light of the impending climate crisis.

Read more about the Manchester event

The conferences will be streamed live onto the internet giving people at home the opportunity to watch and ask questions on line.

To find out more, please go to www.wdm.org.uk/heat

ENDS
For more information, interviews or comment, please contact:

Kate Blagojevic
Press officer, World Development Movement
0207 820 4900/4913, 07711 875 345, Email: kate.blagojevic@wdm.org.uk

Notes to editors

Book a free place and to register to watch online, please go to www.wdm.org.uk/heat or email register@wdm.og.uk or call 020 7820 4900

The London debate takes place at Amnesty International Human Rights Action centre, 17-25 New Inn Yard, London EC2A 3EA on Thursday 8 May between 7.30 – 9.30pm.
The Cardiff debate takes place at Cardiff University, Main Building, Shandon Theatre, Park Place, CF10 3 AT on Saturday 10 May between 2.30-4.30pm The Manchester debate takes place at Manchester, Cockcroft Theatre, Sackville Street, M1 3BB on Tuesday 13 May between 7.30 – 9.30pm.

Brown’s MDG summit: an empty gesture?

Tue, 06 May 2008 17:33:58 GMT

Today, (Tuesday 6 May), the World Development Movement warned that the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) summit is in danger of becoming an empty gesture for the world’s poor and a public relations stunt for big companies. The campaigners have launched an alternative plan of action for businesses and challenge Gordon Brown and the companies involved to support it.

Peter Hardstaff, Head of Policy at the World Development Movement said:

“Companies, of course, have an absolutely critical role to play in achieving the MDGs but there is a real danger that this summit is simply a public relations exercise, which will deliver little of substance to tackle the root causes of poverty.

“Far more important than announcing yet another short-term, high profile scheme would be to stop to the routine, intensive pressure exerted on poor countries by corporate lobbyists. It is sheer hypocrisy for companies to claim they want to help the poor while at the same time lobbying for tax breaks, low labour standards and weak environmental protection in the developing world.

“We challenge Gordon Brown and all the major companies involved in this summit to support our alternative plan that really would deliver significant and lasting change in the developing world and would help to achieve the MDGs.”

The World Development Movement’s plan includes a range of recommendations calling on companies to curtail their lobbying activities that lead to weak social, economic and environmental regulation, for example, lobbying for increased market access, strict enforcement of intellectual property rights, privatisation and tax loopholes. The campaigners point to the damaging, long-term effects on the poor of these activities. A recent example can be seen where the American and European Chambers of Commerce, on behalf of several of the high profile companies included in this summit, successfully lobbied to weaken proposed legislation to improve labour rights in China.

The campaigners argue that they should instead support policies such as increased lobbying transparency, minimum wages, labour rights, reducing pollution and clamping down on tax havens. This would be a much greater contribution to achieving the MDGs.

Ends

For more information, interviews or comment, please contact:

Kate Blagojevic
Press officer, World Development Movement
0207 820 4900/4913, 07711 875 345, Email: kate.blagojevic@wdm.org.uk

Notes

The meeting in London, an initiative of Gordon Brown, is designed to promote the “Call to Action on the Millennium Development Goals” that was launched in January 2008. This “call to action”, signed by some of the world’s largest corporations, such as Microsoft, General Electric and Unilever, asks companies “to implement concrete initiatives that apply their core business, skills, and expertise in a transformative and scalable manner that will enhance growth and wealth creation to help meet the MDGs.”

The World Development Movement’s 10 point plan:

1. Stop lobbying the EU, US, Japan and other rich countries to prise open markets in developing countries; recognise that that all our interests will be better served in the long run by ensuring developing countries can use the same trade policy tools industrialised countries used to get rich.

2. Stop demanding strict enforcement of intellectual property rights in developing countries; recognise that strict patent laws may not be appropriate for all countries in all circumstances.

3. Support radical government action, starting in rich countries, to tackle dangerous climate change; recognise that left unchecked, climate change will roll-back progress that is made towards the MDGs.

4. Support the creation of legally binding international rules to regulate multinational companies in order to minimise the adverse social and environmental impacts of their operations; recognise that voluntary initiatives have failed to deliver and binding rules offer a level playing field for all companies.

5. Stop capitalising on legal loopholes that enable companies to avoid paying taxes in both developed and developing countries; recognise that corporate philanthropy to the poor is simply hypocrisy if the company is avoiding paying what is due.

6. Support government measures to clamp down on tax havens and tax avoidance by multinational companies and the super rich; recognise that healthy tax income is a critical part of good government in developing and developed countries alike, and good government is in all our interests.

7. Stop lobbying for privatisation and deregulation; recognise that ‘free market globalisation’ is contributing to increasing inequality and instability which is only likely to serve the long term interests of arms manufacturers.

8. Support tighter regulation of financial markets by governments wishing to place controls on the movement of money in order to curb potentially damaging speculative financial flows that have been strongly linked with previous financial crises.

9. Support the creation and implementation of strong labour rights and minimum wages in developing countries; recognise that many major social advances that we now take for granted are the result of these rights.

10. Support much greater transparency in the activities of lobbyists (both companies and NGOs); recognise that behind-the-scenes lobbyists have an increasingly influential role in policy-making and the public has a right to know who is saying what to who on whose behalf.

Beware bilateral trade deals with the EU

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 11:00:26 GMT

EU trade deals are unfair to developing countries and can lead to increased poverty warns a new report, ‘Raw Deal’, released today by the World Development Movement. According to the report the benefits of signing a free trade deal with the EU sit firmly with European businesses, rather than developing countries. The launch coincides with the UN conference on trade and development (UNCTAD), held in Accra, Ghana (commences 21 April).

Assessing the development impacts of two existing EU bilateral trade agreements, with South Africa and Mexico, the new report ‘Raw Deal’ shows how one-sided these deals have been in favour of the EU.

Key findings include:

* An almost 50 per cent increase in South African food and drink imports from Europe. In particular: dairy products, cereals and processed food and drink. The reduction of tariffs on European sweets in South Africa has resulted in a 25 per cent fall of employment in the South African sweet making industry.

* Mexico can no longer regulate the proportion of foreign shareholdings in banks. This has meant that the Mexican banking sector has become dominated by a few foreign banks, which has led to higher interest rates and reduced access to credit for small and medium sized companies and small farmers.

World Development Movement trade policy officer Vicky Cann is attending the UNCTAD meeting to present these findings to developing countries that are on the EU’s hit list of future trade deals.

Vicky Cann, trade policy officer of the World Development Movement said:

“Highlighting the damaging impacts of EU bilateral trade agreements is critical at a time when the EU is pushing to open markets in over 100 developing countries with these deals. The evidence is stark; the EU’s trade deals are unfair and hurt the poor. The aim is to open up developing countries’ markets for the benefit of European multinational companies, which hinders rather than helps the development of poor countries. In this time of rocketing world food prices, it is hard to believe that Europe seeks to open up developing countries’ markets to heavily subsidised Europeans exports, putting their own farmers out of business and undermining food security.”

Recently campaigners from all over the world who are fighting Europe’s push to open markets in their countries raised the issue at a public meeting in the European Parliament:

Norma Maldonado, of the International Gender and Trade Network Central America said:

“The European Union wants to impose things on us which they don’t impose on themselves, like demanding access to our agriculture markets even though they still have huge subsidies on their own agricultural goods. We are not against trade; we have a culture of trade but we are against the type of trade rules that the WTO, US and EU impose. And that is why we say no to European pirates! And we do not want to see a new form of colonialism in the 21st century where Europeans take our natural wealth and our people and we are left poorer.”

Charles Santiago, MP for the Democratic Action Party in Malaysia said:

“This is a re-writing of trade rules, in favour of European corporations. To other developing countries I say keep away from FTAs – they do not work in your interest!

“Europe’s plans have been thwarted at the World Trade Organisation by developing countries, so now it is targeting countries individually to reap the rewards it couldn’t get at the WTO because countries were standing up and saying no together.”

John Ochola, of Econews in Kenya said:

“This battle against European trade deals goes to the heart of African and European society. We need a chance for our industries and our farmers to grow and then we link production of our sectors holistically. Without this it will be difficult to see how Africa can develop. Europeans must stand up to their governments and tell them not to make the poor poorer.”

Impacts highlighted by the new report, ‘Raw Deal’, include: balance of payment problems; decreased tax revenue; decreased access to credit for farmers; decreased ability to effectively regulate foreign investors; and increased unemployment and poverty.

Examples include:

* A projected fall in government revenue of 7.5 per cent of GDP in Namibia (which is required to implement the same trade rules as South Africa under the Southern African Customs Union). An equivalent fall of revenue in the UK would amount to the UK government’s entire expenditure on education.

* South Africa’s growing trade deficit with the EU has made the country more vulnerable to international debt, particularly destabilising short-term capital flows.

* Mexico can no longer favour domestic companies for government procurement contracts, which amounts to six per cent of GDP. UNCTAD has said that favouring domestic companies is a ‘vital tool of development’ but under this deal, this tool is no longer open to the Mexican government.

ENDS

For more information, interviews with Vicky Cann in Ghana and/or a campaigner from Guatemala, Malaysia or Kenya, please contact:

Kate Blagojevic
Press officer, World Development Movement
0207 820 4900/4913, 07711 875 345, Email: kate.blagojevic@wdm.org.uk

Notes to editors

* The report will be launched at a WDM and Third World Network meeting Raw Deal: Europe’s damaging corporate trade agenda – impacts and new threats on Monday 21 April, 10.30am – 12.30pm Venue – tbc Speakers include: Professor Ben Turok MP - South Africa, Helmuth Markov MEP – Chairman of European Parliament trade committee, Gyekye Tanoh – Third World Network, Africa, Vicky Cann – World Development Movement.

* A copy of the report can be down loaded here www.wdm.org.uk/rawdeal in English, www.wdm.org.uk/tratoinjusto in Spanish, www.wdm.org.uk/desaccordsinjustes in French

* Vicky Cann and Benedict Southworth are blogging from Accra, Ghana. To view the blog go to http://unctadghana.blogspot.com/

* The EU is targeting 76 African Caribbean and Pacific Countries for regional trade deals, known as Economic Partnership Agreements. These countries are home to 740 million people, 550 million of whom live on less than £1 a day. The EU is targeting a further 34 countries in Latin America, Asia and the Mediterranean region for bilateral or regional trade deals. These countries are home to 2.2 billion people, 920 million of whom live on less than £1 a day.

Blow for British coal company’s controversial mining plans

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 10:50:58 GMT

UK company, Global Coal Management (GCM) has suffered a severe blow following the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) decision to drop its financial backing for the controversial proposal to build an open cast coal mine in Phulbari, North West Bangladesh.

Tim Jones, policy officer at the World Development Movement, which spearheaded the UK campaign to stop the Phulbari mine project going ahead said:

“It is absolutely right that the ADB have pulled out of this project. The consequences of the scheme on the environment and the people living in the area would have been disastrous. The people of Bangladesh should not suffer at the hands of a British company. This is a blow for GCM but a victory for some of the poorest people of Bangladesh.”

The ADB was planning to grant a US$100 million loan to the project, as well as a US$200 million political risk guarantee. But the Bank came under fire from a range of NGOs, activists and individuals who claimed that the mine would lead to political unrest, reduced access to food and water for more than 100,000 people and the displacement of at least 50,000 people with minimal compensation.

Professor Anu Mohammed from Bangladesh said:

“The area around Phulbari is extremely fertile and densely populated. It is also one of the few regions in Bangladesh that are safe from flooding and other natural catastrophes and therefore plays a key role for the food security of the entire country. The proposed ‘development’ project is merely a scheme to loot natural resources from a poor country for the rich. We will not allow Global Coal Management to turn a land of food for the people into a black hole for corporate profit.”

Forty-two community leaders from Phulbari wrote to the Asian Development Bank in December 2007 asking them to pull out of the mining project, saying: “The ADB offers loans in the name of reducing poverty, but if realised, we believe that this project will increase the poverty of the local population as well as cause environmental disaster.”

Over 60 international NGOs, such as Oxfam Australia, ActionAid Pakistan, Greenpeace India, also wrote to the Asian Development Bank setting out the social, environmental and political risks of going forward with the loan.

ENDS

For more information or interviews with UK or Bangladeshi campaigners, please contact:

Kate Blagojevic
Press officer, World Development Movement
0207 820 4900/4913, 07711 875 345, Email: kate.blagojevic@wdm.org.uk

Notes to editors

* More than 50,000 people, including the local indigenous community, will be displaced in a country increasingly short of land. GCM claim they will compensate the legal holders of the land, but the majority of people living in the region are landless farmers, who will receive minimal compensation and for only two years. GCM have not said how they expect people to earn a living once the land they work on has gone. Bangladesh is one of the most populated countries in the world.
* Campaigners fear that food and water security will be compromised by the mine, due to an increase in the levels of toxins, including arsenic, in the water supply, which could also affect agricultural land. The mine will also reduce access to water in the area which is likely to affect a further 100,000 people.
* Three people were killed during protests in August 2006, when over 20,000 people demonstrated against the mine. Campaigners are concerned that if GCM does not pull out of Bangladesh there will be further unrest.
* Financing the mine would have contradicted the ADB’s own energy policy, which states that coal mines should only be supported if the coal is for use in the local area, but most of the coal would have been exported from Bangladesh.
* To find out more about the World Development Movement’s action for Phulbari, please see www.wdm.org.uk/bangaldeshmine

New Coal? No Way!

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 11:19:49 GMT

New Coal? No Way!

12 April 2008

World Development Movement demonstration outside BERR

Today at 8am, to mark Fossil Fools Day, a global day of action against fossil fuels, World Development Movement campaigners juggled coal outside John Hutton’s office, wearing John Hutton ‘jester’ masks and hats, calling on Gordon Brown to take charge of John Hutton’s rogue coal plans. The activists demanded the government launch a coal power strategy review to consider the climate impact of going back to dirty coal.

See more photos on Flickr

This protest comes a day after energy giant E.ON said John Hutton should delay the decision on the plans to build a coal fire power station in Kingsnorth in Kent. E.ON wants the government to postpone the decision until after the consultation into carbon capture and storage (CCS) has been completed.

Benedict Southworth, director of the World Development Movement said:

“John Hutton’s new coal plans are a joke. He must abandon his support for new coal power. If he irresponsibly pushes his plans forward, he will deepen the cabinet divide and the government’s energy plans will be a laughing stock. “Gordon Brown needs to heal the growing rift between his government departments and the only sensible course of action now is to call a coal power review that will consider the climate impact of going back to dirty coal.

“And Brown must remember that this is not only a decision that will affect the UK, but will have huge consequences for the world’s poor who will be hit first and worst by climate change.”

Ends

For more information or comment, please call

Kate Blagojevic
Press officer, World Development Movement
0207 820 4900/4913, 07711 875 345, Email:

Notes to editors

The World Development Movement is taking part in the Fossil Fools global day of action, for a full round up of actions, see www.fossilfools.org.uk

New Coal? You must be choking!

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 16:02:36 GMT

Fossil fools day protest with a circus atmosphere. Photo and interview opportunity: Tuesday 1 April, 8am – 9.00am, Outside BERR, 1 Victoria Street.

Kate Blagojevic
Press officer, World Development Movement
0207 820 4900/4913, 07711 875 345, Email: kate.blagojevic@wdm.org.uk

Up to 100 World Development Movement supporters will be campaigning outside BERR’s offices, from 8am on Tuesday 1 April. The campaigners will be juggling coal and wearing John Hutton ‘jester’ masks and hats, will call on Gordon Brown to take charge of John Hutton’s rogue coal plans and launch a coal power strategy review to consider the climate impact of going back to dirty coal.

This protest comes a day after energy giant E.ON said John Hutton should delay the decision on the plans to build a coal fire power station in Kingsnorth in Kent. E.ON wants the government to postpone the decision until after the consultation into carbon capture and storage (CCS) has been completed.

Benedict Southworth, director of the World Development Movement said:

“John Hutton must not be a fossil fool, and force the UK to become reliant on the dirtiest fuel known to man. He must freeze his support for new coal power. If he irresponsibly pushes his plans forward, he will entrench the deep cabinet divide over reverting to coal energy and the government will be in turmoil over coal.

“Gordon Brown must take charge of his divided cabinet and heal the growing rift between his government departments. The only sensible course of action now is to call a coal power review that will consider the climate impact of going back to dirty coal.

“And Brown must remember that this is not only a decision that will affect the UK, but will have huge consequences for the world’s poor who will be hit first and worst by climate change.”

Ends

For more information or comment, please call

Kate Blagojevic
Press officer, World Development Movement
0207 820 4900/4913, 07711 875 345, Email: kate.blagojevic@wdm.org.uk

Government: ‘in turmoil over coal’

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 13:44:30 GMT

The World Development Movement calls on Gordon Brown to take charge of John Hutton’s rogue coals plans and launch a coal power strategy review to consider the climate impact of going back to dirty coal.

This is after energy giant E.ON said a decision on its plans to build Britain's first coal-fired power station since 1984 should not be made until later in the year.

The company proposed that a decision on whether to approve the application at Kingsnorth in Kent should wait until the government had finished its consultation into carbon capture and storage (CCS).

Benedict Southworth, director of the World Development Movement said:

“John Hutton must now freeze his support for new coal power, including Kingsnorth in Kent. If he irresponsibly pushes his plans forward, he will entrench the deep cabinet divide over reverting to coal energy. He will also lock the UK into the most polluting form of energy, which would be a disaster.

“Gordon Brown must take charge of his divided cabinet and heal the growing rift between his government departments. The only sensible course of action now is to call a coal power review that will consider the climate impact of going back to dirty coal.

“And Brown must remember that this is not only a decision that will affect the UK, but will have huge consequences for the world’s poor who will be hit first and worst by climate change.”

The World Development Movement will be demonstrating outside BERR’s offices tomorrow (1 April) from 8am calling on John Hutton to abandon his reputation as a ‘fossil fool’.

Ends

For more information or comment, please call

Kate Blagojevic
Press officer, World Development Movement
0207 820 4900/4913, 07711 875 345, Email: kate.blagojevic@wdm.org.uk

Giant flying health warning: climate change kills

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 17:12:29 GMT

Giant flying health warning: climate change kills

7 March 2008

Photocall: Giant ‘climate change kills’ inflatable plane will be flying above Trafalgar Square on Wednesday 19 March from 11.00am – 1.30pm.

See the photos on Flickr

Campaigners from the World Development Movement will be raising awareness of the dangers that flying causes to the planet and demanding that the government’s climate change law includes emissions from aviation in its reduction targets.

The World Development Movement warns that if aviation is left out of the climate change bill currently going through parliament, the government’s strong rhetoric on beating climate change will be seriously undermined.

Benedict Southworth, director of the World Development Movement said:

“The government is contradicting itself on climate change. They want to ignore the increase in flying while spending millions on asking people to turn off their lights and to say no to plastic bags. Their policy doesn’t add up. The government should stop tinkering at the edges of climate policy and act now to stop the climate killer flights.”

Ends

For more information call:

Kate Blagojevic
Press officer, World Development Movement
0207 820 4900/4913, 07711 875 345, Email:

Notes to editors

The World Development Movement is campaigning on climate change because the poorest people in the world will be hit first and worst by the devastating effects of dangerous climate change.

The World Development Movement is part of I Count, the campaign of the Stop Climate Chaos coalition which brings together over 70 organisations, from environment, development charities to unions, faith and women's groups.

'Green' budget is nothing more than green spin

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 12:55:15 GMT

The government’s so called ‘green’ budget was greeted with disappointment and disbelief by the World Development Movement today.

Benedict Southworth, director of the World Development Movement said:

“For the government to herald this budget as green is laughable. It’s nothing more than green spin. This budget does not contain the measures needed to meet the government’s own targets on climate change. This is obviously incredibly disappointing from a government which plays heavily on its green credentials.

“The government seems to be intent on tinkering around the edges of green taxes, rather than using them to tackle the problem of climate change head on. A perfect example of this is the acclaimed change from taxing air passengers to taxing the aeroplane. We welcomed this change but the Chancellor has today announced the tax will be increased by only ten per cent starting in three year’s time. This will do nothing to disincentivise flying.

“Hidden away in the budget, the government says it is still ‘committed to enabling the aviation industry to expand’. The Chancellor continues to put the profit of aviation companies ahead of the disastrous impacts climate change will have on the world’s poor.”

ENDS

For more information or interviews, call:

Kate Blagojevic
Press officer, World Development Movement
0207 820 4900/4913, 07711 875 345, Email: kate.blagojevic@wdm.org.uk

Notes to Editors

* The aviation duty is still under going public consultation, therefore it is surprising the tax rate has already been announced.
* The World Development Movement campaigns to tackle the root causes of poverty. WDM believes that charity is not enough and aims to change the policies that keep the developing world poor. It is a democratic and politically independent organisation with 15,000 supporters and 70 local groups across the UK. For more information, go to www.wdm.org.uk

World Development Movement response to Hutton audacious ‘gesture politics’ accusation

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 12:46:37 GMT

John Hutton today signalled government support for coal-fired power stations and has accused green campaigners of ‘gesture politics’. The World Development Movement hits back.

Leila Dean, Kingsnorth Campaigner from the World Development Movement said: "Hutton has the audacity to accuse green groups of gesture politics but it seems that today he is hinting that he will give a quick consent for Kingsnorth. This is undemocratic and dangerous. It appears that he has been blinded by the empty promises of big business and unproven technology. Hutton’s vision of climate leadership is to build polluting power stations and cross his fingers and hope for the best that unproven carbon capture technology works. This is not politics; this is a game of smoke and mirrors.

“A quick consent would be a gross injustice and a betrayal of the public concern about climate change and the mounting local and national concern over Kingsnorth. It is an issue for all people, not just green groups, and will be resisted across the board.

“It seems this government is testing the public commitment to stopping climate change. Kingsnorth is set to be a battle ground to ensure that the government’s green rhetoric becomes a green reality."
Ends

For more information call:

Kate Blagojevic
Press officer, World Development Movement
0207 820 4900/4913, 07711 875 345, Email: kate.blagojevic@wdm.org.uk

British coal company spells disaster for Bangladesh

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 11:11:27 GMT

The World Development Movement is calling on UK company, Global Coal Management (GCM) to abandon its plans to build an open cast coal mine in Phulbari, North West Bangladesh that campaigners claim will leave people poorer, and threaten food and water security. The plan has already lead to civil unrest.

Zakir Kibria, an activist from Bangladesh said: “The poorest people of Bangladesh will suffer at the hands of a UK corporation who want to mine our land for profit. We do not want this mine.”

More than 40,000 people, including the local indigenous community, will be displaced in a country increasingly short of land. GCM claim they will compensate the legal holders of the land, but the majority of people living in the region are landless farmers, who will receive minimal compensation and for only two years.

Campaigners fear that food and water security will be compromised by the mine, due to an increase in the levels of toxins, including arsenic, in the water supply, which could also affect agricultural land. The mine will also reduce access to water in the area which is likely to affect a further 100,000 people.

Three people were killed during protests in August 2006, when over 20,000 people demonstrated against the mine. Campaigners are concerned that if GCM does not pull out of Bangladesh there will be further unrest.

Murray Benham, head of campaigns at the World Development Movement said: “We are putting pressure on GCM to withdraw from this shameful project immediately. A great deal of damage will be done to people’s lives and the environment if the mine goes ahead. GCM and its shareholders must realise that people should come before profits.”

Over 60 international NGOs, such as Oxfam Australia, ActionAid Pakistan, Greenpeace India and 42 community leaders from the Phulbari area have recently written separate letters to the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The ADB is currently considering financing the project with a US$200 million loan. It is due to make its decision in June. Financing the mine contradicts the ADB’s own energy policy, which states that coal mines should only be supported if the coal is for use in the local area, but most of the coal will be exported from Bangladesh.

ENDS

To organise interviews with spokespeople in the UK or Bangladesh call:

Kate Blagojevic
Press officer, World Development Movement
0207 820 4900/4913, 07711 875 345, Email:

Notes to editors

Shareholders of GCM include RAB Capital, a London based hedge fund, UBS AG, a multinational bank based in Switzerland, Barclays PLC and Credit Suisse.
GCM operates under the name Asia Energy in Bangladesh
The World Development Movement is calling for people to email Steve Bywater, chief executive of GCM to demand that he pulls out of the project. The campaign will be launched on Friday 7 March.

Harrow campaigner demands government action to Stop Water Wars Photo opportunity

Thu, 06 Mar 2008 11:58:10 GMT

Harrow campaigner demands government action to Stop Water Wars Photo opportunity

7 March 2008

Friday 7 March, 11.15am at Gareth Thomas’ office: 132 Blenheim Road, Harrow, HA2 7AA (gmap).

Local campaigners will be handing in over 1,500 cards calling for the government to stop water wars and a photo petition in which 800 people sent in a self portrait photo.

Download the mosaic (flickr)

On Friday, campaigners from the North West London World Development Movement group will demand that Gareth Thomas MP for Harrow West takes notice of the thousands of people from across the UK, who are calling on the government to Stop Water Wars.

In the run up to World Water Day on 22nd March, Nadia Idle from Rayners Lane, Harrow is meeting with Gareth Thomas, Minister for International Development. She will urge him to ensure that the government signs the UN Water Convention which will help to reduce political tension between countries which shared water resources.

Nadia Idle, from the North West London World Development Movement group said, “The World Development Movement has gathered over 2000 calls from people across the UK demanding that the government Stop Water Wars. It is important that the government takes notice of this and that’s why I am meeting with Gareth Thomas today.”

An example of political tension over shared water resources is in the Middle East, where Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Authority have a tense relationship over the limited water supplies of the Jordan River. The Euphrates River has been a source of tension between Turkey and Syria, and Iraq and Syria have come close to war over plans to dam the river.

ENDS

For more information or to arrange interviews with Nadia Idle in please call:

Kate Blagojevic
Press officer, World Development Movement
0207 820 4900/4913, 07711 875 345, Email:

Notes to Editors

Nadia Idle is 27, lives in Rayners Lane, is an active member of the World Development Movement and has campaigned on water issues for several years.
The World Development Movement is calling on the UK government to ratify the UN Convention on the Law of Non-navigational Uses of International Watercourses. · WWF-UK have produced a briefing with the World Development Movement on the issue: ‘Why the UK government must support the UN Watercourses Convention’ available at http://www.wdm.org.uk/stopwaterwars
The World Development Movement is calling on people to sign their online petition to Stop Water Wars, to Gareth Thomas, Minister for Water at: http://www.wdm.org.uk/stopwaterwars
Nearly four billion people live in countries where there is ongoing political tension over shared water resources with other countries. These are countries through which the following rivers flow or where lakes are situated: the River Nile Basin; the Tigris – Euphrates Basin, Lake Chad Basin; Mekong Basin; River Ganges Basin; Aral Sea Basin; Lower River Jordan Basin; Amur-Heilong River Basin; Indus River Basin; Parana River Basin
The World Development Movement campaigns to tackle the root causes of poverty. WDM believes that charity is not enough and aims to change the policies that keep the developing world poor. It is a democratic and politically independent organisation with 15,000 supporters and 70 local groups across the UK. For more information, go to www.wdm.org.uk

Development campaigners welcome the Climate Camp’s stand against Kingsnorth

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 15:36:17 GMT

n response to the news that the climate change group, the Camp for Climate Action, has chosen to target Kingsnorth coal-fired power station in Kent this summer, Benedict Southworth, director of the World Development Movement, said:

“We welcome the Climate Camp decision to go to Kingsnorth. It will shine a spotlight on the proposed new power station, and the collusion between the government and E.ON around it [2]. By taking a stand against the new power station they are standing up for UK public concern and for poor people across the developing world who are being hit first and worst by climate change. The government must consider the strength of public feeling, not just EON’s desire to make profit, and the only way to do that is to hold a public inquiry. To ignore it would be a huge political mistake.

“A new coal-fired power station at Kingsnorth will produce the same amount of climate-wrecking gas as Ghana does each year. It will undermine our ability to meet emissions reductions targets in the climate change bill and kill any chance we have of stopping catastrophic climate change. This will mean millions of unnecessary deaths in the developing world.”

Notes for the editor

* The decision on whether to hold a public inquiry or to approve the new coal-fired power station is to be taken by John Hutton MP, the minister for business, in the next few weeks.
* Greenpeace have revealed that the government and E.ON have been in collusion both on the issue of carbon capture technology and in trying to ‘neutralise’ MP opposition to the project.
* Plans to build new coal-fired power stations have had many vocal critics, including:
o James Hansen, from NASA Goddard Institute of Space Studies, who said on Radio Four’s Today programme recently that “Kingsnorth is a terrible idea. One power plant with a lifetime of several decades will destroy the efforts of millions of citizens to reduce their emissions." -
o Prince Charles said: “Can we, hand on heart, say that we are really doing enough to improve energy efficiency? Can we possibly allow 20 years of business as usual before coal power generation becomes clean? Are we truly investing enough in renewable energy technologies?"
* The World Development Movement is co-ordinating a campaign to stop a new coal-fired power station at Kingsnorth. See www.stopkingsnorth.org for more information.

For more information and quotes contact: Leila Deen on 0207 820 4900 or 07886 31319

Kate Blagojevic
Press officer, World Development Movement
0207 820 4900/4913, 07711 875 345, Email: kate.blagojevic@wdm.org.uk

Camp for Climate Action to target Kingsnorth power station

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 11:58:52 GMT

Today it was announced that E.ON's Kingsnorth power station in Kent will be the site of this summer’s Camp for Climate Action, running from 4 th to 11th of August 2008.

Coming on the back of last week's actions against the proposed third runway at Heathrow, with activists occupying the tailfin of a jet and the roof of the houses of parliament, climate activists promise that 2008 will be “the year of direct action on climate change”.

The protest will begin with a one-day event at Heathrow, the site of the previous year's camp, before marching across London to Kingsnorth. This is one of eight climate camps targeting coal across the world this summer.

Climate change activists will converge on Kingsnorth power station where owners E.ON plan to build the UK’s first coal fired power station in 30 years. Saturday 9th August has been named a 'day of mass protest and direct action' against Kingsnorth to highlight its impact on climate change.

Moving from Heathrow to Kingsnorth highlights government and corporate collusion to expand the fossil fuel economy when the scientific consensus demands the opposite. The camp will bring together thousands of activists for several days of workshops and direct action. The camp will also challenge businesses set to profit from false solutions to climate change such as agrofuels. A day of action targeting the agrofuel industry will be an integral part of the week long camp.

Natasha Edleman said: “Building a new coal-fired power station in the middle of a climate crisis is madness. The science shows that we only have a few years to avert catastrophic climate change. If we let this happen then there are seven more power stations coming. This must be stopped.”

Charlie Owens said: “Biofuels have been proposed as a solution to climate change. But new studies confirm that they are just as dangerous as fossil fuels. And they create the illusion we can carry on as usual. In the end we can only stop climate change if we challenge the growth economy and start putting people and planet first.”

For more information see:

www.StopKingsnorth.org

www.climatecamp.org.uk

ENDS

For more information and interviews contact: 07772861099

Kate Blagojevic
Press officer, World Development Movement
0207 820 4900/4913, 07711 875 345, Email: kate.blagojevic@wdm.org.uk

Notes to editors

* Like Heathrow, Kingsnorth is awaiting the approval of the government. The decision on whether to hold a public inquiry into the power station will be taken by John Hutton, at BERR, in the next six weeks. As with Heathrow, there are accusations of collusion between EON and the government. For more information see: www.greenpeace.org.uk
* Kingsnorth will produce twice as many climate-harming emissions as a third runway at Heathrow. According to the World Development Movement, flights from a third runway at Heathrow will produce as much greenhouse gas as the whole of Kenya.
* If Kingsnorth is built it is likely to open the way to new build coal. Up to seven other similar projects are planned. Growth in coal-power will undermine investment in renewable energy.
* Last year's camp was on land which is intended for the building of a third runway at Heathrow. The eight-day camp brought together 2000 people on land next to the village of Sipson and shut down BAA’s headquarters for 24 hours. The camp also organised up to 20 smaller actions on other aviation and climate change related targets. There were 70 arrests over the week.
* E.ON has tried to greenwash their plans to build a new plant at Kingsnorth by claiming that it might one day be upgraded to use carbon capture technology. Even by the most optimistic standards, such technology will not be ready until 2020.
* In the weeks before last year's camp, BAA applied for an injunction to stop the camp taking place. The injunction covered two million members of environmental groups from the RSPB to Greenpeace. The injunction was successfully defeated in the courts.
* In addition to the camp, days of action on climate change are planned for the 1st April (Fossil Fools Day), 1st May (Mayday), 3rd June (highlighting issues to do with food and climate change)
* “Agrofuels” are liquid fuels produced from agricultural crops. These are also referred to as “Biofuels”.

The World Development Movement slams Virgin’s biofuels test flight

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 11:55:02 GMT

he World Development Movement slams Virgin’s biofuels test flight as nothing more than a ‘publicity stunt with dangerous consequences for the planet’.

The World Development Movement estimates that even if all flights from the UK used biofuels, the reduction in UK aviation’s contribution to climate change would be cancelled out by one years’ growth in flights.

The campaigners are calling for aviation emissions to be included in targets to reduce CO2 in the climate change bill. The World Development Movement has written to the Virgin boss, Richard Branson, to ask him to support this call, but has not yet received a response.

Pete Hardstaff, head of policy at the World Development Movement said: “This is nothing more than a Virgin publicity stunt with dangerous consequences for the planet. The concept of using biofuels and continuing the rate of expansion in the aviation industry is nonsensical. If Richard Branson is serious about combating climate change, instead of experimenting with biofuels, he should be backing the campaign to include aviation in the targets to reduce emissions in the climate change bill.”

Biofuels are generally sourced from crops that displace the production of staple foods. Consequently, food prices are rocketing as those crops are diverted from food to fuel, if this pattern continues and expands, millions of people in the developing world will see the price of staple foods soar out of their reach.

ENDS

For more information or to organise interviews, (ISDN available)

Kate Blagojevic
Press officer, World Development Movement
0207 820 4900/4913, 07711 875 345, Email: kate.blagojevic@wdm.org.uk
Notes to editors

* This Virgin flight used 20 per cent biofuels and 80 percent, Kerosene, a fossil fuel, derived from oil.
* Biofuels cannot easily be put into planes, because they start to freeze at altitude. The process for producing suitable biofuels currently requires more energy than they create. Even if this problem were solved, the growth of crops used in biofuels currently have high emissions associated with their production, such as deforestation or the use of fertilisers which release nitrous oxide, a powerful greenhouse gas.
* Carbon dioxide makes up less than half of avaition’s contribution to climate change – water vapour, nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide also add to global warming when released at altitude.
* Total UK aviation contribution to climate change is 94.8 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent. Using 20 per cent biofuel would reduce direct aviation emissions by 7.6 million tonnes of CO2. However, using current technology at least 3.5 million tonnes of CO2eq would be generated in creating this biofuel. So total UK aviation emissions would be cut by four per cent. And the UK’s aviation emissions are currently growing at four per cent each year.

EU trade threat to poor

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 12:36:21 GMT

EU trade threat to poor

28 January 2008

Campaigners from War on Want, Friends of the Earth and the World Development Movement staged a demonstration today (Friday, 25 January) against European Union policies which they warn threaten millions of livelihoods in developing countries.

The London protest at the European Commission office came on the eve of trade ministers’ special lunch on Saturday at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss resort Davos. It also took place on the eve of international rallies to mark a day of action by anti-globalisation activists in the World Social Forum movement on Saturday.

The London demonstration opposed EU economic partnership agreements with African, Caribbean and Pacific countries which they say will destroy many jobs by forcing developing nations to open their markets to unfair competition.

Protesters also targeted EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson’s free-market vision for a Global Europe, which they claim puts at risk the livelihoods of millions of workers and farmers in the developing world. The demonstrators, with placards demanding “Stop Europe’s Unfair Trade Deals”, handed in a protest letter to Reijo Kemppinen, head of the EC representation in London, at his office at 8 Storey’s Gate, London SW1P 3AT.

ENDS

For comment or interview please contact:

Kate Blagojevic
Press officer, World Development Movement
0207 820 4900/4913, 07711 875 345, Email:

WDM joins World Social Forum day of action

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 12:24:55 GMT

WDM joins World Social Forum day of action

25 January 2008

The World Development Movement spent Friday 25 January supporting the World Social Forum (WSF) day of action with two protests in London. The first protest was against Europe imposing unfair trade deals on developing countries. The second was at the headquarters of E.ON, the power generator which is proposing to build a new coal-fired power station at Kingsnorth in Kent.

The World Social Forum is an annual gathering of the world’s social movements to discuss opposition to corporate-led globalisation, injustice and war. It first took place in 2001 in Porto Alegre, Brazil, and has happened every year since in different places in the global south. But this year, instead of another huge conference, the organisers called on everyone involved to organise protests and events on or around 26 January, so we can take worldwide action for global justice.

The World Development Movement, War on Want and Friends of the Earth visited the European Commission building in London to present a letter to the head of the EU’s UK office. We were objecting the EU’s new trade strategy, which involves aggressive attempts to open developing country markets to European multinationals through ‘free trade’ agreements. This will be a disaster for sustainable economic development in the global south.

View photos of the Trade event from Flickr

WDM also joined a protest against the proposed new Kingsnorth power station, which will emit more CO2 each year than the whole of Ghana. The UK needs massive investment in renewables in order to reduce its carbon emissions by enough to prevent catastrophic climate change. Building new coal-fired power stations will make this impossible.

View photos of the Kingsnorth / E.ON event from Flickr