News

Barclays bonuses could pay for 9.6bn school meals in Africa

miriam.ross — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 08:15:50 +0000

Barclays’ £1.5 billion investment banking bonus pool could pay for school meals for two years for the 23 million primary age children who attend school hungry across Africa, according to figures from the World Development Movement.

The anti-poverty group has slammed the bank for its involvement in speculation on food prices which is fuelling global price spikes, incentivised by bonuses which it claims reward risky and socially damaging behaviour.

The total bonus pool for the bank’s investment arm could pay for 9.6 billion meals, the campaign group said today.

Barclays has been estimated to make up to £340 million a year from speculating on food, while almost a billion people go hungry worldwide. The World Development Movement is calling for tough regulation to curb speculation on food. The group has claimed today that big banks’ ‘bonus culture’ fuels gambling behaviour that risks people’s lives.

Christine Haigh, campaigner at the World Development Movement, said today:

Big bonuses encourage bankers to take big risks, not only with financial stability through their debt-based investment, but also with people’s lives. The kind of ‘success’ Barclays has rewarded its executives for contributes to price spikes that put the price of food beyond the reach of the world’s poorest people. Food price inflation is over 5 per cent in the UK at the moment, which is painful enough at a time when people’s real incomes are shrinking. In the poorest countries in the world, food prices have risen by over 50 per cent since 2007, forcing millions of people into hunger and poverty.”

She continued:

Other risk-taking behaviour by the big banks includes investment in agricultural land grabbing in developing countries, and RBS’s almost £7 billion investment in the Canadian tar sands, which is contributing to climate change and polluting indigenous people’s land.”

Barclays CEO Bob Diamond responded to the Occupy movement by telling the BBC last year that banks must become ‘better citizens’. The bank won a Public Eye ‘shame award’ during the World Economic Forum in Davos two weeks ago for its speculation in food markets.

Notes to editors

According to the World Food Programme, the school meals it delivers cost US$0.25; with US$50 (£31.70) a child can be fed for an entire school year. There are 66 million primary school-age children who attend classes hungry across the developing world, with 23 million in Africa alone. Source: http://documents.wfp.org/stellent/groups/public/documents/communications/wfp220221.pdf.

Barclays wins ‘shame award’ for speculating on food prices

miriam.ross — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 11:33:55 +0000

Barclays Bank has today won a Public Eye ‘shame award’, for speculating on food prices. Barclays’ activity is fuelling hunger and poverty worldwide, says the World Development Movement, which nominated the bank.

The award was presented today in Davos, Switzerland, to coincide with the World Economic Forum.

Barclays is estimated to make up to £340 million a year from speculating in food ‘futures’ markets, making it the biggest UK player in the markets. Massive influxes of speculative money in food markets have been driving sharp price spikes, sending the cost of food soaring beyond the reach of the world’s poorest people.

Barclays won the Public Eye ‘global award’, selected by a panel of judges. The ‘people’s award’, decided by an online vote, went to Brazilian company Vale, for its involvement in the construction of the controversial Belo Monte dam in the Amazon. Forty thousand people are likely to be forced from their land if the dam goes ahead.

Barclays CEO Bob Diamond responded to the Occupy movement by telling the BBC in November that banks must be “better citizens”.

Rules to curb speculation are being discussed in the European Union, but the UK government is opposing effective legislation. UK finance ministers met Barclays at least 15 times within the first year of the coalition government.

Amy Horton, campaigner at the World Development Movement, said today:

Barclays is gambling with the price of food, and therefore with people’s lives. Speculation benefits a tiny minority in the financial sector, and at the same time fuels food price spikes which force millions of people to go hungry. Governments must take urgent action to curb this reckless practice.”

The World Development Movement’s online comedy series ‘The Real George Osborne’ aims to put pressure on the UK Chancellor to back regulation.

The Public Eye Awards are organised by Greenpeace Switzerland and the Berne Declaration.

For more information contact Miriam Ross on (+44) (0)20 7820 4913 or (+44) (0)7711 875 345 or email miriam.ross@wdm.org.uk

Average Brit uses a Kenyan’s annual carbon emissions by 13 January

miriam.ross — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 09:46:49 +0000

By the end of tomorrow (Friday 13 January 2012), the average person in Britain will have emitted as much carbon dioxide as the average person in Kenya will in an entire year, according to figures from the World Development Movement.

The latest available data shows Kenya’s annual per capita carbon emissions at 0.293 tons, while the UK’s are 8.351 tons. Despite having such little responsibility for causing climate change, Kenyans are facing some of the worst weather related disasters globally. Last year, Kenya and neighbouring East African countries suffered their worst drought in 60 years, resulting in a severe food crisis.

By 2 January the average UK citizen had already emitted as much CO2 as the average person in Chad or Afghanistan will by the end of 2012.

By 16 January the average Brit will have emitted as much CO2 as the average Bangladeshi will all year. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that Bangladesh will face an increasing number of disasters due to typhoons and tropical storms.

By 1 March a UK citizen will have emitted as much CO2 as the average citizen of India will do all year. An estimated 700 million people in India are at direct risk from the impacts of climate change.

Deborah Doane, director of the World Development Movement, said:

This is a stark reminder of the UK’s responsibility for climate change. Developing countries like Kenya make almost no contribution to the problem, yet they face the worst consequences. Meanwhile the UK is failing to make sufficient emissions cuts or to meet its obligations to help poorer countries cope with the effects of climate change.”

Campaigners are calling on the UK government to honour its promise to be the ‘greenest government ever’ by meeting its commitments to reducing emissions under the Climate Change Act. Developing countries have already pledged to make emissions cuts 30 to 50 per cent higher than those of rich countries like the UK, despite their per person emissions being a fraction of those of developing countries.

Note to editors:

Per capita carbon dioxide emissions figures from the US Energy Information Administration

For more information please contact Miriam Ross on (+44) (0)20 7820 4913 or (+44) (0)7711 875 345 or email miriam.ross@wdm.org.uk

New report: European banks fuelling food price volatility and hunger

miriam.ross — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 00:01:13 +0000

European banks, pension funds and insurance companies are increasing global hunger and poverty by speculating on food prices and financing land grabs in poorer countries, according to a new report released today (January 12) by Friends of the Earth Europe and the World Development Movement. [1]

The report, ‘Farming Money’, analyses the activities of 29 European banks, pension funds and insurance companies, including Barclays, RBS, HSBC, Deutsche Bank, Allianz, BNP Paribas, AXA, Generali, Allianz, Unicredit and Credit Agricole. It reveals the significant involvement of these financial institutions in food speculation, and the direct or indirect financing of land grabbing. Environmental and development organisations are calling for strict regulation to rein in these destructive activities.

Hannah Griffiths, head of policy and campaigns at the World Development Movement, said:

Financial speculation on food and the financing of land grabbing have destabilised global food prices, with steep price hikes forcing millions of people into poverty and hunger. Banks like Barclays are making vast profits at the expense of the lives of the world’s most vulnerable people. Governments must step in with regulation to stop the finance industry gambling with food.”

The European Commission’s proposed new rules for improving transparency in commodity derivatives markets [2] are a first step in the right direction, but serious omissions and loopholes need to be addressed. ‘Farming Money’ recommends a set of key measures to regulate European financial markets and tighten corporate policies on financial services and investments in food commodity derivatives and land deals.

Daniel Pentzlin, sustainable finance campaigner at Friends of the Earth Europe, said:

2012 offers a big opportunity for Europe to put a stop to the environmental and social damage done by financial markets. Politicians need to step in and end excessive and harmful speculation.”

Food speculation, with billions of pounds flooding in and out of financial products based on foodstuffs, causes price volatility. These rapid and unpredictable price swings hit the most vulnerable hardest, threatening their right to food, and making it more difficult for farmers to maintain an income – creating instability, hunger and poverty. Land grabs, following direct and indirect investments in land by large European financial institutions, mean European companies are snatching up land, increasingly in Africa, at the expense of local livelihoods and food sovereignty, in addition to causing knock on environmental devastation through land use change.

Friends of the Earth Europe and the World Development Movement are calling on European regulators to introduce caps on the size of bets speculators can make, to curb excessive speculation. Financial institutions should investigate, publish and reduce their involvement in food speculation and investments in land, which threatens the human right to food.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

[1] The full report, ‘Farming Money: How European banks and private finance profit from food speculation and land grabs', was published by Friends of the Earth Europe, in collaboration with BankTrack, WEED, CRBM, World Development Movement, Corporate Europe Observatory, CNCD, SETEM and Les Amis de la Terre.

[2] On October 20, 2011, the European Commission published their proposals for a revised Market in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II) and a new Regulation (MiFIR), found here:

http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/securities/isd/mifid_en.htm

For more information please contact:

Daniel Pentzlin, sustainable finance campaigner for Friends of the Earth Europe

T +32 (0) 2 893 1024

E daniel.pentzlin@foeeurope.org

Miriam Ross, media officer, World Development Movement

T +44 (0)20 7820 4913, +44 (0)7711 875 345

E miriam.ross@wdm.org.uk

Barclays up for ‘shame award’ for speculating on food prices

miriam.ross — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Barclays Bank has been shortlisted for the 2012 Public Eye ‘shame award’ due to its financial speculation on food prices. Anti-poverty campaign group the World Development Movement, which nominated the bank, says its activity is fuelling hunger and poverty worldwide.

Barclays is estimated to make up to £340 million a year from speculating in food ‘futures’ markets, making it the biggest UK player in the markets. Research by the World Development Movement shows that a massive influx of speculative money in food markets is driving sharp price spikes, sending the cost of food soaring beyond the reach of the world’s poorest people. Financial speculation on food nearly doubled between 2006 and 2011.

Barclays CEO Bob Diamond responded to the Occupy movement by telling the BBC in November that banks must be “better citizens”. But Barclays has ignored calls from campaigners to put the basic human need for food before the profits it makes from speculation.

Amy Horton, campaigner at the World Development Movement, said today:

Barclays is essentially gambling on food prices, at the expense of millions of people who cannot afford to buy food as a result. Speculating on food is reckless in the extreme and governments must take action to curb it.”

Online voting begins today for the ‘people’s award’, while a panel of judges will choose a winner for the ‘global’ award. The winners will be announced on 27 January in Davos, Switzerland, to coincide with the World Economic Forum.

Campaigners are calling for tough European regulation to curb excessive speculation on food by Barclays and other investment banks and hedge funds. The US has already moved to regulate food markets, and similar rules are under discussion in the EU. But the UK government is blocking attempts to introduce effective European legislation. The World Development Movement’s online comedy series ‘The Real George Osborne’ aims to put pressure on the UK Chancellor to back regulation.

The Public Eye Awards are run by Greenpeace Switzerland and the Berne Declaration.

For more information please contact Miriam Ross on (+44) (0)20 7820 4913 or (+44) (0)7711 875 345 or email miriam.ross@wdm.org.uk

Durban climate talks a ‘spectacular failure’

miriam.ross — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0000

The World Development Movement has slammed the outcome of the UN climate talks in Durban as a ‘spectacular failure’ that will condemn the world’s poorest people to hunger, poverty and ultimately, death.

Murray Worthy, World Development Movement policy officer, said: “Developed countries have behaved shamefully, blocking meaningful progress on tackling climate change. They have refused to acknowledge their historical responsibility for the crisis, either by agreeing to reduce their emissions or by providing finance to help developing countries deal with climate change.

“These talks have been held hostage by the EU. It seems EU countries came to Durban to impose a deal, not negotiate one. The spectacular failure to achieve an outcome on the most urgent issues puts the world on course for devastating climate change, condemning those least responsible to greater hunger, poverty and ultimately, death.

“The Kyoto Protocol is now only a shadow of what it was and the second commitment period will be its last. There is nothing more than hope in a new deal to replace it, a deal that could well be based on the weak ineffective voluntary approach first put forward at Copenhagen, and that would come into force too late to have any chance of avoiding the most devastating impacts of climate change.”

Emissions

Murray Worthy continued: “The world is now on course for devastating temperature rises as a result of the failure of developed countries to act. Instead of coming to Durban to take action, developed countries have stonewalled on the real issues and kicked decisions down the road. Ignoring their own historical responsibility, the EU and the US have tried to blame developing countries, claiming they are refusing to play ball. But the per person emissions of countries like India are a fraction of countries like the UK, and poor countries have already pledged cuts 30-50 per cent higher than those of rich countries. Developed countries have failed to commit to action to curb their emissions, leaving the world to run headfirst towards catastrophic climate change.”

Finance

Murray Worthy commented: “The UK and the EU have failed to put their money where their mouths are, and have not committed the money needed to help developing countries cope with climate change. Only agreeing to produce yet another report on financing with no guarantees that anything will come of it, after years of reports, promises and negotiations, is an insult to the people already being hit hardest by climate change. Rich industrialised countries have grown rich off the back of high carbon emissions, but it is the world’s poorest people, those least responsible, who will pay the highest price.”

EU ‘roadmap’ and ‘Durban platform’

Murray Worthy said: “The EU’s so called ‘roadmap’ has completely undermined any progress on the most urgent issues. After nearly twenty years of climate negotiations, going back to the drawing board does not represent progress. This roadmap is set to undermine the principles of the UN climate talks - that developed countries bear responsibility for causing climate change and must act first. Treating rich industrialised countries and poor developing countries as if they were the same is not a just solution to climate change.

“Rich industrialised countries have achieved The Great Escape. Doing virtually nothing during the next decade, when action is most urgently needed, killing off Kyoto and setting the stage for a weak ineffective deal that will come into force too late to have any chance of controlling climate change. This is a road to nowhere and a death sentence for the most world’s most vulnerable countries.”

Kyoto Protocol

Murray Worthy said, “The EU has agreed to Kyoto, but in nothing more than name. This is not the second commitment period many countries were calling for. Staggeringly, rich countries have put off the most important decisions on the biggest loopholes and even their own emission reductions until next year. With huge holes in Kyoto still possible, it is feasible that developed countries in the Kyoto Protocol could actually increase their emissions between now and 2020, and still meet their pledged emission reduction targets.

“There is now no question that after this last gasp, Kyoto is dead. The only rules based system for reducing emissions will end in a few years time, with nothing more than hope in a new deal to follow it.”

Green Climate Fund

Murray Worthy said: “The Green Climate Fund was supposed to be designed to transfer money from developed countries to help poor countries cope with climate change. But instead of being compensated for the damage rich countries have caused them, developing countries have been presented with a Greedy Corporate Fund. Thanks to the UK and the US, the Green Climate Fund can now directly subsidise multinational corporations. Essentially, a prize has been given to the very institutions responsible for causing the climate crisis, whilst the world’s poorest people will be left to suffer its worst effects. It is shameful that public money will be used to subsidise already profitable projects run by multinationals.”

For more information please contact:

Miriam Ross:

T (+44) (0)20 7820 4913 or (+44) (0)7711 875 345

E miriam.ross@wdm.org.uk

Durban talks fail on urgent issues

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 16:45:14 +0000

Durban, 16:45, 9 December 2011

As negotiations on the final outcome of the UN climate talks look set to continue late into the night, negotiators remain focused on the EU’s proposed roadmap to replace the Kyoto Protocol with a package that makes the same demands of poor developing countries as it does of rich industrialised countries. The talks have paid almost no attention to the two most urgent issues for developing countries: emissions reductions by developed countries, and finance to help people in poor countries cope with climate change.

On the last day of the talks, Murray Worthy, policy officer at the World Development Movement said:

“The UK and EU’s talk of a new global deal is little more than a distraction from their inaction. The EU is failing to take responsibility for its part in causing climate change. It should be taking the lead through meaningful action. Instead, the EU ‘roadmap’ has been a smokescreen for developed countries’ failure to do what is needed. It is the world’s poorest people, those least responsible for this crisis, who will end up paying the highest price.”

The talks look set to result in a new Green Climate Fund to deliver finance to developing countries. But the World Development Movement believes the fund is unlikely to be effective due to its focus on the private sector and proposals for the fund to be initially housed in the Global Environment Facility, a fund originally founded by, and with close ties to, the World Bank.

Murray Worthy continued: “As we near the end of the talks, concerns remain that despite united opposition from developing countries the new Green Climate Fund could start its life in an institution closely tied to the World Bank, which is widely discredited for its disastrous projects and damaging economic policies. Worse still, the new fund is set to directly finance multinational corporations, meaning it will fail to meet the needs of communities most affected by climate change.”

UN climate talks occupied!

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 16:38:13 +0000

Today at 3pm, on the final day of the UN climate talks and as the main plenary was taking place, people including activists from 'Occupy COP17' occupied the conference centre where the talks are being held.

WDM campaigner Kirsty Wright who is at the talks was quoted on the Guardian blog about the occupation saying that "the protesters were accusing the UK and other rich countries of trying to escape their responsibilities for addressing global warming. They were also opposed to the current proposals for a new treaty, corporate power in the talks and the role of the World Bank in delivering finance to help poorer countries cope with climate change."

You can watch the 'live stream' of the occupation here.

Update: Here are some videos that Kirsty recorded earlier in the day.

Talk of a ‘new climate deal' is a distraction from inaction

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 10:05:26 +0000

Talk of a long-term climate deal to cut carbon emissions is allowing industrialised countries to delay taking action, says World Development Movement policy officer Murray Worthy, writing from Durban.

The main story coming out of the UN climate talks in Durban so far has been whether or not the summit can agree to start negotiations on a new long term deal. The EU doesn’t want to talk about much else, and many media reports are focusing on whether developing countries like China and India will come on board. However, lurking behind the positive spin of a new ‘comprehensive deal’ lies the truth – developed countries are ignoring their responsibility and failing to act, and the clock is ticking. Talk of a ‘Durban mandate’ is little more than a smokescreen.

Unless you’re Lord Monckton or Lawson, the science is clear. No one at this summit disputes that humans are causing climate change. At the climate talks in Cancun, countries pledged to keep temperature rises below 2C, thought to be a key tipping point for the global climate (though significantly higher than the 1.5C limit demanded by most developing countries). And everyone knows what is needed to get there. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is clear that developed countries, which are responsible for 70 per cent of global historic emissions, must reduce their emissions by 40 per cent from 1990 levels by 2020 to achieve this goal. What is important now is actions not words, and a political agreement with voluntary pledges – which rich countries are pushing for – falls far short of what is needed.

The current voluntary ‘pledges’ don’t even go halfway to meeting these 40 per cent targets, reaching barely 13 – 17 per cent reductions by 2020. This would lead to an average global temperature rise of 4C or more – with temperature rises much higher for countries nearer the equator. This is a world most of us cannot and do not want to conceive of: massive droughts, desertification, mass species extinctions, huge sea level rises affecting most major coastal cities like London, New York and Hong Kong and a death toll few would want to contemplate.

But there is barely any ambition from developed countries. The lower end of the EU’s pledge of 20 – 30 per cent emission reductions can be achieved with little more than business as usual. Instead of raising this goal to the 40 per cent we know is needed, negotiators are working on how they can use carbon markets to shift the responsibility to developing countries, or ‘carry over’ emissions reductions from the Kyoto Protocol’s first commitment period. Instead of pushing for a deal that could help tackle climate change they are working hard to ensure they can do as little as possible.

Vital as it is, reducing emissions is only part of the story. Finance is the other key part of any global deal on climate change. Despite rich countries’ responsibility for the problem, most of the impacts already being felt are in the global south. Developing countries need finance to help them adapt, and to help them access the low carbon technologies they need in order to develop without trashing the climate. This isn’t just campaigner’s rhetoric; it is as a basic principle in the UN climate change convention.

In Copenhagen, developed countries pledged $30 billion in ‘fast start’ finance for 2010-2012. Two years in, progress has not been fast and little finance has actually been delivered. So far only $2 billion of the $30 billion pledged has actually been given to developing countries, and over 90 per cent had either been announced before or has been raided from overseas aid commitments for vital goals such as healthcare and education. Many countries in the global south rightly feel they have been conned.

Until now climate finance has been delivered through a disjointed jigsaw of funds run by governments and the World Bank. Proposals for a new Green Climate Fund to manage long term climate finance are now being negotiated here in Durban – and the con game continues. The fund is set to have an arm dedicated to providing public money directly to the private sector, subsidising multinational companies. And countries like the UK are pushing for the World Bank, discredited across the global south for its undemocratic governance and history of climate-devastating projects, to have a central role in the fund.

While the UK is working hard to ensure that the new fund meets the needs of corporations rather than communities, the US and EU are blocking progress on a deal to raise money for the fund. Some countries are arguing that their current financial situation means they are in no position to commit, yet we know that hundreds of billions can be raised from tackling tax avoidance and tax havens, redirecting fossil fuel subsidies, cutting military spending or introducing a financial transactions tax. Even seemingly win-win proposals on the negotiating table, like raising finance from reducing emissions from shipping, are being held up.

Faced with a closing window of opportunity to control climate change, rich industrialised countries are sitting on their hands and refusing to act. To achieve any kind of success, they must increase their commitments for reducing their emissions, in line with the science, and commit to delivering the finance that is needed, with a fair fund to manage it. Talk of a new global deal without meaningful action now is little more than a ruthless negotiating tactic – a distraction from inaction.

This article originally appeared on The Ecologist.

New UK climate finance package ‘will push up developing countries’ debt’

miriam.ross — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 12:20:06 +0000

A new climate change finance package, announced today by Chris Huhne, will push up developing countries’ debt, say campaigners from the World Development Movement.

At least £235 million of the money announced today by UK Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne will be in the form of loans rather than grants, going through World Bank climate lending programmes that have already pushed some of the world’s poorest countries deeper into debt.

£150 million, the largest part of today’s announcement, will go to the World Bank’s Clean Technology Fund. UK money previously given to this fund helped finance private sector projects including a wind farm in Mexico which violates the rights of indigenous people and does not increase energy access, instead selling all of its electricity at a discounted rate to US multinational Walmart.

But campaigners welcomed the announcement that £10 million would be given to the UN Adaptation Fund, to directly help people in developing countries cope with the effects of climate change. The UK has until now given no money to the UN fund, which is threatened with closure if contributions from developed countries do not increase.

World Development Movement policy officer Murray Worthy said today:

Giving further loans to developing countries like Mozambique and Nepal will only increase those countries’ debt burdens, driving their people deeper into poverty. Richer countries like the UK are largely responsible for causing climate change, and we must take responsibility for ensuring that poor countries, which have contributed very little to global carbon emissions, are able to deal with its effects.

Chris Huhne’s announcement that £10 million will go to the UN Adaptation Fund is welcome, but this is a fraction of the amount he is planning to lend. In order to meet its responsibilities the UK should be giving all of its climate finance as grants, not as loans through the World Bank.

The extra money announced for the World Bank’s Clean Technology Fund, which has financed disastrous development projects that have only benefitted multinational companies, will also do little to help the world’s most vulnerable people deal with climate change.’

Read the World Development Movement’s media briefing on the Durban talks

For more information please contact:

Miriam Ross in London on (+44) (0)20 7820 4913 or (+44) (0)7711 875 345 or email miriam.ross@wdm.org.uk

Murray Worthy in Durban on (+27) (0)83 968 9917

UK climate aid funds electricity for Walmart in Mexico

miriam.ross — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 09:52:41 +0000

A report launched today by the World Development Movement reveals that UK climate aid is being used to produce cheap electricity for the US multinational Walmart, through a project that violates the rights of indigenous people in Mexico.

The report, ‘Power to the people?’, details how money taken from the UK aid budget has been used by the World Bank to finance wind farms in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, built without the consent of the indigenous people who own the land. The project produces enough electricity to power 160,000 homes, but is instead being sold at a discounted rate to Walmart. The project is 99 per cent controlled by French electricity giant EDF.

The La Mata and La Ventosa wind park is part funded the World Bank’s Clean Technology Fund, which receives 14 per cent of its money - or £385 million – from the UK overseas aid budget. The fund’s objectives include poverty reduction, but the wind park has done nothing to increase energy access among the seven per cent of Oaxaca’s population who have no electricity.

Local indigenous woman Bettina Cruz Velazquez told the World Development Movement:

With the pretext of advancing renewable energy, big corporations are occupying our land with windmills. Agriculture, particularly corn plantations, is the essence of our region, and will be completely displaced by the wind farm projects. The companies come and they say, yes, we consulted, but here there has not been any consultation.“

The report launch coincides with the UN climate talks currently underway in Durban, South Africa, where a new global ‘Green Climate Fund’, intended to replace temporary arrangements such the Clean Technology Fund, is expected to be agreed. The World Development Movement and 162 other organisations are calling for the new fund to prioritise projects that tackle poverty and aid transition to a low carbon economy, rather than financing multinationals through a proposed dedicated private sector arm.

The World Development Movement’s policy officer Murray Worthy said today:

Developing countries urgently need finance to help them transition to a low carbon economy, but projects like the La Mata and La Ventosa wind park show the dangers of throwing public finance at multinational companies like EDF and Walmart. The park violates indigenous land rights, does nothing to increase energy access, and does little to help reduce Mexico’s carbon emissions since fossil fuel power development is still set to outstrip growth in wind capacity. Projects like this do not need and should not receive aid money – yet developed countries are pushing for the new climate fund to have an arm dedicated to funding this kind of development disaster.”

Read the report

Read the World Development Movement’s media briefing on the Durban talks

For more information please contact:

Miriam Ross in London on (+44) (0)20 7820 4913 or (+44) (0)7711 875 345 or email miriam.ross@wdm.org.uk

Murray Worthy in Durban on (+27) (0)83 968 9917

Report exposes bullying and bribery in UN climate negotiations

miriam.ross — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 10:42:52 +0000

A report launched by the World Development Movement reveals shocking bullying and bribery tactics employed by countries including the UK and the US to try to kill the Kyoto Protocol, as negotiators from the world’s governments gather today in Durban, South Africa, for the start of the 2011 UN climate talks.

Through exclusive new interviews with negotiators from developing countries, the report exposes the ‘unfair, undemocratic and deceitful’ tactics used by developed countries to skew the climate change negotiations in their favour and backtrack on their legal commitments.

The report features previously unpublished testimonies from insiders at the Copenhagen and Cancun climate summits in 2009 and 2010. They reveal how key agreements such as the Copenhagen Accord were developed, including though secret meetings and the sidelining of developing country negotiators, followed by agreements being presented to developing countries on a ‘take-it-or-leave-it’ basis.

The Copenhagen Accord marked a unprecedented shift in the UN climate negotiations, away from the binding emissions reductions of the Kyoto Protocol to a new system of voluntary pledges that would lead to global temperature increases up to double the current stated target of 2 degrees.

One developing country negotiator told the report’s author how rich country negotiators behaved: ‘There is no intention to agree a fair scenario, whether voluntary or by obligation. It’s so clear: “We only need your signature here, we have figured out everything, we have designed the role of your country, there is no more time, please sign here now.”’

The report also details how countries like the UK bribed poor countries into signing up to the Copenhagen and Cancun agreements that were against their interests by making funding conditional on their acquiescence. Ed Miliband, then the UK’s climate change minister, told developing county negotiators they must accept the Copenhagen Accord, otherwise the UK would not “operationalise the funds”.

Another interviewee told the author that developing country negotiators who are outspoken ‘are taken out of delegations for one reason or another, or booted upstairs, or suddenly are transferred, or lose their jobs, as a result of external pressures, usually in the form of some kind of bribe (not necessarily money), or exchange.’

Murray Worthy, policy officer at the World Development Movement, said today:

If the bullying and bribery that was so evident in Copenhagen and Cancun continues here in Durban, rich industrialised countries will succeed in hammering the final nail in the coffin of the Kyoto Protocol, and destroy our chances of avoiding the worst impacts of climate change. They will wriggle out of both their existing legal commitments to reduce emissions, and their historical responsibility for climate change.

A just solution to climate change, on the other hand, would be one in which developed countries agreed to a second round of legally binding emissions reductions, and to fair and accountable financing to help poor countries deal with climate change. For this scenario to stand a chance, this time the game must be played by the rules.”

Read the report

Read the World Development Movement's media briefing on the Durban talks

For more information contact Miriam Ross on (+44) (0)20 7820 4913 or (0)7711 875 345 or email miriam.ross@wdm.org.uk

The Real George Osborne: New comedy series starring Rufus Jones launches exclusively online

miriam.ross — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Chancellor George Osborne parodied by the World Development Movement and writers Hoot Comedy
Comedy series calls on George Osborne to ‘do the right thing’ and back regulation of food speculation by banks
Speculation is driving high food prices worldwide. High food costs have pushed the food bill for the average UK household up by £188 [1]in the past year, and are forcing millions of people in developing countries into poverty and hunger

UK Chancellor George Osborne is being re-imagined in a brand new internet comedy series starring Rufus Jones (Holy Flying Circus) which premiers today (22 November) at www.therealgeorgeosborne.com. The Real George Osborne follows George and his long-suffering advisor, Vicki, as he tries to raise his political profile in a bid to become the next Prime Minister.

Filmed in 14 parts and airing between now and Christmas, The Real George Osborne sees George undertake a number of ill-advised PR stunts in order to compete with Boris Johnson as ‘the most recognised Tory’ and unseat David Cameron. Our bumbling Chancellor takes street-dance lessons, enlists a full-time reality TV crew and struggles with fad diets to try to improve his image.

The series stars Rufus Jones, who recently received rave reviews for his part in Holy Flying Circus, the fantastical re-imagining of the time around the release of Month Python’s Life of Brian.

The Real George Osborne has been commissioned by anti-poverty campaigners, the World Development Movement, ahead of a vote on regulation of food speculation by banks in the European Union next year. The campaign group wants Chancellor George Osborne to ‘do the right thing’ and back effective regulation of food speculation, which is driving food prices beyond the reach of the world’s poorest people, and has added nearly £200 onto UK households’ food bills in the past year.

World Development Movement director Deborah Doane explains:

Investment banks are pouring billions of pounds of speculative money into food markets, sending prices spiralling out of control. In developing countries steep price hikes are pushing millions of people into poverty and in the UK, this has added £188 to the average household’s annual food bill in the past year. Chancellor George Osborne has the opportunity to ‘do the right thing’ supporting the vote for regulation. Volatile prices only benefit a few very wealthy bankers, but wreak havoc on everyone else. This is a clear case where the Chancellor should side with the 99 per cent.”

She continued:

We know there’s a danger George might try to side with the banks and block the vote, so we’re asking the UK public to get behind us and keep the pressure up. We hope people will love our light-hearted version of behind-the-scenes in the Chancellor’s office, and support us by calling on George to back the vote.”

People can support the campaign by sending an email to George Osborne with a single click from www.therealgeorgeosborne.com.

Follow The Real George Osborne on Twitter@MrGeorgeOsborne or #RealGeorgeOsborne.

The first episode premiers online today and the series will air four times weekly in the lead up to Christmas.

For more information please contact:

Miriam Ross

World Development Movement

(+44) (0)20 7820 4913; (+44) (0)7711 875 345

Miriam.ross@wdm.org.uk

Notes to editors

What is food speculation?

Banks, hedge funds and pension funds are betting on food prices in financial markets. Financial deregulation since the 1990s has enabled speculators to dominate food futures markets, changing them beyond recognition and causing drastic price swings in staple foods such as wheat, maize and soy.

Why regulate it now?

With global food prices reaching record levels in 2011, the issue of excessive speculation on food is now firmly on the political agenda in Europe. Proposals for regulation were published by the European Commission last month and will be debated and discussed in the European Parliament and Council of Ministers over the coming months. However the financial industry, with the help of George Osborne and the UK Treasury, is lobbying hard against effective regulatory measures.

In the US, regulation of food speculation was included in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in 2010. Effective implementation is likely to be dependent upon the EU introducing similar regulation to ensure that Europe does not become a haven for under-regulated food speculation.

About the World Development Movement

The World Development Movement is a UK-based anti-poverty campaigning organisation. We have a worldwide reputation for tackling hard-hitting, controversial issues.

About Hoot Comedy

Created in 2009 by Perrier Award winner James Rawlings, BAFTA nominated screenwriter Ben Bond and RTS nominated producer Ben Thompson, Hoot are multi-award winning comedy writers and producers.

Hoot’s expertise in narrative and comedy performance has put us in demand all over the world and our creative director is currently the lead writer on ‘Skins’ for Channel 4. Among our credits we’ve created original comedy for: BBC3, CBBC, Paramount, Philips, Coke, Electrolux, Sony Playstation and Virgin Atlantic. Our hugely successful rom-com for Philips ‘NIGEL & VICTORIA’ received over 7 million views on Youtube.

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[1] WDM Broken Markets report, September 2011: http://www.wdm.org.uk/sites/default/files/Broken-markets.pdf

Bringing together the 'occupy' movements: part I

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 10:54:58 +0000

Sarah Reader, networks assistant

Yesterday I went to the first international gathering of the occupy movements and 'Indignados' at the G20 alternative summit. ‘Towards convergence of the movements from the Mediterranean region’ was a space for people from different groups and countries to share their experiences and think about working towards a coordinated international movement.

There were people who had been involved in popular uprisings and occupy movements in Tunisia, Egypt, Spain, Senegal, the US, Israel, Portugal, Greece and Canada and others… But that’s a blog post in itself (watch out for 'Bringing together the occupy movements: part II'- coming soon). It was a really inspiring meeting and an exciting thing to have been part of, and one of the things that stuck with me was the participatory and inclusive way in which it was organised.

When I go along to meetings I sometimes worry that they’re going to be a traditional ‘meeting’, in which a few people are designated speakers and everyone else has to listen with little participation or real engagement. I’m a bit of a workshop facilitation geek and really keen on techniques which encourage group discussion and facilitate everyone’s involvement in a meeting.

But I needn’t have worried, as nothing about the occupy movement is traditional. Even though there were people from several different groups and cultures in the room, the values of the occupy movement - of inclusion, autonomy and of learning together towards creating a better society - were present throughout. These values were reflected in the practical ways the meeting was organised.

When I walked in to the gym hall where the meeting was taking place, everyone was sitting on the floor in a circle, which immediately reassured me that it wasn’t going to be a ‘sit back and listen’ session.

The first thing the initial ‘facilitator’ said was “This is not a conference, a panel discussion or a seminar. We are going to run this session like the assemblies that have been used in Wall Street, London and Madrid."

"So the first thing we need to do is to collectively agree on the way we’re going to run it, whether we’re going to have a facilitator (and if so, who will facilitate) and what the agenda is going to be."

With trained interpreters simultaneously translating into four languages and people equipped with headsets tuned in to their language’s channel, it was amazing that with little debate we agreed on using a facilitator, a set of hand signals (after clarifying some confusion over the Spanish and French hand signal for disagreement) and an agenda:

1. Where are we now?
2. What unites us?
3. Where do we go from here?

Having used consensus decision-making techniques and hand signals as part of activist groups in the UK, where it can often feel like a strange and alien thing to do for many people, it was reassuring to be using them to communicate in a room with people from several different countries and backgrounds.

Although we all spoke different languages, we were united by our values and struggle for a better system which prioritises the needs of people above corporations, and campaigns against governments’ support for a financial system which benefits the banks and puts economic growth above welfare and social provision.

The occupy movement is not only exciting because of what it has already achieved and the people it has inspired, but also the way in which it is being organised. The open assemblies give everyone a chance to participate and be heard, but also try to tackle ingrained hierarchies in society and build an alternative. This is something everyone can learn from, and hopefully put into practice some of its practical tools and techniques.

UK lends ‘climate loan’ to heavily indebted Jamaica

miriam.ross — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 10:21:00 +0000

UK money will be used for a ‘climate loan’ to Jamaica, increasing its already heavy debt burden, following a decision by the World Bank this week.

Campaigners have condemned the loan, which will drive the Caribbean nation deeper into poverty. Jamaica’s foreign debt stands at $2,500 per person, and the country spends $1.2 billion a year on debt repayments. The government’s foreign-owed debts are 55 per cent of national income, making it's debt burden one of the heaviest in the world.[1]

The $10 million loan agreed this week is intended to help Jamaica adapt to the effects of climate change. But campaigners say countries like the UK should give climate funds as grants rather than loans.

Jubilee Debt Campaign spokesperson Tim Jones said today:

Debt has devastated lives across the world, bringing economic collapse and diverting money from essential public services. The Jamaican government already spends $450 per person annually on debt repayments, more than on education and healthcare combined. The World Bank and UK government should be cancelling Jamaica's debt, not adding to it with new unjust climate loans."

World Development Movement campaigner Murray Worthy said today:

The UK and other rich industrialised countries bear the responsibility for causing climate change, both historically and currently. We owe it to countries like Jamaica to help them adapt to the ravages of climate change – in fact we owe them money, rather than the other way round. Climate loans do nothing to correct this injustice, and will only make life harder for Jamaicans as their government is forced to spend ever more on debt servicing.”

Climate loans using UK funds were also agreed for Bolivia and Yemen. The World Bank has so far lent $1.1 billion to developing countries in the name of climate change.

Nearly 90 per cent of the UK’s funding to help countries adapt to climate change is through loans, not grants.

Note to editors:

[1] Figures all from World Bank Global Development Finance indicators. The Jamaican government spends 28 per cent of the country’s revenues from exports on debt repayments, the highest amount of any developing country. This figure is a good measure of a country's debt burden, because it is specifically export revenues which are needed to pay foreign debts.