World Development Movement News

Campaigners land blow on 'oil and gas' bank

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:07:39 GMT

The government has been roundly criticised from various quarters for the use of public cash to bail out and prop up RBS. Scandals over Sir Fred's pension and now the ten million pound salary and bonus package for the new RBS boss have been grabbing headlines and stoking public outrage. And rightly so. Now the World Development Movement, along with PLATFORM and People and Planet, have dealt a further blow to the government's hands off approach to how it manages the billions of pounds of taxpayers' money poured into the self-styled 'oil and gas' bank. We launched a legal action today to challenge the Treasury's disastrous decision to finance RBS but ignore the government's own environment and human rights criteria to check that taxpayers' money is not spent in a harmful way.

Before launching the judicial review of this decision, Platform wrote to the Treasury to ask why they decided to ignore the fact that public money was being spent to fund a bank that is known for financing high carbon projects, several of which have also been linked to serious human rights concerns. The answer came back that 'environmental and human rights records of individual banks were of no relevance'. The excuse was that taking these considerations into account wouldn't be in the public interest. Obviously because the only thing that the Treasury thinks is in the public interest is making money no matter what the consequences might be.

But our question is: what could be more in the public interest than a bank that transforms from being the worst for financing dirty and destructive projects to one that actively contributes to an ethical and low carbon future? Does the Treasury really think that supporting a bank that has spent £10 billion since last October in loans to coal, oil and gas companies is in our interest? I don't. Nor do I think it is in the interest of those people who are already losing their homes, jobs and lives as a result of climate change or those who are for example living in countries, like the Democratic Republic of Congo or Sudan where civil war persists partly as a result of oil exploitation.

Apart from the public interest question, the government is supposed to spend public money in a way that reinforces its policies and legislation. So how can this expenditure be justified given that the government and especially Gordon Brown goes to considerable lengths to proclaim, insist and reiterate that the UK is a world leader on tackling climate change, global poverty and human rights abuses? The Treasury's decision to pour money into RBS and the other bailed out banks renders these words meaningless.

This legal action has been taken as a last-ditch attempt to force the government to admit its short-sightedness and use our money to fund a greener, cleaner and ethically sound banking system that works in the interests of people in the UK and around the world.

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

Government faces environmental legal challenge over RBS

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 11:29:43 GMT

The World Development Movement, PLATFORM and People & Planet have today launched legal action against the Treasury for allowing public money, poured into the Royal Bank of Scotland to be invested in energy companies, and projects linked to climate change and human rights violations.

Since RBS was bailed out in October 2008, it has contributed to loans worth an estimated £10 billion in coal, oil and gas companies. Coal is the biggest source of carbon emissions globally, which contributes to dangerous climate change. The campaigners believe that by investing in RBS, the Treasury is in direct conflict with the government's legislation and policies to reduce carbon emissions and prevent dangerous climate change.

Julian Oram, from the World Development Movement said:

"The government has spent billions on a bank with a track record of financing energy companies' dirty and destructive projects. We're launching this action because the Treasury has displayed a blatant disregard to the government’s own commitments to tackling climate change, and its rules for spending public money. The taxpayers’ interests would be vastly better served by RBS investing in a low carbon future than in undemocratic regimes and environmentally devastating projects around the world."

Kevin Smith, from PLATFORM said:

"The government can't pretend to be a global leader on dealing with climate change while at the same time refusing to rein in a public body that is financing new coal, oil and gas projects all over the world."

Ian Leggett, from People & Planet said:

"The government now controls RBS and has an exceptional opportunity to drive investments in low carbon jobs and infrastructure – not to repeat the recklessness of the past. If we are to stand a chance of stopping catastrophic climate change, the first priority is to make a clear and irreversible commitment to stop investing in high carbon companies and projects, but to prioritise investments in renewable energies."

Rosa Curling, solicitor from Leigh Day said:

“The government has the power and control to ensure public money provided to UK banks is not invested in or lent to projects that harm the climate or individual human rights. The refusal by the Treasury to even consider whether an investment could contribute to climate change or result in human rights abuses is clearly unlawful and completely out of line with the government’s own guidance, policies and targets on these issues.”

Since its bail out, RBS has taken part in an estimated £10 billion in loans to coal, oil and gas companies including:

- £6 billion to controversial energy giant E.ON, which is aiming to build the first new coal power station in the UK for over 20 years.

- In January 2009, RBS helped raise £400 million for the Irish company Tullow Oil, and in March 2009 RBS was part of a consortium of 14 banks that lent £1.4 billion to Tullow Oil. Tullow Oil is involved in the exploration and extraction of oil on the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This area has seen some of the fiercest fighting in an extractive resource-driven civil war as rival armies and militias have struggled for control of the land, leading to thousands of civilian deaths and refugees.

- RBS has helped to raise £116 million for Cairn Energy, a Scottish oil company, to be used for 'accelerated drilling' in arctic Greenland.

RBS has previously promoted itself as ‘the oil and gas bank’, financing fossil fuel projects and companies around the world. Between May 2006 and April 2008, RBS took part in loans to the coal industry worth nearly $100 billion.

The campaigners believe that the evidence submitted to the High Court today provides convincing grounds to order the government to ensure that taxpayers’ money in RBS supports investments in the wider public interest, by promoting a low carbon, sustainable and ethical future.

For more information, please call:

Kate Blagojevic - World Development Movement – 020 7820 4900 / 07711 875 345

Kevin Smith – PLATFORM – 0207 403 3738 / 0784 5502063

Ian Leggett - People & Planet - 01865 245678/ 07880 652207

Notes to editors:

* RBS was first recapitalised by the UK government in October 2008, the government's voting stake is currently capped at 75 per cent .
* On March 2, 2008, the Treasury established the framework for the management of public investment in recapitalised banks via UK Financial Investments. The framework sets out the basis for how the board of UKFI should manage government shares in
* the banks, but makes no reference to the need to consider social and environmental criteria, nor indeed supporting or even being consistent with other public policy objectives.
* The Green Book: Appraisal and Evaluation in Central Government requires central government to undertake a comprehensive and proportionate assessment of all new policies, programme and projects so as to best promote the public interest when using government resources (GB:1, para 1.1). One of the stages of this appraisal is the ‘option appraisal: that is, an appraisal of a range of different options against key variables such as costs, benefits and distributional, unvalued and non-market impacts [including environmental impacts including, but not limited to the impacts of policies and measures on greenhouse gas emissions (GB: 9, para.2.25, 63 – 64, paras. 37 – 43)].
* In a letter dated 21 April 2009 from the Treasury to legal council instructed by PLATFORM, the Treasury states that “The environmental and human rights records of the individual banks were of no relevance to the decision and therefore the appraisal of the decision that was carried out did not consider the environmental or human rights records or policies of the individual banks.”
* In a report published on 16 March 2009, Pre-Budget Report 2008: Green fiscal policy in a recession, the Environmental Audit Committee made the following recommendation to the Treasury on green finance. “The Committee also calls on the Treasury to look at the benefits and practicalities of imposing some form of environmental criteria on the investment strategies of those banks in which the state had a controlling stake.”
* The World Development Movement (WDM) tackles the underlying causes of poverty. We lobby decision makers to change the policies that keep people poor. We research and promote positive alternatives. We work alongside people in the developing world who are standing up to injustice. www.wdm.org.uk
* For over 20 years, PLATFORM has been bringing together environmentalists, artists, human rights campaigners, educationalists and community activists to create innovative projects driven by the need for social and environmental justice. www.platformlondon.org
* People & Planet is the largest UK student campaigning organisation, with more than a hundred groups in universities, colleges and schools taking action on world poverty, human rights and the environment. For more info, see http://peopleandplanet.org/

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

World Development Movement response to the government's 'Road to Copenhagen'

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 11:53:10 GMT

The World Development Movement strongly criticises the government's 'Road to Copenhagen' as 'riddled with pot holes.'

Tim Jones, climate policy officer at the World Development Movement said:

"Unfortunately, the 'Road to Copenhagen' is riddled with pot holes and Gordon Brown and Ed Miliband are posturing as the international saviours of the planet. The reality is that the climate science that the document is based on is out-of-date; the plans for a new Kingsnorth power station will smash our carbon reduction targets; and claiming that the global carbon market will deliver both reductions of our emissions, as well as financial assistance to developing countries to reduce their emissions is simply double counting on an Enronesque scale.

"If the government genuinely wishes to achieve a global climate deal that will help to prevent dangerous climate change, they must lead and not posture. The first thing that Gordon Brown and Ed Miliband should do if they are serious about preventing catastrophic climate change is to abandon plans for new dirty coal power stations in the UK.

"The global carbon market is not the solution. It means that the government can claim that we are reducing our carbon emissions whilst burning fossil fuels as normal. And they falsely claim that the carbon market will help developing countries develop in a low carbon way. We must not be fooled by this double counting; we must reduce our emissions and give financial assistance to developing countries to help reduce their emissions and adapt to climate change.

ENDS

For more information or an interview with Tim Jones, Please call Kate Blagojevic on 020 7820 4900 / 07711 875 345

Notes to editors

The World Development Movement suggests that the climate science is out-of-date as it states that to limit temperature increases to a maximum of 2°C global emissions must peak and start to reduce by 2020 and be cut by 50 per cent by 2050. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimated in 2007 that global emissions need to peak by 2000-2015 which would still result in temperature increases of more than 2°C. More recent estimates suggest global emissions need to peak by 2015 at the latest and be cut by 80 per cent on 1990 levels by 2050.

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

Rich rubbish radical reform at economic summit

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 10:50:00 GMT

The World Development Movement is disappointed that a UN summit set up to discuss ‘profound reform’ of the global economic system has delivered ‘more of the same' because some rich countries rubbished more progressive ideas.

The World Development Movement's policy officer, Vicky Cann said:

"The upshot of this summit is that it has delivered more of the same. But the same isn't good enough. Rich countries including the UK have rubbished some of the progressive ideas put forward by leading experts before this conference, which could genuinely have delivered profound reform of the economic system. As a result, such proposals are nowhere to be seen. This simply demonstrates again rich countries’ determination to maintain the political and economic status quo.

"Most concerning is the summit's faith that free trade will deliver a route out of the crisis, when the evidence shows that free trade and deregulated markets have been one of the most important causes of the current crisis.

"The proposals for reform of the IMF, World Bank and WTO are too weak. These institutions reinforce the elitist, outdated power relations between rich and poor countries and their policy prescriptions over the past twenty years have proved disastrous for developing countries. We need new economic institutions with progressive economic thinking that are fit for purpose in the 21st century that will act in the interests of developing countries.

"April's G20 summit and next month's G8 meeting are simply rich kids' talking shops that are not interested in radical reform, despite rhetoric that promises otherwise. The UN is far more representative yet it has been completely undermined by the rich kids wanting to maintain their power and influence at all costs. At this rate it is incredibly difficult to see who, when, where or what will deliver the change that is so desperately needed by the world's poor who are most vulnerable to this crisis."

ENDS

Notes to editors

The World Development Movement recommends replacing the IMF with a new institution much more closely aligned with Keynes’ original idea of an International Clearing Union which would work to bring both debtor and creditor nations into balance. The World Bank should be replaced with a far more democratic and legitimate World Development Fund which would make grants and not loans, and perhaps come to be seen as a ‘global social security system’.

For a detailed analysis on the case for replacing the World Bank and the IMF see Out of time

The World Development Movement (WDM) tackles the underlying causes of poverty. We lobby decision makers to change the policies that keep people poor. We research and promote positive alternatives. We work alongside people in the developing world who are standing up to injustice.

Brown told: ‘Rich don’t have the answers to the crisis’ Criticism of Prime Minister’s commitment to a ‘new politics’ as he shuns the UN but attends the G8

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 10:52:11 GMT

Campaigners today criticised Gordon Brown for refusing to send a cabinet minister to the United Nations summit on the economic crisis (1), but personally attending the 'outdated and elitist' G8 meeting in July.

Jubilee Debt Campaign, the World Development Movement and War on Want argue that as the vast majority of the world’s countries are not invited to the G20 or G8 meetings, the UN summit is vital in enabling those least responsible for the crisis to make fair and effective decisions on the future of the world economy.

A commission, chaired by Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz, has already devised a series of radical recommendations for global economic reform, but the UK and other western governments have been trying to water down proposals, including threats of boycott and public rubbishing of the summit. There are signs that the UK has been putting pressure on developing countries to downgrade their own support for the summit. UN diplomats have revealed that British government officials have been visiting developing country capitals in order to "persuade" them not to send high ranking officials to the UN conference.

Nick Dearden from Jubilee Debt Campaign said:
“If we’re ever going to see a more just economy, the Prime Minister and other western leaders need to start listening to the majority of the world. It’s surely become apparent over the last 12 months that the rich don’t have the answers. If we need to clean up politics in the UK, it’s needed even more internationally, where the rule of the richest is still taken for granted.”

Ruth Tanner from War on Want said:
"Brown's is determined to see off calls for regulation and continue on the path of free market fundamentalism at all costs. The UK government has made no secret of its efforts to rubbish the UN process. Alarmingly it now looks like the government is also going out of its way to undermine the involvement of developing countries as well."

Vicky Cann from the World Development Movement said:
“The G8 is an outdated and elitist forum; the G20 is still unrepresentative and did not generate the radical ideas needed to make the global economy work for people and the planet. The focus on pushing free trade and rushing through the WTO Doha trade deal is a smokescreen behind which rich governments are hiding to keep big business happy. The World Bank, IMF and WTO need to be radically reformed and ideally replaced – not given more power over those countries which did nothing to create this crisis, but which are suffering most from it.”

Campaigners are particularly anxious that the summit agrees that transformative, structural change to the global economy is needed, not simply tinkering at the edges. Particular support is given to professor Stiglitz’s proposals for:

* A powerful global economic coordination council within the UN which would bring a more just and sustainable form of global economic coordination than is currently offered by the World Bank, IMF and World Trade Organisation;
* A debt restructuring mechanism, leading to cancellation of unpayable and illegitimate developing country debt;
* An end to the practice of forcing economic policies on developing countries and radical reform of international financial institutions and the WTO;
* New arrangements for a global reserve currency to replace the dollar.

Campaigners are also calling for climate change to be tackled through the United Nations and fear the G8 will pre-empt an international discussion at Copenhagen in December.

ENDS

Nick Dearden,
Jubilee Debt Campaign on 07932 335464

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

Notes to editors

* United Nations Conference on the Financial and Economic Crisis and its Impact on Development on 24-26 June in New York City.

* Lord Mandelson “the era of the G8 is over” reported in Wall Street Journal, March 25, 2009, Norman, Laurence, "UK Mandelson: "Era Of The G8 Is Over".

Stop the unfair trade deal with Central America

Fri, 15 May 2009 10:03:25 GMT

Stop the unfair trade deal with Central America

The World Development Movement is calling on the EU to stop an unfair trade deal with Central America. The campaigners are concerned that the EU is rushing through negotiations in secret to seal a trade deal that could increase poverty and inequality in an already poor region.

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

"Central American governments and campaigners are voicing serious concerns over this deal because of the fear that it could increase poverty in the region. But it seems that the EU is insistent that it is completed and is really piling on the pressure to get a conclusion this summer. It is outrageous that the details of these negotiations are secret, as it denies democratic scrutiny and accountability to parliaments and citizens.

"There is a lot of evidence that free trade deals like this one could result in significant job losses amongst producers of manufactured goods; reduced government income from trade taxes to invest in public services, like health and education; reduced access to cheap medicines for the poorest people; reduced access to financial services for low income communities and small businesses. It is also likely that women will be disproportionately negatively affected."

The last round of negotiations that took place in April this year were halted when Nicaragua walked out. Although, the Nicaraguan government has now agreed to take part in the next round of negotiations, some Central American governments are understood to continue to have significant reservations over the EU's far reaching proposals.

The World Development Movement is calling on people to Email the European negotiators working on the deal and ask them to put the brakes on these negotiations.

For more information, please call Kate Blagojevic on 020 7820 4900

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

WDM welcomes end of unabated coal but fears CCS technology is "a giant gamble with the climate"

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 14:40:45 GMT

The World Development Movement welcomed Ed Miliband’s announcement that there is no place for unabated coal in our energy future at a time of climate crisis. However, the campaign group warned that the proposal leaves a giant loop hole that could still lead to disastrous levels of emissions before 2025. The proposed new plant at Kingsnorth in Kent could alone emit as much as the whole of Ghana each year.

“I’m delighted that the Minister has finally recognised there is no place for unabated coal at this time of climate crisis.” said Benedict Southworth, WDM’s Director.

But the Government is committing billions of pounds of taxpayers money on a technology [CCS] that remains untested on a large scale and may never be economically viable. It is also yet to be proven that climate damaging carbon dioxide emissions can be stored safely underground.”

“It is critical that the UK government provides a guarantee that if the gamble fails we won’t be left with massively polluting plants.”

Power companies must now recognise that new coal fired power stations cannot go ahead without being full CCS from the start, otherwise there will be no guarantee they will be cost effective by 2025.

ENDS

To organise an interview or for more information, please contact Kirsty Wright on 020 7820 4900/4913 or 07711 875 345. ISDN line available.

Notes to Editors

* 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

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

Green and Brown shoots in a schizophrenic budget

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 14:33:01 GMT

Alistair Darling's budget reveals the government's 'schizophrenic' green credentials, according to the World Development Movement.

Julian Oram, head of policy at the World Development Movement said: "The government is allocating £525 million for offshore wind but is providing tax cuts to big business to extract 2 billion barrels of' oil and gas. Tackling climate change requires keeping fossil fuels in the ground, not extracting every drop we can. This reveals the schizophrenic nature of the government's green credentials.

"Darling has announced money for two to four demonstration projects in coal power carbon capture and storage. Relying on this technology is a big gamble. By the time we know if it works, millions of pounds will have been squandered and it may be too late to prevent dangerous climate change.

"These demonstration projects cannot be tagged-on to dirty coal power stations where most of the emissions will continue to warm the world for generations to come. And carbon capture and storage will be pointless if it is used to extract more oil from the North Sea."

"A credible green budget required the Chancellor to commit at least two per cent of national GDP to invest in renewable energy generation, infrastructure, warm homes, construction and transport projects which will create green jobs. Sadly we saw nothing like this level of commitment."

"Brown is certainly serious about talking about a Green New Deal, but this is not what we have heard today. The Chancellor's promised 'green jobs revolution' is unlikely to come about without far greater support for transition to a low carbon economy."

ENDS For more information, please call Tim Jones on 020 7820 4900 / 07711 875 345

G20 outcome – 'a bitter pill for the world’s poor' says banned World Development Movement

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 14:31:08 GMT

he G20 outcome is ‘a bitter pill to swallow’ for the world’s poorest people says the World Development Movement, the anti-poverty group that was banned at last minute from attending the G20 summit. The campaigners are dismayed that the G20 leaders have missed an historic opportunity to launch a global recovery plan that will benefit poor people and tackle the climate crisis.

Julian Oram, head of policy at the World Development Movement said:

“For the world’s poorest people the outcome of the summit is a bitter pill to swallow, as they are being hit hardest by the economic and climate crises. What is needed from the G20 is a radical shake up of the global economy, what we got was world leaders desperately rearranging the deck chairs on a sinking Titanic. The commitments to stay on course to meet the Millennium Development Goals and to provide emergency funding for poor countries are welcome. But what was missing was a global green new deal that puts the interests of poor people and the environment at the heart of international trade and finance."
On the issue of free trade and a push for a deal at the WTO, Julian Oram, remarked:

"The G20 are absolutely right that trade is important to developing countries, but they seem hell-bent on maintaining the rigged rules that favour multi-national companies and not people in developing countries. Of course we do not want rich countries closing their markets to developing country exports in a rush to protectionism; but developing countries must not be locked into unfair free trade deals that bring little advantage to people and reduces governments' ability to choose their own economic policies. In particular, developing countries must not be pressured into signing up to a deal at the World Trade Organisation that will not work for them.

"Gordon Brown's dogmatic pursuit of free trade deals contradicts his mantra on re-regulating the banking system. The EU is pushing free trade deals that will make it easier for European banks to carry on their casino-style investment practices in other parts of the world – an inconsistency that has not been dealt with in any way by the G20."
On the trebling of the IMF's budget, Julian Oram said:

"The IMF has a history of lending money to developing countries with strict conditions attached – such as cuts in public service expenditure, privatisation, and liberalisation. These policies have exacerbated the current economic crisis and global inequality. The G20 has not done enough to guarantee that IMF ‘bail outs’ for developing countries do not come with more failed economic policies in tow. Talk of reforming the IMF and World Bank is long overdue, but to be truly democratic, we need to see more than a small expansion of the privileged club of countries which have a say in how these institutions are run ”
On the fact that climate change has been largely ignored, Julian Oram said:

"It's absolutely astounding that the G20 communiqué merely paid lip service to climate change and the need for a low carbon economy. The excuse that climate change will be discussed later in the year at Copenhagen doesn't wash. The G20 has missed the opportunity to deliver a green global stimulus package that would create jobs and help to tackle climate change. The economic crisis and the climate crisis are intrinsically interlinked and must be addressed as such through a global green new deal."
On the future work for the G20, Julian Oram commented:

“The G20 has proven itself not be up to the job of taming the beast they helped to create. A much more democratic and participatory international process must now be launched to rewrite the rules of the global economy in favour of ordinary people and the environment, instead of the corporate elite."

ENDS

WDM's briefing on what we want from the G20

For creative commons photos from the London march see WDM's page on Flickr

For twitter reports from the g20 conference visit @wdmuk

For more information, please call:

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

Number 10 bans World Development Movement from G20 summit at last minute

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 17:36:31 GMT

Minutes ago, the World Development Movement learnt that its accreditation, as part of the Put People First alliance, to enter the G20 summit has been revoked. The reason is unclear but a member of the accreditation team told the World Development Movement that the decision came after the Foreign and Commonwealth Office had received a note from 'Number 10' to decline the organisation's director, Benedict Southworth's accreditation.

Benedict Southworth, director of the World Development Movement said:

"I am outraged that we have apparently been banned at last minute from attending the G20 summit. We hope it's not what it appears to be – an attempt to stage manage events and prevent voices of dissent and disagreement from being heard.

"The only other government in the world that has banned the World Development Movement from attending a global summit is the Singapore government which has a track record of stifling voices of opposition. A ban that was subsequently overturned after protests from around the world.

"On Saturday, I was part of the Put People First delegation that met with Ed Miliband, Gareth Thomas and Steven Simms at 'Number 11'. On behalf of my members and the people who we work with around the world, I will be demanding to know why this ludicrous decision has been made."

ENDS

WDM's briefing on what we want from the G20

For creative commons photos from the London march see WDM's page on Flickr

For twitter reports from the g20 conference visit @wdmuk

For more information, please call:

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

What the World Development Movement wants at the G20

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 13:39:36 GMT

This briefing includes the World Development Movement's critique and recommendations to the G20 leaders on the following areas: trade v protectionism; refuelling the IMF; resurrecting the WTO Doha development round; the climate crisis and the Green New Deal.
This is not just a banking crisis.

The banks have collapsed and been bailed out. And the global economic system as a whole has broken down, and must be radically revised to ensure that it puts people and the planet first.

A consequence of the capitalist casino system of international finance and consumption is the climate crisis. The economic and climate crises are intrinsically linked and must be addressed as such by the G20 leaders.

This meeting will define the future of the global economy more than any other in the last sixty years; and as such could have profound implications for the world’s poor and efforts to tackle climate change. We want an economic system that is up to the challenges of the 21st century.

Quotes from Dr Julian Oram, head of policy at the World Development Movement

"The G20 must not prescribe more of the same toxic medicine that led to the current sickly state of the global economy. This means no more unregulated markets, no more exposure of poor countries to corporate tax dodgers, predatory speculators and filching banks, and no more power given to unaccountable global bodies like the World Bank and IMF.

"We need a global green new deal, with at least two per cent of world GDP targeted to green investment and job-generating projects. There needs to be proactive intervention in markets to support a green economic recovery with decent jobs, stronger public services and social protections in all countries, and far greater transparency and democratic control over the financial system."
Economic control for developing countries

Trade is vital to developing countries but the rules are rigged in favour of rich nations and multi national companies. Poor countries must not be locked into unfair free trade deals that bring little benefit to people and reduces their ability to choose economic policies appropriate to their circumstances. In particular, developing countries must not be pressured into signing up to a deal at the World Trade Organisation.
Re-regulating the global banking system

Gordon Brown cannot push for re-regulation of the banking system and trade deals that deregulate financial services at the same time. EU free trade deals prioritise banking liberalisation in developing countries. If the G20 are serious about re-regulating the banking system, this must apply to European banks operating in developing countries too.

Tackling climate change through the stimulus package
The climate crisis must be tackled at the same time as the economic crisis. The global stimulus package must be green – there must be massive public and private investment in a global transition to low carbon economies, this will create jobs and tackle climate change. The G20 must agree a Green New Deal that sets the world on course for a low-carbon economic recovery.
Emergency lending and reform of IMF and World Bank

Developing countries currently have little say in how powerful organisations like the World Bank, IMF and World Trade Organisation are run. The IMF has a history of lending money to developing countries with strict policy conditions – such as cuts in public service expenditure, privatisation, and liberalisation – which have exacerbated the current economic crisis. Any emergency lending to countries on the brink of economic collapse must not be linked to these same disastrous economic conditions. Furthermore, the Bank and IMF need to be radically overhauled and made democratically accountable to the people in whose interests they are supposed to work.
The World Development Movement's key demands for the G20
Free trade v protectionism

Gordon Brown in particular has led the fight against the fledgling murmurs from many countries that are seeking to protect jobs at home. The World Development Movement believes that trade is vital to developing countries' economies; however the current trade rules are designed to boost profits in European and US multinational corporations, rather than deliver real gain for people living in poverty in developing countries.

The European Union is currently negotiating trade deals with half the countries around the world. It includes a hit list of 34 poor and emerging economies to target for new trade deals - countries where more than 920 million people live in poverty. Impacts of trade deals have shown that effects on the poorest people can be dire and include: loss of jobs; increased food costs; loss of access to credit; dumping of subsidised agricultural goods; foreign companies dominating services such as water, energy and banking; profits funneled back to Europe; and weaker economic performance.
Developing countries must be able to choose the economic policies that will work for people in those countries, and not be locked into free trade deals that only benefit European multinationals.
The World Development Movement is calling for these trade deals to be stopped and is campaigning for Europe to adopt a trade agenda that puts people before profits.
It is possible to trade in a way that benefits the poor. Such a system would:

* Work in the interests of people and the environment
* Let developing countries choose their own development policies
* Not be dominated by European corporate interests
* Be transparent, democratic and truly representative
* Prioritise regional trade between countries at similar levels of development
* Brown's banking de/re-regulation contradiction.
* European banks fail the world's poor

The World Development Movement has warned that Gordon Brown's proposals at the G20 to salvage the global economy could be wrecked by contradictions between his tough talk on re-regulating the banking sector at home, while the UK continues to push for banking liberalisation in developing countries through European free trade deals.

Our new report, Taking the credit, reveals the extent of the negative consequences of the financial services liberalisation in developing countries through EU free trade deals. These deals would lift restrictions on how multinational banks, like Barclays, HSBC, Santander operate in developing countries. The World Development Movement’s evidence shows such deals would mean that poor people and small businesses lose out on access to credit and other banking services.

Benedict Southworth, director of the World Development Movement said:
"On the one hand, Gordon Brown has developed a mantra of tough talk on the re-regulation of banks. On the other, together with other European leaders, he is aggressively pushing free trade deals which demand that developing countries follow a deregulated and liberalised banking model. That model has clearly and spectacularly failed here and has also failed poor people in the developing countries. This is a huge contradiction that threatens a positive outcome at the G20 – and undermines development in poorer countries.

"If Brown continues to push for these contradictory policies, he will find his credibility in tatters and risks being branded a hypocrite by those who have concerns over the unfair nature of proposed European and WTO trade deals."
Refueling the IMF

Gordon Brown is insisting that one of the key solutions to the economic crisis is to give the IMF more money and more power, essentially in order to bail out economies. But the World Development Movement believes that the IMF cannot be trusted with this role. The institution has an appalling history of forcing developing countries to implement economic policies that have deepened poverty and inequality. The IMF continues to insist that developing countries cut their public spending in return for loans – which means cuts in vital public services, like health and education provision. The IMF has also been complicit in pushing privatisation and deregulation in poor countries. It has colluded with the world's big banks to foster a spirit of gung-ho or risk-free financing, that has de-stabilised banks and entire nations. We believe that the IMF is Out of time and with the World Bank must now be restructured, along the lines of Keynes’ original ideas, to be democratically accountable bodies with independent financing and voting systems free from political bullying and corporate bias.
The twin of the economic crisis: the climate crisis

Climate change will hit the world's poorest people first and worst. They are already experiencing the climate crisis and are suffering from loss of livelihoods and live in increasingly unstable environments. The climate crisis is the twin of the economic crisis and must be addressed at the G20 summit. It cannot be sidelined. The G20 must recognise that ever increasing consumption and the associated reliance on fossil fuels and out-of-control greenhouse gas emissions is unsustainable and leads us to runaway climate change. The G20 must agree a Green New Deal which prioritises a transition to a global low carbon economy. This will create green jobs through massive investment in renewable energy and wider environmental transformation. The stimulus packages implemented by G20 countries must focus on green, low carbon investment. It is in this way that both the economic and climate crises can be solved.
To WTO or not to WTO

The ‘food crisis’ and other excuses
The World Trade Organisation is warning that trade is falling and is sending urgent warnings to the G20 leaders not to raise trade barriers, and is hoping that the G20 will lay the ground work for a summer meeting of the WTO that could finally wrap a deal that has proved illusive. But the World Development Movement believes that No deal is better than a bad deal . The WTO has a history of the EU and US pressuring developing countries into opening their markets so that their multinational businesses can reap the rewards, whilst committing to minimal reform in their own policies, for example minimal reductions in subsidies to farmers in the EU and US. There are many more examples of unfair trade rules.
Put People First

The World Development Movement is part of Put People First.

Put People First is an unprecedented alliance of more than 150 union, development, faith and environmental organisations ranging from the TUC to the Salvation Army, Friends of the Earth to Oxfam, Tear Fund to the National Pensioners Convention, Stop Climate Chaos to Action Aid. A full list of supporting organisations is available at http://www.bond.org.uk/pages/platform-members.html

Put People First was set up to tell world leaders attending the G20 summit in London on Thursday 2 April that only just, fair and sustainable policies can lead the world out of recession.

For creative commons photos from the London march see WDM's page on Flickr

For twitter reports from the g20 conference visit @wdmuk

For more information, please call:

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

35,000 people call G20 to put people first

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 12:03:27 GMT

35,000 people call G20 to put people first

A new movement was born on 28 March 2009, with the World Development Movement at its heart, as over 35,000 people marched through London calling for a fundamental change in the world economy to deliver decent jobs and public services for all, an end to global poverty, and a green economy.

Read the Put People First policy demands

At a rally in Hyde Park, they were addressed by Global Call to Action against Poverty co-chair Kumi Naidoo, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber, actor and activist Tony Robinson, environmentalist Tony Juniper and trade campaigner Mary Lou Malig among others. They heard international calls for action to deliver tax justice, trade justice, a Green New Deal in both rich and poor countries, and for democratically accountable governments, banks and international financial institutions to deliver it.

Members of Put People First - an unprecedented alliance of more than 150 unions, development, faith and environment groups,] - are united in calling on the G20 leaders to recognise that only just, fair and sustainable policies can lead the world out of recession, and that a return to 'business as usual' - with the associated poverty, inequality and climate change - is not an option.

Christian groups including World Vision and Tearfund started the day with an ecumenical service at Methodist Central Hall, overseen by the Bishop of London.

Delegations joined the march from around the world, including Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Luxemburg, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Korea, USA, Australia, South Africa, Zambia, Canada and the Philippines.

The day's march is not the end of the campaign, but the start. The UK holds the chair of the G20 group for the rest of 2009 when the G8, the G20 and the United Nations all meet to chart a way through the recession. And 2009 ends with the vital Copenhagen climate conference.

These are real opportunities to win substantial change for poor people and the environment that Put People First will use to advance the call for an economy that works for secure jobs, global justice and a safe climate.

For more photos from the day see WDM's page on Flickr

For twitter reports from the march visit @wdmuk

For more information, please call:

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

Gordon Brown under fire as impact of banking liberalisation revealed in developing world

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 12:02:10 GMT

Gordon Brown under fire as impact of banking liberalisation revealed in developing world

Today, the World Development Movement warns that Gordon Brown's proposals at the G20 to salvage the global economy could be wrecked by contradictions between his tough talk on re-regulating the banking sector and the UK’s continued push for banking liberalisation in developing countries through European free trade deals.

The new report, 'Taking the credit’, reveals the extent of the negative consequences of the financial services liberalisation pushed on developing countries through EU free trade deals. These deals would lift restrictions on how multinational banks, like Barclays, HSBC, Santander operate in developing countries. The World Development Movement’s evidence shows such deals would mean that poor people and small businesses lose out on access to credit and other banking services.

Benedict Southworth, director of the World Development Movement said:

"On the one hand, Gordon Brown has developed a mantra of tough talk on the re-regulation of banks. On the other, together with other European leaders, he is aggressively pushing free trade deals which demand that developing countries follow a deregulated and liberalised banking model. That model has clearly and spectacularly failed here and has also failed poor people in the developing countries. This is a huge contradiction that threatens a positive outcome at the G20 – and undermines development in poorer countries.

"If Brown continues to push for these contradictory policies, he will find his credibility in tatters and risks being branded a hypocrite by those who have concerns over the unfair nature of proposed European and WTO trade deals."

The research for 'Taking the credit' was conducted by the World Development Movement and partner organisations based in Mexico and India.

Dharmendra Kumar, from India FDI Watch said:

"There are several problems with the current lending regime in India. One is that it is almost impossible to get a loan. The second is that the interest rates are frequently phenomenal and at predatory rates. The aggressive penetration of European banks is going to worsen the situation."

In Mexico, Adriana Labardini, director of Centro de Investigación del Consumo y el Consumidor said:

"It is heartbreaking to witness in the 21st century, a community of hard working, honest and productive Mexican women that have proven to be credit-worthy and committed entrepreneurs, being excluded by the commercial banks."

The report examines the consequences of the entry and presence of European banks in developing countries, including Mexico and India. It concludes that:

1. foreign banks cherry-pick richer customers, which results in an overall decline in services and credit for poorer customers and smaller businesses

1. foreign banks shift credit away from investment in productive activities such as agriculture or manufacturing which boosts local economic development

1. hundreds of millions of people in developing countries lack access to affordable and sustainable banking services. Further financial services liberalisation through the World Trade Organisation or through Europe’s planned bilateral trade deals threatens to worsen this situation. This will set back the progress of local entrepreneurship that fuels economic development and raises the standard of living across developing countries

The World Development Movement calls for the UK to attend the G20 summit with progressive economic policies including commitments to:

1. Overhaul and re-regulate the global financial system

1. Remove financial services liberalisation from proposed bilateral and multilateral trade deals

1. Re-think UK and European trade policy so that it supports rather than undermines sustainable development around the world

1. Tackle financial exclusion in developing countries through policies which provide for the sustainable and affordable provision of financial services

1. Increase transparency and oversight of financial services sector lobbying in the UK and Brussels

ENDS

Notes to editors

Aside from the proposed trade deal at the World Trade Organisation, the EU is targeting 34 countries in Latin America, Asia and the Mediterranean region for bilateral or regional trade deals. These countries are home to 2.3 billion people, 920 million of whom live on less than US$2 a day.

The World Development Movement's report can be found at www.wdm.org.uk/takingthecredit

The World Development Movement 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

Centro de Investigación del Consumo y el Consumidor (CICC) is a Mexican non-profit organisation which carries out legal, economic, social and technology research on consumer and consumption issues affecting consumers in Mexico and abroad: www.alconsumidor.org

India FDI Watch is a campaign to protect retail democracy and to rein in the corporate rise in the retail sector of India by building awareness and facilitating grassroots action: www.indiafdiwatch.org

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

Brown's Green New Deal must have 'action today, not green gestures for tomorrow'

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 11:48:27 GMT

In response to today’s ‘low carbon summit’ launched by Gordon Brown, Benedict Southworth, director of the World Development Movement said:

“It’s welcome that Gordon Brown is saying that he plans to tackle the economic and climate crisis together through a green new deal, but he must be very careful not to co-opt green language, while continuing to deliver black, high carbon projects. He cannot say our industrial landscape will be ‘transformed’ by building new coal power stations and relying on carbon capture technology that doesn’t exist to green them. We need action today, not green gestures for tomorrow.

“The real danger is that today’s summit will simply dress up ‘business as usual’ with promises of future green ideals, when Brown should be showing real international leadership through a radical and real move to a low carbon economy through a radical and real green new deal, for example by massive investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency to create thousands of new green collar jobs and providing secure places for people to invest their savings and pensions.”

ENDS For more information, please call:

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

UK's 'green' aid to be spent on building new coal power stations in developing world

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 11:10:30 GMT

The World Development Movement slammed a UK government plan to put almost £400 million of 'green' aid designed to assist developing countries low carbon development into a World Bank fund that will subsidise new dirty coal power plants.

The £400 million represents almost half of the UK’s Environmental Transformation Fund – Gordon Brown’s flagship £800 million fund to assist developing countries to deal with the impacts of climate change and develop low carbon economies.

Benedict Southworth, director of the World Development Movement said:

"This UK government money is supposedly specifically designed to help developing countries make the transition to low carbon economies. It's an absolute disgrace that it will actually be used for building new coal power stations. This money will actually contribute significantly to climate change, rather than do anything to prevent it. This is embarrassing for the UK government; but is incredibly worrying news for the world's poorest people who will be hit hardest by climate change. They expect the UK to play a leading role in the fight against climate change both at home and through its funding.

"Every pound of this 'green' aid that will be spent on funding coal power through the World Bank is money should be spent on supporting genuinely clean technology, such as renewable energy in developing countries. It's another reminder, if one were needed, that the World Bank is institutionally incapable of considering the needs of the world’s poorest people in its decision-making, or of delivering the finance that is needed to deliver climate justice to developing countries.".

The UK money will be ploughed into the World Bank's Clean Technology Fund (CTF) which will fund the building of new supercritical coal power plants, which are already the first choice for new power plants around the world. Furthermore, the CTF specifically will not fund carbon capture and storage technology.

Coal power stations in the UK, such as Kingsnorth in Kent, are scheduled to shut down by 2015 due to European law on local pollution levels. Coal power stations in developing countries will tend not to have the same restrictions. This is likely to result in the building of new coal power stations in the developing world that emit levels of pollution into the local environment that have health impacts that are unacceptable in Europe.

Ricardo Navarro, a climate change campaigner from Central America said:

"If you look at the history of the World Bank, you will see that they have been at the centre of many problems in Central America. The World Bank has a history of funding projects that cause climate change and so this is nothing new. The UK should not give this World Bank fund a pound, I would rather that the UK government bought flowers for every household in the UK than spend this money on a World Bank coal fund. The UK should abandon this plan and make sure that the money goes to fund renewable energy, not new coal."

The World Development Movement is calling for the UK government to:

* Withhold the money for tackling climate change from the World Bank
* Work with developing countries in the international negotiations to agree in Copenhagen at the end of 2009 a new fund within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to support cuts in emissions and low carbon development in developing countries
* Find alternative ways for getting clean technology money actually spent on clean technology
* Support a UN-led process to review and fundamentally reform the World Bank’s governance, mandate, policy role and financing.

ENDS

Notes to editors

Problems with supercritical coal:

1) Supercritical coal has extremely high emissions. It is slightly more efficient than old subcritical coal power plants, but far more emitting than oil and gas power stations, and genuinely ‘clean’ technologies such as solar and wind.

2) The World Bank says that the typical emission factor for the typical supercritical plant is 0.80 t CO2/MWh (net); and that these plants have: “become the system of choice for new commercial coal-fired plants in many countries”.[1] 0.8 tonnes of CO2 per MWh is only slightly higher than the Clean Technology Funds’ criteria of being 0.795 tonnes of CO2 per MWh.

The CTF says it will fund “transformational” technology and this is clearly not transformational.

3)The World Bank allows for the criteria to be higher than 0.795 tonnes of CO2 per MWh based on country specific and site specific conditions. These conditions are not specified, so the Clean Technology Fund could fund even more highly polluting coal power plants.

Detail

There are two funds within the Climate Investment Funds – the Clean Technology Fund and the Strategic Climate Fund (adaptation and deforestation).[2]

The Clean Technology Fund is part of the World Bank’s Climate Investment Funds.

The UK pledged £800 million to the CIF in September 2008. Ten donors in total pledged US$6.1 billion.[3] The CTF will use grants and concessional loans, and will seek to leverage in investment from the private sector.[4] The CTF and SCF have yet to receive any of the money pledged.[5]

The UK has indicated that it intends to put £383 million of the £800 million into the CTF over three years (see Table below). This will all come from the Environmental Transformation Fund.

The World Bank CTF board meeting on 30 January 2009 considered a document stating that the criteria for a ‘high efficiency’ coal power plant for the CTF to fund would be:

“Carbon intensity of the power plant must be lower than 0.795 t CO2/MWh (net) based on a reference plant with defined site ambient conditions and coal type, as outlined in Annex 1.”[7]

“For each specific proposal for CTF co-financing, the 0.795 t CO2/MWh (net) threshold will be adjusted to reflect the fact that efficiency and emissions are affected by the following country and site-specific factors:”[8]

CCS has been viewed as not qualifying for CTF financing as it is “at the research and development stage”.[9] Plants will need to be “CCS ready” which is defined as a) having enough space, b) having a storage site identified and c) an economic analysis of what future CCS options may be.[10]

The co-Chairs of the meeting were Raul Delgado from Mexico and Andrew Steer from the UK.

The governments on the CTF board are: Australia, Brazil, China, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, UK, US. (Seven donors and seven developing countries).

[1] CTF. (2009). Clean Technology Fund Criteria For Financing Low-Carbon Opportunities In Coal And Gas Power Investments. Meeting of the CTF Trust Fund Committee. Washington, D.C. January 29-30, 2009

[2] http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/climatechange/internat/devcountry/funding.htm Viewed on 09/02/09.

[3] World Bank. (2008). Donor Nations Pledge Over $6.1 billion to Climate Investment Funds. World Bank. Washington DC. 26/09/08.

[4] World Bank. (2008). The Clean Technology Fund. World Bank. Washington DC. 09/06/08.

[5] CIF. (2009). Climate Investment Funds: Financial status as of 26 January 2009. World Bank. Washington DC.

[7] CTF. (2009). Clean Technology Fund Criteria For Financing Low-Carbon Opportunities In Coal And Gas Power Investments. Meeting of the CTF Trust Fund Committee. Washington, D.C. January 29-30, 2009

[8] CTF. (2009). Clean Technology Fund Criteria For Financing Low-Carbon Opportunities In Coal And Gas Power Investments. Meeting of the CTF Trust Fund Committee. Washington, D.C. January 29-30, 2009

[9] CTF. (2009). Clean Technology Fund Criteria For Financing Low-Carbon Opportunities In Coal And Gas Power Investments. Meeting of the CTF Trust Fund Committee. Washington, D.C. January 29-30, 2009

[10] CTF. (2009). Clean Technology Fund Criteria For Financing Low-Carbon Opportunities In Coal And Gas Power Investments. Meeting of the CTF Trust Fund Committee. Washington, D.C. January 29-30, 2009

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

The World Development Movement criticises police over ‘summer of rage’ comment

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 19:07:20 GMT

removed.

Campaigners from developing world demand ban on new UK coal power

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 19:06:15 GMT

Today, UK based anti poverty campaigners, the World Development Movement revealed that over 30 organisations from the developing world have written to Ed Miliband to demand that he bans new coal power, and scraps the controversial plan for a new coal power station at Kingsnorth in Kent.

Murray Benham, head of campaigns at the World Development Movement said:

“Those on the receiving end of the UK’s carbon emissions are appalled at the prospect of new coal power stations being built in the UK. Any international credibility the UK has for putting climate change targets into law will be shot to pieces by another decision in favour of a carbon emitting monster. The World Development Movement has calculated that a new power station at Kingsnorth would by itself create 30,000 climate refugees across the world. Campaigners from the developing world are clear that this is unjust, and Ed Miliband cannot allow it to happen.”

Ricardo Navarro, campaigner from El Salvador said:

“The UK building coal power stations is like eating a slap-up meal and handing the bill to the world’s poor.”

The letter to Ed Miliband, UK Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change has been signed by 34 influential organisations based in the global south, in countries such as Uganda, India, Lebanon, Brazil, South Africa, Indonesia, as well as by international NGOs, Focus on the Global South and the Third World Network.

An extract from the letter states:

"New coal power stations in the UK will exacerbate the impacts of climate change on impoverished communities in the global South and prevent the UK from developing sustainable ways of creating a low carbon economy which could be used elsewhere in the world. A decision to support new coal power stations will confirm the UK as a climate criminal in the international climate change negotiations."

Ends

For more information, please contact Kate Blagojevic on 020 7820 4900 / 07711 875 345

Notes to editors

Full Statement on new coal power stations in the UK

The changing of the world's climate, primarily caused by the rich world's consumption of fossil fuels, is already impacting negatively on many impoverished communities and indigenous peoples across the global South. Yet it is countries in the global North, with 18 per cent of the world's population, who are historically responsible for 70 per cent of carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels.

Through increased floods, droughts, sea-levels and disease, hundreds of millions of people face having their livelihoods destroyed the more global temperatures increase.

Urgent action is therefore needed by the global North to:

· invest in appropriate energy efficiency and safe, clean and community-led renewable energy

· radically reduce wasteful consumption

· promote financial transfers from North to South, based on the repayment of climate debts and subject to democratic control, in order to fund adaptation and mitigation in the global South.

We are therefore alarmed that the UK government is considering allowing new coal power stations to be built, such as at Kingsnorth in Kent. Coal power is the most climate polluting way to generate electricity. We are further concerned about any attempt to 'offset' the emissions of coal power stations through the Clean Development Mechanism, which has continuously had negative impacts on communities in the global South whilst failing to cut emissions.

New coal power stations in the UK will exacerbate the impacts of climate change on impoverished communities in the global South and prevent the UK from developing sustainable ways of creating a low carbon economy which could be used elsewhere in the world. A decision to support new coal power stations will confirm the UK as a climate criminal in the international climate change negotiations.

Communities in the global South face the worst impacts of climate change unless radical action is taken now to cut emissions. We call on you to ban the building of new coal power stations in the UK, including at Kingsnorth in Kent.

Signed:

Third World Network
Focus on the Global South
Oilwatch International
World Rainforest Movement
Climate Network Africa
The Agency for Co-operation & Research in Development (ACORD), Africa
The Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ)
Arab Climate Alliance
Southern African Faith Communities' Environment Institute
Pacific Indigenous Peoples Environment Coalition
Fahamu
VOICE, Bangladesh
Fórum Brasileiro de ONGs e Movimentos Sociais (FBOMS – Brazilian Forum of NGO’s and Social Movements), Brazil
Friends of the Earth Brazil
The NGO Forum on Cambodia, Cambodia
CENSAT Agua Viva, Colombia
CESTA, El Salvador
Unidad Ecológica Salvadoreña (Salvadorean Ecological Unit), El Salvador
Water Initiatives Orissa, India
Global Climate Campaign, India
National Forum of Forest People and Forest workers, India
Paryavaran Mitra, India
Centre for Environmental Concerns, India
Corporate Accountability Desk of the Other Media, India
South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers & People, India
Serikat Petani Indonesia (Indonesian Peasant Union), Indonesia
Walhi, Indonesia
IndyACT, Lebanon
Philippine Climate Watch Alliance, Philippines
Center for Environmental Concerns, Philippines
Groundwork, South Africa
Yonge Nawe Environmental Action Group, Swaziland
Climate and Development Initiatives, Uganda
Uganda Coalition for Sustainable Development, Uganda

The World Development Movement is a member of the Stop Climate Chaos Coalition – the UK’s largest group of people dedicated to action on climate change.

Huge new alliance to tell world leaders to put people first

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 17:05:46 GMT

A huge new platform of unions, development agencies, faith and environmental groups plans to tell world leaders attending the G20 summit in April that only just, fair and sustainable policies can lead the world out of recession.

The alliance, which includes the TUC, Oxfam, ActionAid, Friends of the Earth and CAFOD, is calling on people to join a major demonstration for jobs, justice and climate in London on Saturday 28 March, five days before the summit.

Under the banner "Put People First – March for Jobs, Justice and Climate", the groups will demand decent jobs and public services for all, an end to global poverty and inequality, and a green economy.

The march will assemble on the Embankment en route to Hyde Park for a rally to be addressed by speakers and celebrities from the UK and around the world.

The organisations backing "Put People First" say: "Recession must not be an excuse for putting off action for global justice or to stop climate chaos. The only sustainable way to rebuild the global economy is to create a fair distribution of wealth that provides decent jobs and public services for all, ends global inequality and builds a low carbon future."

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: "People are angry at the job losses caused by this recession made in the world's banks and at the slow response of world leaders to the challenges of poverty and climate change.

"But while these are going to be desperately tough times, the collapse of free market fundamentalism and the big changes already brought about by President Obama provide the hope that world leaders can change course and start to build a fair and sustainable world."

Director of the Stop Climate Chaos Coalition, Ashok Sinha, said: "We can and must tackle climate change and the economic downturn together. Only by investing in green jobs and thriving low carbon economies will a sustainable way of life be secured for generations to come.

"The lives and livelihoods of millions of poor and vulnerable people across all countries are at stake. The leaders of the G20 owe it to those most at risk yet least responsible for both the economic crisis and the threat of climate chaos to help create a global Green New Deal to tackle both."

ActionAid Head of Policy, Dr Claire Melamed, said: "The crisis is more than a banking failure - it is a crisis of the whole system, but also a huge chance to put the economic system on a new and fairer path.

"With rising inequality and poverty made more desperate by the impact of the financial crisis, world leaders have to step up to the challenge - and the world is watching. The time is now: to make finance transparent and accountable, to share wealth more fairly, and to make markets work for everyone."

NOTES TO EDITORS:

- People can keep in touch with the campaign via the website www.putpeoplefirst.org.uk

- Text of the statement endorsed by organisations backing the march:

On 2 April the leaders of 20 of the world's biggest economies meet in London to tackle the recession and global financial crisis.

Even before the banking collapse caused recession, the world suffered vast poverty and inequality and faced the looming threat of climate chaos. Governments, business and international institutions have followed a model of financial deregulation that has encouraged short-term profits, instability and an economy fuelled by ever-increasing debt, both financial and environmental.

There can be no going back to business as usual. The only sustainable way to rebuild the global economy is to create a fair distribution of wealth that provides decent jobs and public services for all, ends global inequality and builds a low carbon future.

Recession must not be an excuse for putting off action for global justice or to stop climate chaos. Creating a just, fair and sustainable world is the only lasting way out of recession.

On 28 March thousands of people will march through London as part of a global campaign to challenge the G20 leaders.
Our message is clear. We must put people first.

• Put People First: Decent jobs and public services for all

• Put People First: End global poverty and inequality

• Put People First: Build a green economy

- Initial list of organisations backing the march:

ActionAid, Action for Global Climate Community, ACTSA (Action for Southern Africa), Advocacy International, Akina Mama Wa Africa , BECTU, BOND (British Overseas NGOs for Development), Bretton Woods Project, CAFOD, Centre for Democracy and Development, Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, CHIC (Change is Coming), Christian Aid, Equity, Everychild, Fairtrade Foundation, Fatima Women's Network, Friends of the Earth, Global Call to Action Against Poverty, GMB, Jubilee Debt Campaign, MRDF (Methodist Relief and Development Fund), Musicians Union, Muslim Council of Britain, National Union of Journalists, National Union of Teachers, New Internationalist, One World Action, Oxfam, Pants to Poverty, PCS, People and Planet, Progressio, Salvation Army, Save the Children, Stamp Out Poverty, Stop AIDS Campaign, Stop Climate Chaos Coalition, Tax Justice Network, Teach a Man to Fish, Tearfund, Trade Justice Movement, Trades Union Congress, Trading Visions, Traidcraft, UCU (Universities and Colleges Union), UK Aid Network, UNISON, UNITE, War on Want, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, World Development Movement, World Vision, WWF

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

Government hides carbon emissions with creative accounting

Wed, 04 Feb 2009 11:46:12 GMT

New government figures released today revealing that UK carbon emissions are significantly down are ‘spin, aided by creative accounting’ say the World Development Movement.

The government has announced that UK carbon emissions have fallen by 13 per cent since 1990. But this figure has been manipulated to include carbon credits, and discounts emissions from aviation. A proper analysis of the figures by the World Development Movement reveals that UK carbon emissions have fallen by just 5 per cent since 1990.

Benedict Southworth, director of the World Development Movement said:

“Today’s figures have been manipulated to include supposed reductions that have taken place outside the UK, not by the UK. If the UK government is genuinely committed to tackling climate change, this kind of Enron-esque accountancy cannot continue. The government must stop cooking the books and cut carbon emissions in the UK, as well as encouraging cuts around the world, if they are not to be known as the biggest ‘greenwashers’ of all.”

A fall in emissions since 2006 due to less coal being burnt in power stations only cancels out earlier increases. To meet the UK’s climate change targets carbon emissions need to fall by 4 per cent every year, but they fell by just 1.5 per cent in 2007.

Benedict Southworth continued: “We now have ambitious targets for reducing emissions in the UK, but we need the policies to meet them. There is no way the UK will meet its targets for tackling climate change as long as we are building new coal power stations and more runways. The UK has to vastly increase its efforts to prevent climate change taking away the lives and livelihoods of millions of people.”

ENDS For more information, for a separate copy of the graphic or to organise an interview with Benedict Southworth, please call Tim Jones on 020 7820 4900 or 07817 628196. ISDN available

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

'Green Heathrow' – a global embarrassment for the UK

Thu, 15 Jan 2009 16:44:16 GMT

'Green Heathrow' – a global embarrassment for the UK
15 January 2009

The government has employed the most dangerous greenwash of our times today by dubbing the announcement of the third runway, 'green Heathrow'.

Benedict Southworth, director of the World Development Movement said:

"We’re incredibly angry about this disastrous decision. I'm in my 40s but I'll probably be dead by the time the aviation industry has to take responsibility for its carbon emissions.

"Dubbing this climate killing project ‘the green Heathrow’ is the most dangerous greenwash of our times. It’s like calling a new motorway ‘green’ because it has a cycle path. The aviation industry has just been given free rein to pollute while other sectors of industry and the British public will be forced to cut emissions. This new runway instantly undermines all the UK’s hard won commitments on climate change; it makes a mockery of the new UK climate law; and embarrasses us on the world stage. This is an insult to people in developing countries and a slap in the face for global progress for an international deal on climate change.

"The government’s claim that increases in emissions from aviation will be dealt through carbon trading in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme is a dangerous red herring. There are so many loopholes in the scheme, it is virtually meaningless. There is evidence already which predicts that the price of carbon is too low and that it will have little effect in reducing emissions from aviation.

"Gordon Brown claims to care about international development. But across the world, poor people are already dealing with rising sea-levels, lack of access to water and extreme weather phenomena like, cyclones and typhoons and they will be losing faith in the UK’s promises. The third runway will eventually produce the same annual carbon emissions as Kenya and this is shameful."

Notes to editors

* WDM estimates that with the introduction of a third runway, Heathrow’s annual CO2eq emissions from flying will increase by 11.7 million tonnes of CO2eq.
* WDM has estimated that the 11.7 million tonnes figure through the predicted increase in passenger numbers from the third runway, and the current passenger numbers and CO2 emissions for UK aviation as a whole.
* The information on increased passenger activity due to a third runway was from a written parliamentary answer by Merron Gillian (16 May 2007).
* This is almost the same as the whole of Kenya’s annual CO2eq output. Kenya’s current CO2eq emissions are 11 million tonnes of CO2eq

Figures are available from Climate Analysis Indicators Tool (CAIT) version 6.0. (Washington, DC: World Resources Institute, 2009). Available at http://cait.wri.org.

* 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

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

Flights from Heathrow's third runway will emit same greenhouse gas emissions as Kenya

Thu, 15 Jan 2009 10:43:10 GMT

Heathrow decision: 'Government is all mouth and no trousers on climate change' say World Development Movement.

Flights from the new third runway at Heathrow will produce the same amount of greenhouse gas emissions as Kenya every year according to figures from the World Development Movement.

Benedict Southworth, director of the World Development Movement said:

“The government says it is serious about tackling climate change; but in the same breath, they give the thumbs up to a new runway at Heathrow. This is a real let down and shows the government up to be all mouth and no trousers when it comes to climate change. The government is relinquishing any claim to credibility or leadership on action against climate change. They talk tough, but aren't delivering. The government is blaming the economic crisis for their decision but they are forgetting that there is a climate crisis that needs urgent action.

“The number of flights leaving Heathrow will nearly double as a result of this expansion, creating a huge increase in climate damaging emissions. The fact that flights from the new runway will emit the same annual amount of carbon as Kenya is appalling, as the country has a population of nearly 40 million people. The injustice is that most people in the developing world have a tiny carbon footprint, but they will be hit worst by climate change.

“The government’s claim that increases in emissions from aviation will be dealt with through carbon trading in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme is a red herring. There are so many loopholes in the scheme, it is virtually meaningless. There is a great deal of evidence already which predicts that the price of carbon is too low and that it will have little effect in reducing emissions from aviation.

ENDS

To organise an interview (ISDN available) or for more information, 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

* WDM estimates that with the introduction of a third runway, Heathrow’s annual CO2 emissions from flying will increase by 11.7 million tonnes of CO2.
* WDM has estimated that the 11.7 million tonnes figure through the predicted increase in passenger numbers from the third runway, and the current passenger numbers and CO2 emissions for UK aviation as a whole.
* The information on increased passenger activity due to a third runway was from a written parliamentary answer by Merron Gillian (16 May 2007).
* This is almost the same as the whole of Kenya’s annual CO2 output. Kenya’s current CO2 emissions are 11 million tonnes of CO2

Figures are available from Climate Analysis Indicators Tool (CAIT) version 6.0. (Washington, DC: World Resources Institute, 2009). Available at http://cait.wri.org.

* 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

Britain's day of climate shame

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 17:34:42 GMT

This morning, (10 Jan) the average person in Britain will have already produced more carbon in 2009 than a person from the poorest countries emits in a whole year warns the World Development Movement [1].

Benedict Southworth, director of the World Development Movement said:

"It is shocking that by today the average Briton will have already produced more carbon this year than someone in a poor country will in the whole of 2009. The world’s poorest people contribute little to climate change but will suffer most from its consequences."

Today also marks, the minister in charge of energy and climate change, Ed Miliband's 100th day in post. The World Development Movement challenged him to use his first 100 days to take the lead on transforming the way the UK produces its energy and responds to the threat of global warming. We outlined a five point program asking the Minister to:[2]

1. Refuse E.ON’s application for a new coal power station at Kingsnorth in Kent.
2. Increase the carbon reduction target in the climate bill to 80 per cent, including emissions from aviation
3. Ensure that the carbon emissions reductions happen in the UK, rather than relying on carbon trading
4. Set out a plan to ensure that more than 40 per cent of electricity supplied in the UK comes from renewable sources by 2020.
5. Support the demands of developing countries for funds for mitigation and technology transfer at the UN Climate Change Conference at Poznan

Benedict Southworth continued,

"Ed Miliband has got a tough job, where he needs to make tough decisions and fast. But if he doesn't make the right decisions now, the average person in the UK will continue to emit 40 times more carbon as someone in the developing world. And that would be simply shameful.

"Ed Miliband must immediately refuse consent for Kingsnorth. To go ahead with this climate wrecking project would be a grave mistake and one which history would judge this government for harshly."

ENDS

Notes to editors

[1] The 50 Least Developed Countries (LDCs) are those judged by the United Nations to have the lowest indicators of socioeconomic development. All the CO2 figures are based on the US Energy Information Administration figures for total and per person emissions of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels. We have used the most up-to-date figures, those for 2006. We calculated the date by dividing per person emissions in a country or group of countries by per person emissions in the UK, and then multiplying this figure by 365 days. For example, the fifty LDCs cumulatively have per person emissions of 0.23 tonnes per person. The UK is 9.66 tonnes per person. 0.23 / 9.66 = 0.0238. 0.0.238*365 = 8.7, so the ninth day of the year, 9th January.

[2] To help Stop Kingsnorth power station take action with the World Development Movement: http://www.wdm.org.uk/climate

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

UK government withdraws support for GCM’s mining project in Bangladesh

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 11:49:04 GMT

Minister backtracks on previous statements over controversial mine project following campaign by WDM

UK company Global Coal Management Resources’ (GCM) plans to build an open-cast coal mine in Phulbari, north-west Bangladesh appeared in jeopardy after a UK government minister withdrew official support for the project. If built the mine would take away the land of more than 40,000 people, and compromise the water supply of a further 100,000.

Since the start of 2008, the Asian Development Bank, Barclays and RBS have all withdrawn from investing in the project. However in April 2008 a parliamentary answer revealed UK government support for the project.

Gareth Thomas, Chairman of the Cooperative Party and UK Minister for International Development and Minister for Business said:

“We have provided support to Global Coal Management Resources PLC, through the British high commission in Dhaka. They 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.”

In a further parliamentary answer Gareth Thomas stated:

“BERR officials have held regular discussions with officials from the Department for International Development on this subject, both in the UK and the British high commission in Dhaka.”

Since September 2008, WDM supporters have been emailing Gareth Thomas about the mine. In a bizarre game of ‘ping pong’ these emails have been bounced between both BERR and DfID. With responses from both departments requesting that the other be contacted.

On the 18th of November 2008, WDM finally received a response from Gareth Thomas, revealing a different approach to the mine:

“UKTI is not currently actively supporting GCM’s proposed project in Bangladesh”

He goes on to mention that “The British Government is committed to encouraging businesses to operate responsibly”

WDM welcomes the change in position, but will continue to monitor the situation to make sure there is no future UK government lobbying on behalf of GCM.

For more information and to take action go to:

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

Europe’s climate credibility slips away

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 11:59:34 GMT

In Poznań Europe’s credibility as a leader on climate change has slipped away. Commenting on the unsatisfactory conclusion of the UN negotiations on climate change Tim Jones, the World Development Movement’s Climate Policy Expert, who is currently at the talks in Poznań commented:

Overall outcome

“There has been disappointingly little progress on the agreement reached last year in Bali. Yet again rich countries, who carry the historical responsibility for climate change, have failed to offer sufficient cuts. Several, such as Australia, Japan, Canada and the United States, made no significant offers to reduce emissions before 2020.

On the EU

“By allowing huge numbers of offset credits to be used to meet its emission reduction targets, rather than actually cutting emissions, the EU risks losing credibility in calling for other countries to take strong climate action. Europe has missed an opportunity to move towards a low carbon economy and create thousands of green jobs. Instead the EU has chosen to increase offset projects in developing countries which have continually been shown to have little if any impact on emissions. Many cause social and environmental damage for poor communities.

Cuts in developing countries

“Integral to any future global deal will be money and technology from rich countries to help poor countries curb emissions growth. Before Poznań, developing countries put forward proposals on how this could be achieved. They have been met with silence. The EU and UK need to urgently bring forward fair and constructive proposals on paying for cuts in emissions in developing countries.

Outlook for Copenhagen and the developing world

“The lack of meaningful action in Poznań leaves a lot to be done in 2009. All those wanting a just climate agreement in Copenhagen in December 2009 will need to radically increase their ambitions in the New Year. No rich country, including the UK, has yet proposed anything like the action needed to stop climate change destroying the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people in coming years. Poor people across the world effectively make no contribution to climate change, but they will suffer the most from its impacts.”

ENDS

Tim Jones, WDM’s Climate Policy Expert currently at the talks in Poznań is available for interview. London based interviews are also available.

Tim Jones, WDM Climate Policy Expert +44 (0)7515 579 671 WDM Press contact in London:

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

NOTES:

1. The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 14) in Poznań, Poland runs from the December 1-12, 2008. The discussions are intended to pave the way for a new global deal to tackle climate change at a major international event in Copenhagen in December, 2009.
2. Read Tim's blog from the climate conference: http://poznanclimate.blogspot.com/
3. 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

Time for confusion and contradiction on coal is over; it’s time to say no to Kingsnorth

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 16:14:53 GMT

The independent committee on climate change today launched its report of recommendations for the government relating to building a low carbon economy. The World Development Movement welcomes the report and hopes that it means that finally ‘time for confusion and contradiction on coal is over; it’s time to say no to Kingsnorth.’

Benedict Southworth, director at the World Development Movement said in response to the committee’s recommendations:

On coal and CCS

"The message from the committee is crystal clear – the government must not allow any new coal fire power stations to be built without a guarantee that carbon capture technology will be working and fitted in the early 2020s. This means that building new coal power stations, hoping that energy companies will agree to fit carbon capture technology later, is a waste of time, energy and money. The time for confusion and contradiction on coal is over; it’s time to say no to Kingsnorth.”

On carbon trading to meet UK reduction targets

"It is absolutely crucial that we don’t pay poor countries to reduce their emissions and claim that even though emissions in the UK are rising, we are meeting our emissions reduction targets. It’s very good news that the committee have seen this loophole in the Climate Change Act and are advising the government to close it.”

On Ed Miliband

"Ed Miliband’s department must of course take time to carefully consider the committee’s weighty report. But the secretary of state must prove that UK is serious about tackling climate change head on and will be a leader at the international climate negotiations at Poznan. The first thing he should do without delay is to announce that a new coal power station at Kingsnorth cannot go ahead without full carbon capture technology and that the government’s cosy relationship with E.ON stops here.”

WDM launches UN Poznań climate change conference blog

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 15:37:43 GMT

Tim Jones, policy officer for the World Development Movement is travelling to Poland to attend the UN climate conference talks.

Governments from around the world are gathering in Poznań, Poland, as part of negotiations on an international agreement for tackling climate change.

They meet at a time when the world is in financial turmoil and old assumptions about how the world should work are being challenged. And they meet as climate change continues to impact communities around the world, from the Philippines to Peru, Australia to the Arctic, the Maldives to Malawi.

Just one year is left until an agreement needs to be reached in Copenhagen in December 2009. For hundreds of millions of the poorest people around the world, this is their last chance.

Tim, who last year took part in the Christian Aid Climate Change March across the UK will be recording his thoughts on a new blog at http://poznanclimate.blogspot.com/ we will also be posting photographs and hopefully video as well.

In addition, we have a Twitter ‘widget’ which collects together all the latest updates from Tim and the other NGO delegates attending the conference. Twitter is a simple way to send short updates from mobile phones to the web, and recently hit the headlines as a citizen journalism tool – it has been used to report from events as diverse as the US presidential election to the recent troubles in Mumbai.

See Tim’s blog at: http://poznanclimate.blogspot.com/

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

UK pollution will be responsible for 10 million climate refugees worldwide

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 12:16:25 GMT

10 million people could be forced to leave their homes due to the UK's contribution to climate change according to a new report released today by the anti-poverty group, the World Development Movement.

The report also reveals that 30,000 new climate refugees could be created if Kingsnorth coal power station goes ahead. The report comes on the first of two days of protest against E.ON's Kingsnorth plans (Friday 28 and Saturday 29 Nov).

Carbon Evictions: the UK’s role in the forced migration of climate refugees reveals that:

On current trends, an estimated 10 million people will be forced to leave their homes permanently by 2050 because of the UK’s contribution to climate change
An estimated 30,000 people will become climate refugees if the new coal power station at Kingsnorth, in Kent, goes ahead.
The poorest people in the world leave the smallest carbon footprint but are the most likely to become climate refugees
Urgent measures by the UK government could still prevent tens of millions of people from losing their homes.

Benedict Southworth, director of the World Development Movement said:

"The effects that climate change will have on the world include more and worse cyclones; flooding; drought; and sea level rises that will force people to leave their homes. If emissions aren't reduced significantly in the UK, 10 million of the poorest people in the world will become homeless. Those people have done little to contribute to climate change, but they will suffer the worst consequences. This is a scandal and must be stopped.

"This is not a climate change doom and gloom story. Our hope is that this scenario can still be prevented, but our government must wake up and realise that we can't say we promise to reduce carbon emissions with one hand and give carbon intensive projects like the Kingsnorth coal power station the thumbs up with the other."

Atiq Rahman, a lead author from the IPCC has said that 35 million people could be displaced from Bangladesh coastal areas by 2050.

Ahmed Swapan, VOICE - a Bangladeshi activist organisation working on food self sufficiency and economic justice said:

"New coal power stations in the UK will impact on countries like Bangladesh that suffer the most from climate change but are not responsible for causing it."

The World Development Movement is calling for:

Urgent reductions of greenhouse gas emissions in the UK
Scrap plans for carbon intensive projects like a third runway at Heathrow, or Kingsnorth coal power station
Money and technology from rich countries to help people adapt to climate change, including resources for climate refugees, and to help developing countries access clean energy and low carbon development
A new international agreement that sets out the obligations of rich countries towards climate refugees.

Download a copy of the report at www.wdm.org.uk/carbonevictions

Ends

For more information, please call:

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

Notes to Editors

Who will be affected?

One of the examples of climate related forced migration will result from sea level rises. In the table below, the World Bank has estimated number of people that will be affected by sea level rise (millions) 'Dasgupta, S. et al. (2008) 'The Impact of sea level rise on developing countries: a comparative analysis.' World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 4136. February 2007

Country	1-metre	3-metre	5-metre
China	26	53	92
Vietnam	9	22	32
India	4	11	28
Egypt	7	11	15
Indonesia	2	9	18
Bangladesh	1	5	14
Thailand	1	3	8
Nigeria	1	3	6
Philippines	1	3	7
Myanmar	1	2	6

It is also likely to be the poorest people who are affected, as they are likely to live in areas most prone to flooding, sea-level rises and drought because they can't afford to live elsewhere. They are also those who can least afford to move far, which will mean moving to less productive areas and where less land will be available, or rural to urban migration . This is likely to increase poverty for communities of already very poor people.

Where will displaced people go?

As there is no international agreement on where people who are forced from their homes by climate change will go it is hard to say with any certainty; but there will be five broad trends:

Internally displaced people

The vast majority of climate refugees will actually move to another part of their country. For example, China faces a huge number of people who will be forced out of their homes by climate change induced sea level rise, but it is unlikely that the majority of people will be forced to leave their home and their country. There is space within the country for people to relocate but the quality of the new lives will depend on the political will of the government to offer compensation so that people can re-establish their livelihoods.

People seek refuge in neighbouring countries.

In Bangladesh, there could be a huge humanitarian catastrophe, millions are likely to be displaced as storm surges, increased rainfall and rising sea levels devastate the land. Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries in the world, so it is highly likely that people will have to move across borders. However, India is already building a fence along its border with Bangladesh which will make migration more difficult.

Small islands states such as the Seychelles or the Maldives could cease to exist and all of the inhabitants will become climate refugees who will be forced to relocate to another country. The new President of the Maldives has recently said that he will consider buying land for people to move to so that they do not become landless.

People seek refuge in Europe

Although, the vast majority of people will move internally or to a neighbouring country, climate refugees will also seek to move to Europe and the UK to areas where they have ties, for example, Bangladeshi people could be drawn by familial ties to the UK, India and Pakistan

Migration in the UK and Europe

It is predicted that areas of south east England will be flooded due to sea level rises and Kent Country Council has already said that communities will have to relocate as flood defences become too expensive to maintain.

It is also predicted that as average summer temperatures in southern Spain rise to 32-34 degrees C, many of the 700,000 British people who currently live there could choose to return to the UK.

Methodology

Norman Myers estimated that 200 million climate refugees could be created by 2050 if there is global warming of 3°C or more. This has been widely quoted included in the Stern report.

Myers, N. (2008) Environmental refugees: an emergent security issue. 13th economic Forum, Prague, 23-27 May 2005.

On the basis of current UK policies on climate change, if replicated around the world, we estimate that the world is set for around 4°C of warming. These policies are:

a target to cut UK emissions by 80 per cent by 2050, but allowing an unlimited amount of this to happen through buying carbon credits from overseas rather than cutting emissions in the UK.
support for allowing 50 per cent of EU reductions in emissions by 2020 to happen through buying carbon credits from outside the EU
supporting and advocating an expansion in aviation, including more flights and runways at Heathrow and Stansted airports
considering allowing a new generation of unabated coal power stations to be built in the UK

The World Development Movement has calculated that based on past, present and future emissions, the UK would be responsible for 5 per cent of CO2 emissions causing 4°C of warming. The World Development Movement estimates that the UK would therefore be responsible for creating 5 per cent of climate refugees; 10 million of 200 million.

VOICE is a rights-based, activist organization working mainly on the issues of food sovereignty, aid effectiveness, economic justice, and the right to information and communication, both in Bangladesh and on a global scale. By building a broader constituency of alternative voices to the ‘mainstream development discourse’ through research and public education, VOICE is taking a stand against unjust and undemocratic practices.

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

Campaigners' emails against Bangladesh mine bounced round Whitehall

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 14:27:13 GMT

Campaigners against a UK company’s controversial coal mine project in Phulbari, Bangladesh, which could displace more than 40,000 people, have been involved in a bizarre ‘ping-pong’ between the Department for International Development (DfID) and the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR).

After World Development Movement supporters sent an enormous number of emails protesting against the UK government’s support for the scheme to the minister Gareth Thomas at BERR, they received an email stating that this was not within his remit and requested that they forward their protest emails to him at DfID instead. Having changed the target, campaigners received an email from DfID denying that it was within his development remit, and asked them to redirect their demands to BERR.

Tim Jones, policy officer at the World Development Movement said:

“We’re mystified. It really seems like one-hand doesn’t know what the other one is doing. There is enormous opposition to this scheme both here in the UK and in Bangladesh. The minister has expressed support for the scheme and the UK company involved, Global Coal Management Resources. The worry is that thousands of people who are trying to express their concerns to him are being bounced from pillar to post and ultimately their voice is being completely ignored.”

The World Development Movement has launched an online game of Phulbari ping pong to demand that whether as Minister for International Development or Business, Gareth Thomas must withdraw government backing for this disastrous project, send an email to Gareth Thomas at both departments and see who you get your response from, go to http://www.wdm.org.uk/coalminepingpong

Ends

For more information, please 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 Phulbari mine issue was recently featured in Channel 4’s dispatches series.

* 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.

* Most of the coal produced by the mine will be exported from Bangladesh.

For more information and to take action go to:

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

Gordon Brown must call time on global greed to solve financial crisis

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 14:25:44 GMT

Demonstration: 6.30-7.30 pm, Monday 10 November 2008

Anti-poverty and environmental groups representing over nine million people today urge Prime Minister Gordon Brown to call time on the global greed responsible for the worst financial crisis in history.

Groups campaigning for justice for the world's poor will be demonstrating as Brown addresses the City tonight at the Lord Mayor of London's banquet.

Protestors will gather outside the Guildhall to demand Brown helps devise a major recovery plan for the financial crisis that puts people and the environment at its heart.

The groups say that while those to blame for the crisis have been bailed out with billions of dollars of taxpayers' money, the world's poorest people remain saddled with an unfair economic system and have received nothing.

Their alliance - including the Trade Justice Movement, ActionAid, CAFOD, the Jubilee Debt Campaign, Stamp Out Poverty, War on Want, the World Development Movement and the New Economics Foundation - demand fundamental reform of the global economic system which fuelled the crisis.

Benedict Southworth, chair of the Trade Justice Movement and director of the World Development Movemnt added: "The past few months have seen one of the most significant financial crises in North American and European history, a crisis caused by global greed - a reckless and unregulated economic system which has been biased against the poor for decades.

"It's time for a radically different system which reduces inequality, creates jobs and puts people before profit, within a low carbon economy. It's essential that rich countries do not use this crisis as an excuse not to make deep cuts in carbon emissions and agree a post 2012 climate change deal. Instead we need to grasp this as an opportunity to set the world economy on the path to sustainability."

Meredith Alexander from ActionAid, said: "The financial crisis has graphically demonstrated to people in rich countries what the poor have known for years that the current international economic system doesn't work. We need a radically different economic system which puts people first. Most importantly, the world's poorest people must have a full and equal say in developing this system. Decisions must not be taken by organisations that only represent rich countries."

The protest will take place in the run-up to a controversial G20 summit of leaders from the world's richest economies in Washington on Saturday (15 November) to discuss the financial crisis.

Campaigners are pressing for decisions about reform to the global economic system to be made in a far more democratic forum that gives the poorest of the world a full and equal say.

They propose that the United Nations, as the only organisation with such a mandate, must be empowered to lead a process of comprehensive reform of the financial and economic system which involves all countries.
The alliance is calling for:

* a major recovery plan for the financial crisis that puts people and the environment at its heart - in particular enabling countries to better feed, clothe, educate and protect their people.
* effective regulation of the financial system, including just tax, debt and trade rules.
* a new and democratic set of institutions to govern this economic system.

Notes to editors:

1. For further information or to arrange interviews contact:

- Kate Blagojevic, World Development Movement & Trade Justice Movement , 07711 875 345, Kate.Blagojevic@wdm.org.uk

- Paul Collins, War on Want, 07983 550 728, pcollins@waronwant.org

- Anjali Kwatra, ActionAid, 07941 371 357, Anjali.Kwatra@actionaid.org

- Jonathan Stevenson, Jubilee Debt Campaign, 07818 651 124,jonathan@jubileedebtcampaign.org.uk

2. On Monday there will be two financial crisis picture opportunities:
Gordon Brown pressed on global greed

A protestor wearing a Gordon Brown giant head/a Gordon Brown mask, in bed with a city fat cat, will be woken by a massive alarm clock declaring 'Gordon: Call Time on Global Greed'

10.00 am GMT, Monday 10 November 2008
Forecourt of the Royal Exchange, opposite the Bank of England, above Bank tube station, central London.
Evening: call time on global greed demo

Scores of campaigners will stage a noise demonstration with bells and alarm clocks outside the Guildhall as Brown speaks to City leaders, with banners reading 'Call Time on Global Greed'.

6.30 pm-7.30 pm GMT, Monday 10 November 2008
Opposite the Guildhall, Gresham Street, London, EC2V 7PG

The full list of organisations involved is: the Trade Justice Movement, ActionAid, CAFOD, the Jubilee Debt Campaign, Stamp Out Poverty, War on Want, the World Development Movement and the New Economics Foundation.

3. Anti-poverty campaigners are urging people to sign a petition calling for fundamental reform to the economic system. Go to http://www.waronwant.org/?lid=16607

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

Campaigners and politicians warn loophole in climate bill could see UK carbon emissions rise.

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 11:25:54 GMT

The World Development Movement welcomes the government’s commitment to a climate bill that includes an 80 per cent greenhouse gas emission reduction target, but warns that, despite the target, a loophole in the bill could allow emissions to rise in the UK.

Dr Julian Oram, head of policy at the World Development Movement explained:
“This bill should mean that the UK is leading the global fight against runaway climate change. But the bill fails to specify that emissions must be cut here in the UK. Using dubious carbon trading schemes to cut emissions is an obvious loophole through which the government could use to wriggle out of their commitments.

“We’re worried that the targets will be met by paying developing countries to reduce their emissions, whilst UK emissions rise. This is incredibly unfair given that people in the developing world have contributed least to the problem and will be hit hardest by climate change. We need to see emissions cuts everywhere, not just by poor people.

“As the Bill goes back to the House of Lords, we want the government to guarantee that at least 70 per cent of emissions cuts must take place in the UK. Such a commitment is vital if we are to avoid disastrous polluting projects in the pipeline, like the proposed new coal power station at Kingsnorth, in Kent. It would also kick-start a low carbon economy by prompting massive investment in clean energy that would generate thousands of new, green jobs, and put the UK in an ideal position to direct a new global deal to halt dangerous climate change.”

The World Development Movement is campaigning for the government to accept an amendment tabled by Alan Simpson, Labour MP for Nottingham South that is calling for at least 70 per cent of emissions to be cut in the UK with the remaining 30 per cent of emissions dealt with through the European Emissions Trading Scheme or the UN’s Clean Development Mechanism.

This is also supported in the House of Lords by the Labour Peer Lord David Puttnam, who in a speech on carbon trading said:
“Is it really "needlessly expensive" for us to adapt the way we live to these new and difficult circumstances? Or is it just politically and socially inconvenient, when it would be cheaper and more convenient to persuade an Indian or a Kenyan or a Brazilian to take the hit?”

ENDS

For more information, please 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 World Development Movement is a member of the Stop Climate Chaos Coalition, the UK’s largest group of people dedicated to action on climate change.

Lord David Puttnam chaired the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Draft Climate Change Bill. For a full transcript of Lord Puttnam’s speech, please see here http://tinyurl.com/puttnam

For an explanation of carbon trading and the World Development Movement’s position, please see the questions and answers below:
What is carbon trading?

In theory a carbon trading system sets a limit on emissions of CO2 within a set country or region, such as Europe, and from certain sectors, such as electricity generation. The limit is reduced over time to cut emissions. Companies working in the sector are either given or buy permits up to the limited amount. Companies can then buy-and-sell these permits amongst themselves. In theory this means that cuts in emissions take place where it is cheapest to do so.

There are two main carbon trading schemes: the EU Emissions Trading Scheme; and the Clean Development Mechanism which was setup as part of the Kyoto Protocol. The two schemes are linked.
What is the EU Emissions Trading Scheme?

The EU Emissions Trading Scheme is a European policy which is meant to help Europe cut its CO2 emissions. A cap is set for the total amount of CO2 which can be emitted from large industries in Europe, such as power stations and factories. Permits equal to this cap are then distributed to companies. The cap, and thereby the number of permits, are reduced over time. Companies can buy-and-sell the permits between themselves, meaning companies can choose whether to cut their emissions or pay someone else to do so.

There are currently loopholes in the scheme:
Companies can also buy permits from developing countries, which are meant to pay for actions in developing countries to reduce emissions. This effectively increases the size of the cap and lessens the incentive to cut emissions in Europe.

In the first phase of the scheme from 2005-2007 there were more permits allocated than emissions, which meant the price of permits dropped to zero and there was no incentive to cut emissions. For the second phase of the scheme which runs from 2008-2012 the price of carbon is currently around €25. This only has a small impact on cutting emissions in Europe, especially as companies can choose to buy carbon credits from developing countries. The EU is currently debating how the Emissions Trading Scheme will work from 2013 on.

How does the trading with developing countries work?
When the Kyoto protocol was created in 1997 the United States insisted on a mechanism where, rather than meeting all targeted cuts by reducing CO2 emissions domestically, rich countries could pay for some of the cuts to take place in developing countries. This is called the Clean Development Mechanism. Despite the fact that the United States has never ratified Kyoto, the Clean Development Mechanism has been heavily used by other rich countries. The UK and EU now see the Clean Development Mechanism as a key way to meet their CO2 reduction targets.

The system works by a company in a developing country applying to be registered for a project to cut emissions. For instance, an Indian factory may want to build a more efficient boiler and estimates how much CO2 this is expected to save. The UN says whether such a project qualifies for carbon credits. If it does, the Indian factory gets a permit saying it has reduced CO2 emissions by the amount stated. The Indian factory can then sell this permit to a European company, who can use it as part of the permits needed to meet its emissions as part of the Emissions Trading Scheme, rather than cutting emissions itself in Europe.
Do Clean Development Mechanism credits cut emissions in developing countries?

Many do not. One key test is whether the project the credit is supposedly funding is additional. In some cases, credits have been granted after the project had actually taken place, indicating that it would have happened anyway. One estimate is that between one-third and two-thirds of projects in developing countries, which have been granted carbon credits, would have happened anyway.
Do these projects ever have negative impacts on local people?

Carbon credits can be sold by private companies which are normally unaccountable to the communities in which they seek to implement their projects. Therefore, there is the potential for some of the projects which they fund to be socially damaging.

For instance, a Clean Development Mechanism project has been developed in South Africa to extract methane from a landfill site in a residential area to use for electricity generation. This will reduce emissions of methane, a more potent greenhouse gas than the CO2 released when methane is burnt.

However, local people have been campaigning for years for the landfill site to be shut down, as it exposes local people to cancer-causing pollution and infringes their right to clean air. Concentrations of toxic chemicals are all high in the area. Before getting Clean Development Mechanism funding, there was a good chance the landfill site would be closed down. However, the Clean Development Mechanism has provided finance to enable the landfill site to keep operating.
Why is WDM calling for a limit on carbon trading in the climate change bill?

In the climate change bill, carbon credits from overseas can be counted towards meeting the target for UK emissions reduction. Therefore, the climate bill does not actually mean we have to make large cuts in emissions in the UK.

The House of Lords objected to the unlimited use of carbon credits in the bill, and voted in an amendment that to meet the climate bill targets, at least 70 per cent of any reduction in emissions would need to take place in the UK. Unfortunately the government have removed this amendment.

Whilst WDM argues that the UK needs to ultimately make all the targeted emissions reductions in the UK, and in addition pay for cuts elsewhere, the House of Lords amendment is better than what the government are proposing. Therefore, we are calling on MPs to support the amendment saying that at least 70 per cent of the emissions reduction has to take place in the UK.

If this amendment is included in the bill, it will create more pressure to cut emissions in areas such as electricity generation and coal power stations.

How is carbon trading related to coal power stations?
The UK government is currently arguing that because electricity generation, including coal power stations, is included in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, this by itself will cut emissions as needed to tackle climate change. However, the reality is that most of the ‘cuts’ will be made by paying for carbon credits from developing countries or elsewhere in Europe, allowing Britain to carry-on polluting as normal.

The fact that energy companies in the UK want to build new coal power stations shows that the EU Emissions Trading Scheme is not being effectively cutting emissions. If it were, new coal power stations would be too expensive and risky an option for companies to consider. Therefore, measures beyond the Emissions Trading Scheme are needed to shift the UK towards being a low carbon economy.
Isn’t it true that it doesn’t matter where emissions cuts are made in the world, and it makes economic sense to do this where it’s cheapest?

It is true that emissions anywhere in the world have the same climate impact. However, it is also true that the world needs to start reducing emissions in the next few years; by 2015 at the absolute latest, with a global cut in emissions of 50-85 per cent by 2050.

The only just way such cuts will happen is if rich countries both cut their own emissions by as much as possible as soon as possible, and in addition pay for cuts in developing countries. The concentrations of greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere mean there is no space left for offsetting emissions in once place and continuing to emit elsewhere.

Theoretically, if the loopholes with carbon trading schemes were removed, would they be OK?
This is a very theoretical question; it is currently hard to imagine carbon trading working without the loopholes. WDM is campaigning for action in the UK and Europe for measures in addition to the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, because the Emissions Trading Scheme is currently ineffective at cutting emissions.

Theoretically, a carbon trading scheme without the loopholes would set a cap for the UK or Europe which does not allow in any credits from elsewhere in the world. The cap would be set at 4-5 per cent below current emissions, and fall by 4-5 per cent every year. If enforced rigorously, this would ensure that emissions within the UK or Europe would fall as needed.

However, how these cuts are made would be decided entirely by the market. There would be no guarantee that cuts would be made in a fair way. For instance, there could be large increases in the price of gas to ensure that less gas is used in people’s homes. This would be likely to impact on those living in fuel poverty, who are the most likely to stop using gas in response to an increase in price. In contrast, an alternative policy would be government programmes to subsidise and support insulation and alternative heating systems such as solar water heating and ground-source heat pumps, which would actually reduce fuel bills.

Similarly, in electricity generation, developing renewable technologies to generate electricity such as off-shore wind, tidal and wave power requires government subsidies. If it were left to a carbon trading scheme, the market may decide to cut electricity use from poorer people by making it too expensive, rather than investing in new technologies which take a longer time to make a return on the investment.

The problem with the current EU Emissions Trading Scheme is that it is ineffective at cutting emissions. A trading scheme without the loopholes may be effective, but left to itself it would not necessarily be just. Therefore, we need government intervention such as regulations, subsidies and targeted taxation to ensure we cut emissions, and do so in a fair way.

Guyanese rum hit by European trade (dis)agreement

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 16:29:27 GMT

If Guyana refuses to sign the EU-Caribbean free trade deal, expected to be signed in Barbados today, Guyana is likely to be severely punished by the European Union with increased EU trade taxes on key Guyanese exports such as rice, rum and seafood.

The EU has been pushing Caribbean countries to sign up to a trade deal that would open markets for goods and services, a move likely to bring major gains to European exporters, but hit producers and small businesses in Guyana.

Guyana has threatened not to sign the full deal because of concerns about the deal’s long-term negative impacts on its economy. But at the same time, Guyana’s ambassador to Brussels knows, by not signing, Guyana will incur significant immediate losses of over US$90 million each year because Europe is threatening to slash its existing tax benefits. This is likely to have a major impact on a country which has a GDP per capita of only US$4500.

Vicky Cann, the World Development Movement’s trade expert said:

“Guyana is really stuck between a rock and a hard place – it doesn’t want to sign the full agreement because it knows that, in the long-term, this deal could really badly affect the economy. But at the same time, Europe’s bullying tactics are also likely to punish existing Guyanese rice, sugar and fish exporters.

“The EU is seeking to roll out these kinds of trade deals across Africa, Asia and Latin America. Europe’s approach appears to be to play hard ball and penalise those not prepared to play.”

The World Development Movement is calling on people to demand a stop to the EU’s damaging trade deals by emailing European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso:

http://www.wdm.org.uk/campaigns/trade/action/barroso.php

Ends

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

EU trade commissioner: Ashton time for a new approach

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 15:24:52 GMT

EU trade commissioner: Ashton time for a new approach

22 October 2008

Responding to the confirmation of Baroness Catherine Ashton as the new European Trade Commissioner by the European Parliament today, Benedict Southworth, Director of the World Development Movement, said:

“The European Commission needs to radically overhaul its trade policy and Baroness Ashton is now in a unique position to do so. The business-as-usual approach of wholesale deregulation and trade liberalisation is out of step with today’s climate of global financial, food and energy crises. Instead, sustainable development and tackling poverty must be at the heart of European trade policy. Baroness Ashton now has an excellent opportunity to draw a line under the past and Commissioner Mandelson’s legacy of unfair trade deals that hit the poorest hardest.”

Ends

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

Responding to Brown’s Crisis Plan: new world order must be pro poor not pro bank

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 14:39:38 GMT

16 October 2008

Last night, Gordon Brown set out proposals to fix the broken global economy, including fundamental reform of the IMF and World Bank. Analysis of the operations of the World Bank and the IMF leaves the World Development Movement sceptical that reform of these powerful institutions is possible.

Benedict Southworth, director of the World Development Movement said:

“Gordon Brown is absolutely right, the IMF and World Bank do need fundamental reform. If they resist, they should be scrapped. These institutions are undemocratic, unaccountable and are getting it wrong for developing countries. If Brown’s plan is to succeed he must challenge the fundamental economic ideology and build the system again from the basis of pro poor, pro environment and not pro bank approaches.

“Brown has got it wrong when he says that we need to resurrect the Doha round at the World Trade Organisation from the dead. When the round stalled earlier this year, the deal on the table was bad for the world’s poor. We shouldn’t resurrect a proposal that is steeped in the ideology that has caused the current crisis.”

The World Development Movement is calling for a concerted response to the current economic and environment crises we face including:

1. Steer globalisation on course for a low-carbon future.

2. Get capital to serve the needs of society and the environment

3. Ensure democratic and accountable global financial institutions

4. Bring the food system in line with new energy and climate realities 5. Develop trade deals based on cooperation rather than exploitation

ENDS

For more information, please call

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

Notes to editors

1 World Development Movement has a long track record of analysing the World Bank – see

http://www.wdm.org.uk/resources/reports/debt/outoftime14092006.pdf

http://www.wdm.org.uk/resources/briefings/debt/keptindarkbriefing01042005.pdf
More detailed article is available on request.

• Steer globalisation on course for a low-carbon future. Proposals to de-link economic development from increased greenhouse gas emissions have been set out under an approach dubbed the ‘Green New Deal’. The idea evokes Franklin Roosevelt’s policies for helping out-of-work families following the Great Depression, overlaid with green initiatives, such as massive investment in renewable energies, and establishing an oil legacy fund (paid for by a windfall tax on oil and gas companies) to help pay for the transition to a low-carbon economy.

• Get capital to serve the needs of society and the environment The quasi-nationalisation of the banking sector creates an opportunity – indeed an imperative – for governments to ensure that these institution serve a wider public interest and environmental sustainability agenda. Another pillar of the Green New Deal is to reign in corporate finance via a clamp down on corporate tax havens and financial reporting, re-regulating domestic financial markets, and requiring banks to make cheap credit available for green energy projects.

• Ensure democratic and accountable global financial institutions The ‘police’ of the global financial system, in particular the International Monetary Fund (IMF), have failed, to the point of complicity, in the current crisis. Pushing poor countries to deregulate their financial markets, the IMF has colluded with the world's big banks to foster a spirit of gung-ho, i.e., risk-free financing, that has destabilised banks and entire nations. The IMF and World Bank must now be restructured to be democratically accountable bodies with independent financing and voting systems free from political bullying and corporate bias.

• Bring the food system in line with new energy and climate realities Effectively run as a cartel by a handful of giant corporations, food production and trade has become a speculative activity in the global casino economy, where the losers are millions of hungry people around the world. The future of global food security depends on taking control of land and food production from corporations back to smallholder farmers. Methods of agricultural production must minimise use of oil, conserve soil and water, be climate resilient, and be predicated on a closer and more equitable relationship between producers and consumers.
• Develop trade deals based on cooperation rather than exploitation The European Union is aggressively pushing a series of trade deals which will oblige poor countries to open their financial markets to the very same baking institutions that have wantonly abused deregulated markets here at home. These proposals need to be torn up immediately and replaced with trade deals based on mutual cooperation instead of corporate exploitation, and which allow poor countries the flexibility to protect and nurture sensitive and emerging sectors of their economy.

Flights from Stansted after expansion will emit more CO2 than Tanzania

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 10:48:19 GMT

Today’s announcement to expand the number of flights from Stansted airport will mean that each year, flights from the airport will emit more CO2 than Tanzania, where an estimated 4000 people die every year from climate change related causes. The World Development Movement brands this move as ‘simply irresponsible and unfathomable’.

Tim Jones, climate change policy officer at the World Development Movement, said:
“It’s sickening to learn that the government are supporting this expansion, which will only worsen the impact of climate change on the world’s poorest people. How ironic and sad that in the future, Stansted will generate more CO2 than Tanzania, where it is estimated that already 4000 people die every year from climate change related causes.

“Only two days ago, the influential committee on climate change demanded that emissions must be cut by 80 per cent. This move flies directly in the face of this recommendation. It’s simply irresponsible and unfathomable.’

ENDS

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

Notes to editors

* BAA estimate that if allowed to increase flights, by 2015 Stansted’s CO2 emissions will be 4.15 million tonnes. In 2005, the US Energy Information Administration say that Tanzania, a country with 38 million people, emitted 3.97 million tonnes.
* It’s estimated that 4000 people in Tanzania die each year from climate change related causes, Spatz, J., Campbell-Lendrum, D., Holloway, T. and Foley, J. (2005). Impact of regional climate change on human health. Nature Vol 438. 17/11/05.
* 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

Royal Bank of Scotland sells its shares in Phulbari mine scheme

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 16:12:28 GMT

British bank Royal Bank of Scotland has sold its shares in Global Coal Management Resources (GCM ltd), the British company behind the Phulbari open-cast mine project in Bangladesh.

In August 2008, 110 organisations from across the world wrote to RBS calling on it to withdraw its investment from the disastrous Phulbari project. The British bank has now responded by selling its shares, held through subsidiary ABN Amro, and telling campaigners RBS is “no longer an investor in GCM Resources”.

The World Development Movement’s Policy Officer, Tim Jones, said: “RBS has joined Barclays and the Asian Development Bank in distancing themselves from this mine which would destroy the livelihood of tens of thousands of people. It is now up to Gareth Thomas and the UK government to do the same.”

If it went ahead, the Phulbari open-cast mine would force more than 40,000 people to leave their homes and threaten the water supply of a further 100,000 people.

For more information and to take action go to:

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

Final nail in the coffin for Heathrow expansion and Kingsnorth

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 11:06:48 GMT

Today’s, report from the influential committee on climate change has recommended that the UK cuts greenhouse gases emissions by at least 80 percent and that this target should include emissions from aviation and shipping. The World Development Movement welcomes this news as a potential ‘reprieve’ for the poorest people in the world.

Benedict Southworth, director of the World Development Movement said:
“These recommendations will potentially be a reprieve for the world’s poorest people, whose lives and livelihoods are threatened the most by dangerous climate change.

“This must have an impact on the government’s plans for expansion of the aviation industry and to launch a new generation of unwanted coal power stations. It means ‘no’ to a third runway at Heathrow; and ‘no’ to a new coal power station at Kingsnorth. We must see instead serious investment in renewable energy.

“Thousands of people have emailed, written to and met with their MPs to tell them how concerned they were that the climate change bill wasn’t going to be tough enough to help to prevent destruction in the developing world. This is a testament to the power of persistent campaigning.”

ENDS

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

News of Mandleson’s move to UK trade brief ‘rings serious alarm bells’ for anti-poverty campaigners

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 14:20:12 GMT

The World Development Movement today reacted to Peter Mandelson’s return to government by warning that the former Brussels Trade Commissioner could put the development credentials of the government at risk.

Julian Oram, head of policy of the World Development Movement said:

“Peter Mandelson’s reign in Brussels as Trade Commissioner has been characterised by a truly aggressive approach to trade with developing countries, and a determination to prioritise the interests of European big business at the expense of the world’s poor.

Whether at the World Trade Organisation, or in trade negotiations with countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, he has harried developing countries to accept unfair trade deals, no matter the cost to subsistence farmers and manufacturing jobs locally.

“While we’re hopeful that Mandelson’s departure from the European Commission will signal a break from pro-profit to pro-poor trade policies in Europe, his return to London to head up a new trade and business portfolio rings serious alarm bells for anti-poverty campaigners in Britain. The Prime Minister prides himself on his record of securing debt relief and more aid for developing countries.

However any progress made by Brown’s government on issues of global poverty threaten to be undone if Mandelson continues to use his role to push developing countries down the path of free trade, rather than seeking to secure real trade justice.

ENDS

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

New climate and energy department must be department of clarity on climate change, not contradiction

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 14:12:21 GMT

he World Development Movement cautiously welcomes the new department for climate and energy but warns that is must from its outset be the ‘department of clarity and not contradiction’ to what is sure to be a crucial and controversial brief.

Julian Oram, head of policy at the World Development Movement said:

“The government’s policies thus far on climate change and energy have been at loggerheads. In creating this department, Gordon Brown seems to have recognised that critical decisions on controversial climate issues, such as whether to back a new coal power station at Kingsnorth, are directly linked to its role in exacerbating or averting runaway climate change. This new department must be the department of new clarity on climate change and energy, not contradiction.” ENDS

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

UK Minister under pressure to back Bolivian government

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 14:11:20 GMT

K anti-poverty campaigners, the World Development Movement, are intensifying the pressure on Foreign Office minister Kim Howells to support the threatened democratic government of Evo Morales in Bolivia. The campaigners have set up an online action directed at the minister at www.wdm.org.uk/supportbolivia

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

“European leaders have been reluctant to speak out against the political violence that is taking place in Bolivia. Instead, the EU appears to be undermining Bolivia’s position further by pushing for a free trade deal in the Andean region and ignoring Bolivia’s well-founded concerns with this approach.” www.wdm.org.uk/trade

The political situation in Bolivia has been volatile in recent weeks, with media reports of politically-motivated violence and killings in Bolivia by those seeking to undermine the democratically-elected president, Evo Morales.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7622211.stm

South American leaders have now come together and issued a unanimous resolution pledging firm support for Bolivia’s constitutional government and democracy. By contrast, European leaders have been much slower to respond.

Since being elected in 2005, the progressive government of Bolivia – the second poorest country in Latin America - has worked to promote alternatives to the free trade model of development. In its ongoing trade negotiations with Europe, Bolivia has called for an agreement which “overcomes the practice in which multinational business interests are put before the needs of the population and the environment”.

Europe has now insisted that it will only negotiate with those Andean countries that are prepared to advance a ‘free trade’ agenda. The World Development Movement claims that this approach threatens the fight against poverty in the Andean region, whilst weakening Bolivia’s overall position and making regional integration more difficult. http://www.bilaterals.org/article.php3?id_article=13275

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

Do the economic arguments for aviation growth really fly?

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 16:59:50 GMT

Aviation industry’s fossil-fuelled fantasies threaten livelihoods of world’s poor.

Today, as UN World Tourism Day focuses on climate change, new research says economic case for airport expansion is unfounded, and international tourism is more of a risk than a benefit for developing nations.

A new report from nef (the new economics foundation) and the World Development Movement released today, Saturday 27 September, UN World Tourism Day, reveals that increased air travel and tourism leaves UK taxpayers out of pocket, and benefits multinational tour operators and hotel chains, rather than poor people. And, as the fastest-rising source of emissions in the UK, aviation is a significant contributor to climate change that threatens the survival of some of the world’s poorest communities least responsible for causing the problem, but living on its front line.

The new nef/WDM report, Plane Truths exposes the ‘fossil-fuelled fantasies’ behind airline bosses and government ministers’ claims that continued growth of the aviation industry strengthens the UK economy, does not undermine the emissions reductions needed to avert catastrophic climate change and can play a positive role in the fight against global poverty.
Fossil-fuelled fantasy 1: Airlines claim that cheap air fares ‘democratise’ foreign travel. The reality is that highest earners still travel most frequently.

1. People on low incomes who make up 32 per cent of the UK population, account for less than 8 per cent of all passengers on low-cost flights from the UK, while 40 per cent of all budget flights are taken by the wealthiest people in the UK.

Fossil-fuelled fantasy 2: Airlines claim that tourism boosts developing countries' economic development. The reality is the benefits from UK tourism to communities in far-flung destinations are minimal because:

1. the vast majority of British tourists travel to short haul destinations like Spain or France, or industrialised countries such as the United States, while only nine per cent of UK tourists go to the developing world.
2. When tourists do visit the developing world, up to 75 pence in every £1 spent goes straight into the pockets of multinational hotel chains and tour operators, not to the local economy.
3. Evidence from Kenya, Thailand and the Dominican Republic suggests that if the growth in UK aviation was halted, the impact of lost revenue would represent less than one per cent of GDP.
4. And, for the Maldives, where the contribution of tourism to the economy has been more significant, the Islands very survival is under threat from rising sea-levels

Fossil-fuelled fantasy 3: Airlines and the government claim that the aviation industry strengthens the UK economy. The reality is that, in 2007 the aviation industry left UK taxpayers 10.4 billion in the red.

* The World Development Movement has calculated £10.4 billion was lost to the Exchequer in 2007 as the result of tax exemptions for the airline industry. This is more than twice the £5 billion needed to ensure that every home in Britain is properly insulated, helping to combat both climate change and fuel poverty - going far beyond recent government announcements.

“As people world-wide feel the impact of the credit crunch, the UK government is sleep-walking into a climate-crunch, riding high on the fossil-fuel fantasies of the aviation industry. It is time for the government to wake up. Time is short. There could be less than one hundred months to prevent catastrophic, runaway climate change. Conventional economists claim that a rising tide lifts all boats, but the plain truth is that long before the minimal benefits of economic growth, particularly from air-based tourism bring any improvement to the lives of people living in some of the world’s poorest countries, they will be sunk by the floodwaters of runaway climate change.” says Dr Victoria Johnson, nef climate change researcher and the report’s co-author.

Benedict Southworth, director of the World Development Movement said: “Poor people in the developing world will be hit first and worst by climate change and international tourism does little, if anything, to alleviate poverty – so the myths peddled by the government and the aviation industry are simply a fig leaf to justify aviation expansion. Exposing and opposing these myths is essential if we are to help to prevent hundreds of millions of people around the world from losing their lives and livelihoods.”

And, as Plane Truths reveals, the majority of tourism takes place within, rather than between regions. This means that investment in better regional transport infrastructure will play a critical role in reducing emissions while maintaining the many cultural, and local economic benefits that tourism can deliver. The report finds that policy measures to date, such as Air Passenger Duty (APD) in the UK and the European Union (EU)’s emissions trading scheme, will have little impact on the strong and environmentally destructive growth trend in aviation.

The report argues that government must also show leadership, by taking action to reduce emissions from aviation, and include them in the climate change bill; halting planned airport expansion; and ensuring that proposed taxes on flights is set at a high enough rate to reduce demand for short-haul flights:

* The Climate Change Bill currently passing through parliament must be amended to include emissions from shipping and aircraft. The emissions reduction target should also be increased to 80-90 per cent below 1990 levels, in line with the most recent scientific evidence.
* When Airline Passenger Duty is replaced by a flight tax next year, it must be set at a proportionately higher for short-haul flights than long-haul, since aircraft burn most fuel during taxi, take-off and landing, and alternative methods of transport are often available
* The funds generated from this tax should be earmarked for investment in better rail connections, and to funds to help people in developing countries adapt to the degree of climate change that is already happening.

For more information, or to arrange an interview, or for a full copy of the report, please contact:

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

Ruth Potts, nef Communications Manager: 020 7820 6357 m: 07749 026 203

ruth.potts@neweconomics.org

Notes to editors:

* nef (the new economics foundation) is an independent think-and-do tank that inspires and demonstrates real economic well-being. We believe in economics as if people and the planet mattered. We aim to improve quality of life by promoting innovative solutions that challenge mainstream thinking on economic, environment and social issues. We work in partnership and put people and the planet first.
* 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
* The theme of World Tourism Day 2008 is Tourism Responding to the Challenge of Climate Change. The UNWTO (United Nations World Tourism Organisation) argues that tourism needs to be part of the global response to climate change, but states that ‘Tourism is also a proven weapon in the war on poverty’. The UNWTO advocates ‘responsible growth patterns’, but material on the UNWTO site says nothing about the impact that climate change will have on the world’s poor.
* Aviation’s contribution to global CO2 emissions: The airline industry claims that aviation only accounts for around 2 per cent of global CO2 emissions, and 6.3 per cent of UK emissions, but this only gives part of the picture. It overlooks the non-CO2 related warming effects of water vapour, condensation trails and nitrous oxides at high altitudes. Once this is accounted for, the ‘plane truth’ is that aviation accounts for 12.6 per cent of the UK’s contribution to climate change. If aviation growth were to go unchecked while other industries were forced to cut their emissions, by 2050, plane travel could use up the entire carbon budget of the UK.
* Aviation’s contribution to the economies of developing nations: For the range of developing nations studied – Kenya, the Maldives, Thailand and the Dominican Republic:
* new economic analysis shows that if the growth of UK aviation was halted, the impact of lost revenue represents less than one per cent of GDP.
* Even at the higher end of the range, in the Maldives, where the analysis shows that the lost revenue would represent 3.42 per cent of GDP – the threat climate change poses is far higher - as highlighted in a resolution presented to the UN, calling for the Security Council to address climate change as a pressing threat to international peace and security
* Patterns of air travel: Globally and regionally, the majority of travel is short-haul, or within rather than between regions making high speed rail a viable alternative in many cases.
* 75 per cent of all flights from the UK are short-haul
* 45 per cent of flights within Europe are for distances of less than 500 kilometres.
* One hundred months: nef (the new economics foundation) analysis released on 1 August 2008, revealed that from the beginning of August there were only 100 months, or less, to stabilise concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere before we hit the potential point of no return. People wishing to take positive, regular monthly actions on climate change can also sign-up at www.onehundredmonths.org

Hutton's pro-coal stance not founded on science, economics or reason

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 12:00:00 GMT

In response to John Hutton’s speech today at the Labour Party Conference, the World Development Movement calls for an end to John Hutton’s pro-coal stance that is not founded on science, economics or reason.

Benedict Southworth, director of the World Development Movement said:

“The refrains in John Hutton’s speech to conference are verging on formulaic, but are not based on science, economics or reason. He starts with impassioned pleas over energy security; followed by a swift jibe at the Tories’ pandering to the greens; and finishes with a triumphant flourish about ‘keeping the lights on’. As usual what he failed to say in today’s speech is that giving the go ahead for a generation of new coal power stations will decrease our energy security because we import 75 per cent of our coal, half from Russia. And most of the gas we use is British, and gas imports mainly come from Norway.

“Hutton makes fun of the Tories' climate policies, but the joke falls flat when you consider that climate change will have catastrophic impacts on Britain's economy and security. Climate change endangers the very essence of every nation's sovereignty by eating away at shorelines, glaciers and farmland, threatening the lives of millions globally. The persistent sound bites are a huge diversion, we need investment in renewables, not new coal.

“It’s sometimes hard to believe that's John Hutton is in the same cabinet as Miliband and Benn who seem to recognise the terrible impact that climate change will have on the world’s poorest people.”

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

New environment chief warning over rising sea levels and folly of fossil fuels

Thu, 18 Aug 2008 10:05:35 GMT

Responding to the statement by Lord Smith, the head of the Environment Agency, warning the government over the impact of rising sea levels in the UK and voicing support for opposition to projects like the proposed Kingsnorth coal-fired power station and the third runway at Heathrow, Murray Benham, head of campaigns at the World Development Movement said:

“The government must take heed of this warning. It is absolute folly to push ahead with climate damaging projects like the third runway at Heathrow and the new coal power station at Kingsnorth. Climate change is not only threatening huge swathes of the UK’s coastline but also much of the land where the poorest people in the world live. We hope that Lord Smith will continue to use his influence to put real pressure on the government to drop these proposals.”

The World Development Movement has revealed that the Kingsnorth coal power station will annually emit more carbon than Ghana does each year. And that the third run way at Heathrow will emit as much carbon as Kenya does each year.

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

For more information please contact:

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

World Development Movement analysis on the collapse of the WTO talks

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 12:00:00 GMT

Benedict Southworth, director of the World Development Movement said:
“For a while it has been clear that no deal would be better than a bad deal in the Doha trade talks and this is indeed what has played out in the last 24 hours.

“The EU and US have failed to change their hard-ball negotiating tactics in the face of strong resistance from the developing world and it is they who bear the responsibility for the missed opportunity of this so-called ‘development round’. Indeed the rich countries have been aggressive and greedy during these talks and the development needs of poor countries have been completely sidelined, not just in the last nine days, but in the last seven years of discussions.

The final straw…

“The final straw for the talks yesterday was the US ignoring pleas from developing countries to be able to properly protect themselves and their vulnerable producers against sudden import surges. At a time of volatile prices and fluctuating import/export trends, such safeguards are absolutely essential to protect the livelihoods of rural producers in poor countries. Yet the US would not accept that.

“It is right that developing countries, led by India, withstood pressure to resist the bad deal on the table. Nonetheless, many developing countries are right to feel frustrated at the collapse of the talks and the wasted opportunity of the last seven years of the so-called Doha Development Round which has failed to really tackle the inequities in the present trading system.

What it means for cotton farmers in West Africa…

“Cotton farmers in West Africa, for example, have not seen, and probably will not now see, meaningful action from the US to tackle the heavily-subsidised cotton which makes it almost impossible for them to be able to compete.

Aggressive bilateral deals to follow?

“Now that these WTO talks have collapsed, a real fear is that the US and the EU will go forward with their bilateral trade agenda with added zeal. Europe has plans for bilateral trade deals with 34 countries across Asia and Latin America, as well as an aggressive agenda to sign economic partnership agreements with Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific nations. As Peter Mandelson himself has said, a system of bilateral trade agreements means “the large can strong-arm the small”. The EU should not push developing countries into signing unfair bilateral deals.

How to bring development back into the global trade talks…

“Trade negotiators from the developed world now need to recognise some core principles if the multilateral trading system is to be revived and if it is to truly work in the interests of development:

1. that the principle of ‘less than full reciprocity’ from developing countries is more important than ever, if trade is to really help countries move out of poverty. Rich countries should expect to make much greater compromises than poor ones.
2. that the current food, economic, climate change and oil crises require a fundamental re-think of trade liberalisation and the deregulation of economies and corporations that it entails.
3. that all countries, especially poor countries, need maximum policy flexibility and policy space to be able to run their economies in ways which benefit their own people.

What we need for successful trade talks…

“In practical terms, the future of multilateral trade talks could be strong, but only if:

1. There is fundamental reform of the processes at the WTO which allow developing countries to be able to fully participate in all the talks which directly them.
2. The EU and US fundamentally review their approach to trade and ensure it genuinely meets the needs of global poverty.
3. The EU and US commit to far more significant cuts in agricultural subsidies in order to make a tangible difference to farmers in the Global South. The EU and US should not expect a quid pro quo from poor countries on industrial tariffs.
4. There is recognition that some areas of the economy including public services like health education, water, should never be part of multilateral trade talks.

“Outside of the present WTO, trade can work for development. In particular, far more emphasis could be placed on south-south trade and a recognition that trade between blocs of similar developing countries can be very beneficial for all concerned.

ENDS

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

No deal better than a bad deal at WTO, says World Development Movement

Thu, 28 Jul 2008 09:58:21 GMT

In response to comments from Susan Schwab, US Trade negotiator that talks collapsed today, the World Development Movement says that this is a better outcome for the world’s poor than a bad deal.

Vicky Cann, the World Development Movement trade spokesperson said:

“This is a better outcome for the world’s poorest people than the bad deal on the table - the EU and the USA were aggressive and greedy and the development needs of poor countries have been completely sidelined, not just in the last nine days, but in the last seven years of discussions. It’s absolutely right that developing countries stood up to that.

“The EU and USA have failed to grasp that while developing countries may have their differences, there is strong solidarity. India, in particular, held firm in representing the views of the many developing countries unfairly excluded from taking part in the talks.

"If trade is to work for the poor, the EU needs a wholesale change of approach, one that places poverty eradication at its heart. Whatever the final straw this week they failed because the EU and the US negotiators spent seven long years listening to entrenched domestic corporate and political interests and not the voices of developing countries, who are living with intense poverty and now, a food crisis.”

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

UK water company fails in $20 million compensation claim from Tanzanian government

Thu, 28 Jul 2008 09:53:10 GMT

The World Development Movement has learnt that the UK water company Biwater has failed in its bid to claim up to US$20 million in damages from the Tanzanian government following the collapse of a controversial water privatisation contract in 2005.

biwater stunt
photo: WDM activists protest outside Biwater HQ

This case was heard at the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). In 2003, a subsidiary of Biwater, City Water Services, took on a water privatisation contract in Dar es Salaam. The Tanzanian government cancelled the contract after less than two years, citing City Water Services’ failure to meet the targets set in the contract. One of City Water’s parent companies, controlled by Biwater, launched this legal action alleging its investor rights had been breached and sought damages from the Tanzanian government. The Tribunal has found that while technical breaches of Biwater’s investor rights did occur, Biwater was not entitled to compensation because the breaches were worth zero in monetary value and that the termination of the contract was inevitable.

The policy of water privatisation was imposed on Tanzania via a series of conditions set by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in return for aid, debt relief and cheap loans. The UK government supplied millions in aid to support the wider Tanzanian privatisation programme.

The World Development Movement has campaigned against the use of aid money to push water privatisation policies in developing countries for many years and it has been following this case closely.

Benedict Southworth, the World Development Movement’s director said:

“This is a good day for the people of Tanzania and an embarrassing day for Biwater. Biwater has been incredibly greedy to think that the government of Tanzania owed them $20 million when it was clear that their subsidiary was kicked out of Tanzania for not fulfilling its contract. In papers revealed during this tribunal, Biwater’s own chairman talks of ‘corporate failure all the way to Dorking’ where Biwater has its HQ.

“Questions remain however over whether Biwater and its UK shareholders will honour the debts of City Water Services and pay the £3 million plus £500,000 that the Tanzanian authorities were awarded in January 2008 in a separate case. Biwater at the very least owes the people of Tanzania an apology and the UK government, should formally end support for water privatisation as a ‘solution’ to the global water crisis.

“Tanzania is one of the poorest countries in the world and it is clear that water privatisation was a failed policy pushed by the World Bank in return for debt relief. Hopefully now, the government of Tanzania can put the Biwater water privatisation fiasco behind it and focus on making the much-needed improvements to water and sanitation in Tanzania.”

Mussa Billegeya from the Tanzanian Association of NGOs said,

"The whole process of privatising water services in Dar es Salaam was opposed by civil society here. However, under pressure from the World Bank, the government of Tanzania moved on with the privatisation. The subsequent failure of this policy and now the legal case should be a lesson to the World Bank, aid donors and governments that privatisation is not a solution for problems in developing countries. In fact, this failure has added a burden to a country that is already struggling to reach its international poverty targets on access to water."
The case, Biwater, the UK government and Tanzania

* Tanzania is ranked as the 159th poorest country in the world according to the United Nations
* The UK government gave nearly £10 million in aid to support the whole privatisation programme in Tanzania between 1998-2004; £273,000 of this funded a pop song promoting the benefits of privatisation
* 98 per cent of the funds to support the water privatisation in Dar were to be spent in the areas where the richest 20 per cent of the population lived.
* The Tanzanian government gave several reasons when it cancelled the contract in May 2005, including the collapse of the contract re-negotiations. City Water Services had breached a number of provisions in the contract including the failure to deposit the appropriate funds to help connect new communities to water services.
* This case was heard at ICSID which is part of the World Bank. It mediates between countries and private investors. The case was heard behind closed doors when Biwater rejected an application for a public hearing.
* After City Water’s contract was cancelled, a new public corporation - Dar es Salaam Water and Sewerage Corporation - took over. The World Bank continued its loan despite the change in operator.

Ends

Read WDM's in-depth analysis

For more information, personal testimonies residents in Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, comment or to receive a copy of the media briefing please 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 World Development Movement has produced a media briefing which gives further detail and analysis of the case. It can be found here: www.wdm.org.uk/greatexpectations
* The legal case at the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes was brought by Biwater Gauff (Tanzania) Ltd against the government of Tanzania. In 2005, the two shareholders in Biwater Gauff were Biwater International (80 per cent) and Gauff Ingenieure (20 per cent) of Germany. Biwater Gauff (Tanzania) Ltd controlled 51 per cent of City Water Services while Superdoll Trailer Manufacturing of Tanzania controlled 49 per cent.
* In January 2008, Tanzanian authorities were awarded £3 million plus £500,000 from City Water Services in costs in a separate legal case arising from this contract. To date, this money remains unpaid.
* The World Development Movement has been campaigning against water privatisation policies imposed upon poor countries by donors, international financial institutions and companies for several years. More information.
* 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 16,000 supporters and 70 local groups across the UK. For more information, go to www.wdm.org.uk

The Doha Development Deal: missing presumed dead?

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:00:00 GMT

According to the World Development Movement, the 'development' element of the Doha Development Round is 'missing presumed dead' and any claim that the talks hold the answer to the global food crisis is little more than ‘spin and hyperbole’. A report released today by the World Development Movement highlights the failure of the international trade talks, starting today, to deliver any benefit for the world's poorest people.

Benedict Southworth, director of the World Development Movement said:

"It's clear that Pascal Lamy, the EU and the US want a new trade deal at any cost. While this has been a trade round supposed to lift the poorest people in the world out of poverty, the outcomes of the last ministerial meeting in Hong Kong in 2005 were a bad deal for poor people and the environment.

“The meeting this week will see another push by the EU and US for the rapid opening of developing countries' markets.”

The report also refutes the claim that this round will represent a solution to the world's economic ills and the current global food crisis.

Benedict Southworth continues:

"It is foolish to claim that these talks and greater trade liberalisation will have a positive impact on the global food crisis and global economic downturn.

“After all, it was the lax regulation of global markets that created the current world financial problems, while the causes of the food crisis are far too complex to be solved by a simplistic call for ever more trade liberalisation.

“It's simply spin and hyperbole designed to push developing countries into signing up.”
Missing presumed dead report

Missing presumed dead Updated
(July 2008)
Whatever happened to the
Development Round?
pdf 30 pages

ENDS

For more information, or a copy of the report, please contact

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

Benedict Southworth will be available for interview - ISDN available.

Notes to editors

The World Development Movement (WDM) has been campaigning on trade issues for almost three decades and monitoring negotiations at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) since its creation in 1995.

Robert Redford: statement supporting the campaign against new coal power station in Kent

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 12:00:00 GMT

Robert Redford, actor and film maker, has given a powerful written statement to the World Development Movement lending his support for the campaign against the new coal power station in Kent. The full statement will be read tomorrow (Thurs 17) at a film and discussion event: ‘Kent, coal and climate change’ organised by the World Development Movement in Chatham, Kent.

Robert Redford addressed the local community in Kent:

"To those gathered this evening around the proposed coal fire power plant in your community of Kent, I congratulate all of you for coming together to learn more and to do more.

He outlined the reasons for his opposition for new coal:

"Coal power plants or as you call them, stations, are bad for public health; they are bad for the environment close by in proximity as well as much farther away as pollution is taken by wind and water; they contribute greatly to climate impacts in a highly negative manner; and thus are ultimately very bad for the local and larger economies."

During the World Development Movement’s film and discussion evening on Thursday 17 July, there will be a screening of “Fighting Goliath: The Texas Coal Wars” narrated by Robert Redford. The film follows city mayors, lawyers, environmentalists, ranchers, and CEOs in Texas who came together to fight the construction of new coal fire power stations in Texas.

Benedict Southworth, director of the World Development Movement said:

“It’s brilliant that such a well-known figure has leant his support to our campaign. This is a campaign about climate change and its impact on Kent, but also on the poorest people in the world, who are already suffering from drought, disease and flooding because of climate change.

“Robert Redford is a knowledgeable and passionate advocate for grass roots campaigners who are coming together everywhere to fight new coal power stations. The film that he has narrated resonates with the emerging coalition of people from all backgrounds in Kent, including, councillors, stay-at-home mums and dads, local authority employees, furniture makers, and young people who are coming together to fight the new coal power station proposed at Kingsnorth in Kent.”

Robert Redford acknowledged the universality between the fight against coal power stations around the world:

“The story in Fighting Goliath: the Texas Coal Wars may well ring familiar to you, as it’s a universal story of what is happening in many communities across the U.S. and the world."

For more information/interviews/a copy of the full statement from Robert Redford, please call Kate Blagojevic on 020 7820 4900 / 07711 875 345. Please note that unfortunately Robert Redford is not available for interview

Kingsnorth: a local issue going global

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 12:00:00 GMT

A film and discussion evening is taking place to raise awareness of the campaign to stop the proposed coal-fired power station in Kingsnorth – a local issue going global. The World Development Movement is hosting the evening on Thursday 17 July, from 7.30pm at Fort Amherst, Chatham.

The World Development Movement’s evening of film, discussion and debate is designed to stimulate debate and inform people about the local and global impacts of the new Kingsnorth power station.

Three short films will be premiered:

A message of support from Archbishop Desmond Tutu
‘Fighting Goliath – Texas coal wars’ – narrated by Robert Redford
‘Kingsnorth – a local issue going global’ – narrated by Rob Newman.

Speakers include:

Sean Furey, Campaign for the Protection of Rural England – Kent

Ruth Davies, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
Leila Deen, World Development Movement

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

“This event is about bringing people together to hear from a wide range of people who have joined the campaign to stop Kingsnorth getting the green light from the government. Medway is now at the cutting edge of the fight against climate change, the power station is no longer a local issue; it has global ramifications. This event is designed to inform people how they too can be a part of our campaign to say ‘no to Kingsnorth’, and help stop dangerous climate change.”

Archbishop Desmond Tutu states:

“Once again, we in Africa urgently call on ordinary people in rich countries to act as global citizens and not as isolated consumers. We must listen to our consciences, and not to governments who speak only about economic markets. Why? Because these markets will cease to exist if climate change is allowed to develop into climate chaos.”

To book a free place call 020 7820 4900 or email stopkingsnorth@wdm.org.uk

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

Barclays sells shares in Global Coal Management

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 12:00:00 GMT

In June 2008 Barclays Bank sold its shares in Global Coal Management – a British company that is pushing through the building of a controversial mine in Bangladesh. A mine that, if built, will displace 40,000 people and threatened the water supply of a further 100,000. This move comes just two months after the Asian Development Bank removed financial banking from the controversial project, further placing the project in jeopardy.

WDM has spearheaded the UK campaign to stop the Phulbari mine project going ahead. Thousands of WDM supporters wrote to Barclays demanding that it sold its shares and WDM campaigners also attended Barclays AGM, demanding the same.

Tim Jones, policy officer at the World Development Movement said: “We are pleased to see that Barclays has sold its shares in Global Coal Management. And we now want Barclays, and other UK banks to remove all financial involvement in the project both now in and in the future. This is yet another blow for GCM and a victory for some of the poorest people in Bangladesh”.

WDM will continue to campaign to prevent the mine from being built more…

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

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

Government must think twice before going for coal

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 17:25:42 GMT

The World Development Movement is deeply concerned that the government is planning to pay to pollute the environment through the EU Emissions Trading Scheme in an attempt to continue ‘business as usual’, rather than focusing on reducing emissions in the UK.

The campaigners claim that the UK intends to buy carbon credits from poor countries to meet the EU reductions targets, rather than actually cutting emissions to prevent catastrophic climate change.

Benedict Southworth, director of the World Development Movement said:

“Rather than making a positive decision in favour of the environment and the world’s poor, the government is planning to use a discredited trading scheme to continue to pollute.”

The campaigners fear that the government believes that it can continue to source energy from non-renewable supplies, like coal, without fully considering the climate impact because it knows that it can buy its way out through the EU scheme.

There are concerns that the government plans to give a speedy go ahead - without a public inquiry – to the Kingsnorth coal power plant. The World Development Movement estimates the power station will emit more CO2 than Ghana each year.

Benedict Southworth continued:

“The government must think twice about committing to Kingsnorth before fully getting to grips with the climate implications of a hasty decision. If coal power plants are given the go-ahead, it is highly likely that the UK will miss the new EU targets to boost renewable energy.

“The government is relying on carbon capture and storage technology to try to make coal clean, but they are pinning their hopes on a technology that isn’t available yet and even Alistair Darling has admitted it may never be. This seems like a risky strategy at best.”

ENDS

For more information or to organise an interview with Benedict Southworth, please call:

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

ISDN available.

Notes to Editors:

* The World Development Movement has launched a new campaign ‘Stop Kingsnorth’. To find out more, see www.stopkingsnorth.org.uk
* The EU targets include a cut in emissions by 20 per cent by 2020 and will require the UK to source around 40 per cent of its electricity from renewable energy supplies. The World Development Movement believes that these targets could be missed due to the government’s intransigence on plans new coal plants and aviation emissions.
* The Renewable Energy Association estimates that the UK could get 49 per cent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020.

The calculation showing the carbon emissions from Ghana and Kingsnorth are outlined below:

* According to the US Energy Information Administration, Ghana produced 6.7 million tonnes of CO2 from all activities in 2005, the latest year for which figures are available. http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/international/iealf/tableh1co2.xls
* Greenpeace have estimated that the proposed Kingsnorth coal-fired power station would produce 8.1 million tonnes of CO2 a year. This was calculated in the following way:

It is estimated that the proposed Kingsnorth plant will be working 88% of the time according to manufacturers and 92% of the time according to PB Power consultants. Taking the average of 90%, the proposed plant will generate electricity for 7884 hours a year.

The power station will produce at 1.6 GW x 7884 hours = 12.6 TWh/y of output

Based on an emissions factor for new supercritical coal plant of 646g CO2/kwh - the proposed Kingsnorth coal plant will produce 8.14 million tonnes of CO2 per year. The DTI white paper on energy states that the UK uses 350TWh a year of electricity, which means that the proposed new Kingsnorth power plant will supply 3.6 per cent of the UK’s electricity. “Meeting the energy challenge: A white paper on energy.” May 2007. http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file39387.pdf

* 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

Proposed coal power plant will release more carbon than Ghana

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 10:25:07 GMT

The proposed Kingsnorth coal-fired power station in Kent will release more carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere than Ghana’s total carbon emissions each year according to new research from the World Development Movement today.

The government’s Energy Bill will be debated in parliament tomorrow, covering coal, nuclear and renewable energy, and campaigners claim that this evidence starkly demonstrates the government’s contradictory stance on energy and climate change policies.

Benedict Southworth, director of the World Development Movement said:

“It is impossible for the government to claim that they are pro-coal but anti-climate change. The fact that the government is backing a new coal-fired power station that would release more harmful carbon into the air than Ghana, which has a population of 22 million people, is deeply alarming and completely incompatible with the need to cut the UK’s carbon emissions by more than 80% to avoid disastrous climate change.

“The government is relying on carbon capture and storage technology to try to make a dirty industry clean, but they are pinning our hopes on technology that isn’t available yet. This seems like a risky strategy at best.

“Energy and climate change policies must work towards the same end goal of avoiding dangerous climate change. If the government continues down this contradictory policy path, climate change will continue unabated and millions of people in the developing world will lose their lives and their livelihoods.”

The World Development Movement is calling for a public inquiry into the proposed Kingsnorth coal-fired power station.

ENDS

For comment or interview 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 calculation showing the carbon emissions from Ghana and Kingsnorth are outlined below:

* According to the US Energy Information Administration, Ghana produced 6.7 million tonnes of CO2 from all activities in 2005, the latest year for which figures are available. http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/international/iealf/tableh1co2.xls

Greenpeace have estimated that the proposed Kingsnorth coal-fired power station would produce 8.1 million tonnes of CO2 a year. This was calculated in the following way:

* It is estimated that the proposed Kingsnorth plant will be working 88% of the time according to manufacturers and 92% of the time according to PB Power consultants. Taking the average of 90%, the proposed plant will generate electricity for 7884 hours a year.

* The power station will produce at 1.6 GW x 7884 hours = 12.6 TWh/y of output
* Based on an emissions factor for new supercritical coal plant of 646g CO2/kwh - the proposed Kingsnorth coal plant will produce 8.14 million tonnes of CO2 per year.
* The DTI white paper on energy states that the UK uses 350TWh a year of electricity, which means that the proposed new Kingsnorth power plant will supply 3.6 per cent of the UK’s electricity. "Meeting the energy challenge: A white paper on energy" (May 2007 pdf). http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file39387.pdf

Tanzania wins legal battle against British water company

Fri, 11 Jan 2008 18:17:14 GMT

City Water Services, a subsidiary of British-based water company Biwater, has lost an international legal case for breaching its contract to deliver water and sanitation services in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania between 2003 and 2005. The contract with City Water was issued following a controversial water privatisation, supported by the UK government.

The outcome vindicates the Tanzanian government’s decision to terminate the contract due to its dissatisfaction with the standard of service delivered by the water company. Tanzania has been awarded over £3 million in damages and over £500,000 in legal costs.

Vicky Cann, policy officer at the World Development Movement, said: “The evidence clearly shows that water privatisation has been a disastrous policy for poor people around the world, but the World Bank insisted on imposing water privatisation in Tanzania in return for much needed debt relief. Ultimately, privatisation led to a fall in the standard of service and City Water Services failed to meet targets set out in the contract.”

“Biwater now has a moral duty to ensure that, despite City Water Services being in liquidation, this money is paid promptly and in full so that the government of Tanzania can focus on making essential improvements to water and sanitation.”

In a separate legal case following the collapse of this water privatisation project, Biwater has lodged a case at the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) against the government of Tanzania. The case is being held in secrecy at The Hague and is thought to involve a claim for approximately US$20 million. The ruling is expected during 2008.

The World Development Movement campaigns against the imposition of water privatisation on countries around the world by the World Bank, and against the use of UK government aid to fund such projects. The World Development Movement has shown that the negative experience in Tanzania is not an isolated case. In many poor countries, for example, Bolivia, Mali and The Gambia, water privatisation has consistently failed to deliver clean, affordable water to the poor. The organisation is calling for investment in the public sector and progressive reforms to help tackle the global water crisis.

ENDS

To organise an interview or for background information to the Biwater – Tanzania case, please call

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

Notes to Editors

* This international legal case was brought under the rules of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law or UNCITRAL and was heard in London. The case was brought by the Dar es Salaam Water and Sewerage Authority against City Water Services. City Water Services is owned by Biwater Gauff (Tanzania) Ltd (51 per cent) and a Tanzanian partner, Superdoll Trailer Manufacturing.
* The legal case at ICSID is being brought by Biwater Gauff (Tanzania) Ltd against the Government of Tanzania.
* The World Development Movement has been campaigning against water privatisation policies pushed upon poor countries by donors, international financial institutions and companies for several years, including in Tanzania. For more information see http://www.wdm.org.uk/campaigns/water/private/tanzania.htm
* 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

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Government must stop new Kingsnorth coal- fired power plant

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 14:53:59 GMT

Responding to the decision by Medway Council to approve plans by energy multinational EON to build a new coal-fired power plant at Kingsnorth in Kent, Murray Benham, Head of Campaigns at the World Development Movement, said:

“The UK government cannot possibly meet its own carbon reduction targets if it presses ahead with plans for a new generation of coal-fired power stations.

“Coal is the most climate polluting way of generating electricity. If the UK builds new coal-fired power plants, we will be condemning millions of people around the world to death by climate change. Instead, the UK could be developing clean forms of generating electricity to truly lead the world in cutting carbon emissions and preventing catastrophic climate change.”

The Kingsnorth proposal is the first in a string of possible new coal power stations that energy companies want to build in the UK. John Hutton, the government’s energy minister, will take the final decision on whether the new coal-fired power station will be built.

Medway Council does not hold the power to withhold or grant planning permission but can advise the government. While not formally objecting to the plan, Medway Council called on the government to hold a public inquiry and to explain how a new coal-fired power plant would fit with the government’s climate and energy plans.

http://www.stopkingsnorth.org

ENDS

For more information, comment or interview, please call Murray Benham on 020 7820 4900/4913 or 07711 875 345. ISDN available.

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

EU flights plan could make global warming worse

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 14:52:37 GMT

esponding to the EU Council of Environment Ministers agreement on a cap for aviation emissions, the World Development Movement (WDM) says these measures are even weaker than the recent inadequate proposals that came from the European Parliament and that they could actually make global warming worse.

Martin Powell, WDM climate campaigner said:

"European environment ministers could have given a Christmas present to the world’s poor by halting the growth in harmful carbon dioxide emissions from flying. Instead, as their own research shows, their proposals for including aviation in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) will mean business as usual for Europe’s fastest growing source of greenhouse gases. That will scupper our chances of doing our fair share to avoid dangerous climate change.

"It is particularly worrying that this agreement takes no account of aviation emissions being 2-4 times as harmful as carbon dioxide emission alone because of the chemical cocktail planes release at altitude. By ignoring this effect this proposal could actually lead to more not less climate damage.

"The UK government must now stop pretending the EU ETS will make the problem of aviation emissions magically disappear. Aviation emissions must be included in the UK climate change bill, and further airport expansion must be stopped."

The Council’s proposal will go to the EU parliament in 2008 as part of a process to find agreement, and could become a binding law by this time next year.

The proposals would see just 10 per cent of pollution permits auctioned, would not include aviation in the EU ETS until 2012, would take no account of the extra warming effect of aviation (‘radiative forcing’), and would cap emissions based on 2004-6 levels.

The World Development Movement is calling for: all CO2 permits to be auctioned so airlines pay the proper price for their pollution; a cap on emissions based on the 1990 levels used for other sectors in the Kyoto protocol and all targets to take full account of ‘radiative forcing’.

ENDS

For further information or interview please contact: Martin Powell on 07726 873135 or Murray Benham on 07971 958938
Notes for editors

1. A summary of the EU’s own aviation impact assessment can be found in this European Commission working document (PDF)
2. If non-CO2 impacts of aviation are not included from the start of aviation’s inclusion in the ETS, then there is a danger that including aviation in the ETS will actually lead to an increase in the EU’s contribution to climate change. For example, to cover a growth in emissions of 100,000 tonnes of CO2, an airline could buy a permit to emit 100,000 tonnes of CO2 from a power station. The power station will reduce its CO2 emissions by 100,000 tonnes whilst the airline will increase its emissions by 100,000 tonnes. However, the actual warming effect caused by the aviation emissions will be 200,000 to 400,000 tonnes of CO2. In this example, including aviation in the emissions trading scheme would actually lead to an increase in global warming of the equivalent of 100,000 to 300,000 tonnes of CO2.

Europe fights for profits from Africa

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 14:51:40 GMT

The European approach to trade has been laid bare over the past few weeks as the European Commission has used every trick in the book to force the poorest countries in the world into new free trade agreements.

Under the misleadingly named “Economic Partnership Agreements”, the EU has sought to get African countries to drastically open-up their markets to European companies. The opening-up of markets by poor countries to rich countries like the EU leads to job losses, falling wage rates and decreased government spending, including on basic services such as health, education and water.

Negotiations on Economic Partnership Agreements have been underway since 2002, and have consistently been opposed by civil society and many governments in Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific. In the face of such opposition, over recent months the EU Trade Commissioner, Peter Mandelson, has dropped any pretence that the agreements are about development.

Instead, the EU has said it will increase taxes on imports from African, Caribbean and Pacific countries on 1 January 2008 if agreements are not signed. At the same time, the EU has suggested that the existence (or not) of an Economic Partnership Agreement will influence EU decisions on which countries receive most aid.

In the face of such pressure, 19 countries in Africa and the Pacific have signed new free trade agreements, which will see them removing trade taxes on European goods over the next fifteen years. The agreements also commit the African and Pacific countries to negotiate agreements which will remove regulations on European companies. The 19 countries include Zimbabwe, despite the EU’s condemnation of the Zimbabwean government.
The countries which have so far signed new free trade deals with the EU (as of 13 December 2007):

Southern Africa: Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Mozambique, Seychelles, Zimbabwe, Mauritius, Comoros, Namibia and Madagascar.

East Africa: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda.

West Africa: Ivory Coast and Ghana.

Pacific: Papua New Guinea and Fiji.

NB: Countries in italics are not LDCs, so faced increased tariffs from 1 January. Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda have signed alongside Kenya and Tanzania, as an agreement solely with Kenya and Tanzania would have destroyed the regional customs union which is being created. Similarly, Lesotho is part of the Southern African Customs Union, which includes non-LDCs Botswana, Namibia and Swaziland

Countries classed as Least Developed Countries (LDCs) by the UN have a separate agreement with the EU which means their tariffs will not increase on 1 January, whether they sign a free trade agreement or not. Unsurprisingly, the vast majority of Least Developed Countries have so far refused to open up their markets to European exports.

The countries which are concluding deals with the EU’s are those such as Kenya, Ghana and Tanzania, who have been threatened by the EU with a sudden decline in exports to Europe on 1 January 2008.

Gyekye Tanoh from the African Trade Network says that whilst the signing of agreements looks like a defeat for campaigners for global justice, the EU has so far failed to get agreements on removing regulations on European companies in Africa, which would be the worst aspect of any deal (services, investment and government procurement).

Dot Keet, a trade analyst based in South Africa, predicts that the agreements could yet be a pyrrhic victory for Europe. Europe’s approach has destroyed any goodwill African governments have for the EU.
Countries which have not yet signed a new free trade deal, and could face higher EU tariffs from 1 January (as of 13 December 2007):

West Africa: Nigeria.

Central Africa: Cameroon, Republic of Congo, Gabon, Sao Tome and Principe.

Caribbean: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St Lucia, St Vincent, St Kitts and Nevis, Surinam, Trinidad and Tobago.

Pacific: Cook Islands, Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Solomon Islands, Tonga.

NB: South Africa has a separate free trade agreement with the EU and so its tariffs will not change on 1 January.

Countries which have not yet signed a new free trade deal and are classed as Least Developed Countries (as of 13 December):

West Africa: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo.

Central Africa: Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea.

East Africa: Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Malawi, Rwanda, Sudan, Uganda, Zambia.

Southern Africa: Angola.

Caribbean: Haiti.

Pacific: Kiribati, Samoa, Tuvalu, Vanuatu.

World Development Movement comment on Bali 'road-map'

Tue, 18 Dec 2007 11:05:34 GMT

Commenting on the ‘road-map’ to tackle the massive threat posed by climate change, agreed in Bali today, Peter Hardstaff, Head of Policy at the World Development Movement said:

“The fact that the UN climate process is still alive feels like a small miracle considering the US Administration’s attempts over the past two weeks to block a meaningful process and create its own alternative forum. The dramatic events in the final hours of the conference are testament to the strength of feeling among developing countries that they should be part of the solution but treated differently to rich countries.

“The climate talks in Bali should have been about co-operation and building trust, not competition and backstabbing. We must hope that significant changes in political and public opinion will continue and ultimately overwhelm the narrow-mindedness that has characterised the actions of a small group of rich countries at the Bali meeting if an equitable and meaningful outcome is to be achieved by 2009.

ENDS
About WDM

Founded in 1970, WDM 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 a strong role for its 100 local groups across the UK.

For comment or interview please contact:

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

Who is the biggest NGO in Bali?

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 11:03:25 GMT

Is it Greenpeace? Is it WWF? The International Chamber of Commerce? The World Development Movement is surprised to discover that it is the lobbying group, International Emissions Trading Association (IETA).

With 336 representatives including lawyers, financiers, emissions traders, consultants, certifiers and emissions trading experts from companies like Shell, the ETA makes up 7.5% of the 4483 Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) delegates at the UN climate talks. This dwarfs even the largest environmental groups like WWF (2%) and Greenpeace (1.6%).

Emissions trading has been implicated in several scandals and has come under fire from campaigners for failing to deliver real cuts in emissions.

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

“The fact that the International Emissions Trading Association is the biggest NGO in Bali is indicative of the massive expansion in this industry over the past few years, and the influence it will extend over the outcome of the talks.

“This expansion and influence is based on the argument that it is cheaper, easier and more efficient to pay for emissions reductions in developing countries, whilst developed countries continue to pollute. This argument sounds fine in theory but in practice has been riddled with problems.

“Making money out of the desire to tackle climate change is only legitimate if emissions are reduced, and if it works without unwanted side-affects. So far emissions trading has not proved it can deliver what is needed, yet governments will be lobbied heavily to expand trading by the growing number of companies that stand to make money from it.

“These climate talks could set in stone a deal that lasts for years. It may be our last chance to get it right and governments cannot afford to put all their eggs in a basket full of holes.”
Notes

For some examples of the problems associated with the carbon trading market:
See pages 7-10 of a WDM submission to a UK Environmental Audit Committee Inquiry on offsetting:
http://www.wdm.org.uk/resources/reports/climate/submissiontotheEAConoffsetting29012007.pdf
See pages 12-13 of a WDM consultation submission on the UK’s climate bill:
http://www.wdm.org.uk/resources/reports/climate/submissiontoDEFRAonclimatebill20062007.pdf

* The second largest NGO delegation is from the ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability with 282 delegates (6.3% of the NGO total). This includes a range of local government officials from across the world, as well as a selection of Hollywood celebrities such as Brad Pitt, George Clooney and Cameron Diaz.
* World-Wide Fund for Nature (WWF): 89 (1.98%)
* Greenpeace: 70 (1.56%)
* Friends of the Earth: 68 (1.52%) (including World Development Movement: 1 (0.02%))
* Oxfam: 59 (1.31%)

Figures calculated using: UNFCCC, Conference of the Parties, Thirteenth Session, Bali, 3-14 December 2007. Provisional List of Participants: Part Two. 4 December 2007. FCCC/CP/2007/MISC.1 (Part 2)

ENDS
To interview Peter Hardstaff in Bali, please call +62 815 5812 1238 or +44 7740 867295
Or call:

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

Brown’s refusal to attend EU – Africa talks are a 'smokescreen'

Wed, 05 Dec 2007 17:33:49 GMT

The World Development Movement today questions Gordon Brown’s boycott of the Europe-Africa summit starting in Lisbon today. The organisation strongly believes that the Prime Minister should be present and leading the way in challenging Europe’s drive to impose free trade deals on African countries that will bring about increased poverty in Africa.

Benedict Southworth, director of the World Development Movement said:

“The humanitarian crisis caused by the incompetence and corruption of the President Mugabe’s government will not be helped by Prime Minister Brown’s decision to boycott the EU Africa summit.

“Instead Brown’s anger, however understandable, will act as a smokescreen for a wider problem in the relationship between the EU and African countries. This summit is being held at a critical time in the ongoing drive by the EU to force vulnerable African countries to sign-up to free trade deals which benefit European multi-national companies. But these deals threaten to bring about rising unemployment, increased poverty and reduced spending on health, education and social welfare. Gordon Brown must publicly reject Europe’s strategy as forcefully as it rejects Mugabe.”

ENDS

For comment or interview 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 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

Blame climate change on China?

Wed, 05 Dec 2007 11:06:43 GMT

Blame climate change on China?

5 December 2007

When the UK’s carbon emissions include imports from China, the average UK citizen’s carbon footprint increases by 10% according to new research released today, by the World Development Movement.

A World Development Movement report, released in Bali, rejects the ‘blame China for climate change’ culture and reveals a new and more accurate picture of the UK’s responsibility for climate change by accounting for the carbon emissions caused by our massive consumption of products from overseas.

The report also shows that when global trade is taken into account, the average UK citizen is responsible for four times the emissions of an average person in China.

The average annual per person CO2 emissions in tonnes are:

	UK	China
Without trade	9.6	4.1
Including trade	13.2	3

Pete Hardstaff, head of policy at the World Development Movement, who is in Bali, said:

“The very real danger at the Bali conference is the talks breaking down in a pointless blame game. If this is to be avoided, rich countries like the UK must recognise their responsibility for fuelling climate change, not only with emissions created on our shores but also with our massive consumption of goods produced overseas. The World Development Movement figures show that the UK is a major importer of Chinese goods, and so must bear some responsibility for emissions produced during their manufacture.

“Using the mass media to point the finger at China will not help get the global deal we need to avert climate change disaster. Not only have rich countries historically caused the problem; they are also ‘importing’ emissions from the developing world. The UK and other industrialised nations must provide major technology transfer and aid if a deal is to be struck that brings the larger developing countries on board. The consequences of failure are unthinkable for the world’s poor - disease, drought, flooding and death on a truly catastrophic scale.”

The report warns that fear of losing international competitiveness could block international co-operation and agreement, just as it has done in the World Trade Organisation. The World Development Movement is calling on rich countries to overcome their fear of being the ‘first to move’, if they do not campaigners argue we face a much more frightening prospect: dangerous, irreversible and runaway climate change.

For more information, a copy of the report, comment or interview, please call Kate Blagojevic on + 44 (0)20 7820 4900/4913 or + 44 (0)7711 875 345.

Notes to Editors

The World Development Movement report Blame it on China? The international politics behind Bali can be found at www.wdm.org.uk/blameitonchina . The report, ‘Blame it on China? The international politics of climate change’, recognises that larger developing countries have become significant contributors to climate change and need to be brought within a globally agreed framework for curbing emissions. However, the report highlights the difference between current emissions and historical emissions; the difference between emissions per country and emissions per person; the UK’s recent patchy history in reducing emissions; and also the recent trend for the UK to ‘import’ emissions from countries such as China. The report warns that shifting the blame for climate change onto larger developing nations like China will hinder the prospects for reaching an international agreement.
Pete Hardstaff is writing a Bali blog giving a sense of the political game-playing, back-stabbing and back-room deal making that will either set us on the road to climate justice or climate disaster. To access the blog go to www.wdm.org.uk/bali
The figure for China’s imports to the UK and their impact on emissions takes into account emissions from the UK’s exports to China
Official figures for CO2 emissions report where the emission took place, so emissions from a Chinese factory producing goods which are consumed in the US are listed as emissions from China. WDM’s new figures estimate emissions on the basis of where products are consumed. This is done using a methodology first devised by the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research. The carbon intensity of a country is determined from CO2 emission figures from the US Energy Information Administration and GDP figures from the World Bank. These are applied to international trade figures from the International Monetary Fund. China’s emissions fall by 25 per cent both because of China’s large trade surplus – it produces more than it consumes – and because its exports are primarily manufactured goods which produce a high level of CO2. In contrast, the UK’s emissions rise by 38 per cent because it has a trade surplus – it consumes more than it produces – and its exports are in low carbon products like financial services. These figures therefore create a more accurate figure for emissions per person. The average Chinese citizen is responsible for emitting 3 tonnes of CO2, whilst the average UK citizen is responsible for emitting 13.2 tonnes of CO2.
The UK government claims that the UK’s CO2 emissions have been falling but the World Development Movement shows that emissions from imported goods, and from shipping and aviation, including their extra warming effect, means that the UK’s climate impact has increased by eight per cent since 1990.
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

ENDS

For comment or interview please contact:

Pete Hardstaff, head of policy at the World Development Movement is in Bali and available for comment, please call him on +44 (0)7740 867 295

Benedict Southworth, director at the World Development Movement will be available for comment in the UK

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

Flights from Heathrow’s third runway will emit same amount of CO2 as Kenya

Wed, 21 Nov 2007 17:17:54 GMT

According to figures released today (22 Nov) by the World Development Movement, to coincide with the launch of the government’s consultation process on the third runway at Heathrow, flights from the proposed runway will release as much carbon as Kenya’s total carbon emissions every year.

On Climate Change:

Benedict Southworth, director of the World Development Movement said:

“The number of flights leaving Heathrow will nearly double as a result of this expansion, creating a huge increase in harmful CO2 emissions that contribute to climate change. The fact that flights from this new runway will emit the same annual amount of CO2 emissions as Kenya does in a year is appalling.

“The government says that it is serious about tackling climate change; but in the same breath says it wants to expand the aviation sector: the UK’s fastest growing source of CO2 emissions. The reality is that most people in the developing world are too poor to fly, but they will be hit worst by climate change.

On the European Emissions Trading Scheme:

Benedict Southworth, director of the World Development Movement said:

“The government’s claim that increases in emissions from aviation will be dealt with though the EU Emissions Trading Scheme is a red herring. There are so many loopholes in the scheme, it is virtually meaningless. There is a great deal of evidence already which predicts that the price of carbon is too low and that it will have little effect in reducing emissions from aviation.”

“The World Development Movement is calling on the government to ensure that its previous and present commitments to tackling poverty are not undone by ignoring the impact of emissions from aviation on climate change.”

ENDS

For comment or interview 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

* WDM estimates that with the introduction of a third runway, Heathrow’s annual CO2 emissions from flying will increase by 9.8 million tonnes. This is the same as the whole of Kenya’s annual CO2 output.
* WDM has estimated that the 9.8 million tonnes figure through the predicted increase in passenger numbers from the third runway, and the current passenger numbers and CO2 emissions for UK aviation as a whole.
* The information on increased passenger activity due to a third runway was from a written parliamentary answer by Merron Gillian (16 May 2007).
* Kenya’s annual CO2 output can be found on the Energy Information Administration’s website. http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/international/iealf/tableh1co2.xls
* 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

Gordon Brown’s announcement on climate change action plan.

Wed, 21 Nov 2007 12:08:27 GMT

In response to Gordon Brown’s speech today (19 Nov) on climate change, Beverley Duckworth, head of campaigns at the World Development Movement said:

“The UK requires much more than a ‘green hotline’ to avert dangerous climate change. The UK requires strong leadership with the vision to make the ‘hard choices’ and ‘tough decisions’ that Gordon Brown is currently avoiding.

“The Prime Minister’s proposed target of cutting carbon emissions by 60 per cent is out of line with the UN’s climate scientists’ findings which he welcomed on Saturday. The Prime Minister is right to say in his speech that the average global temperature must not exceed two degrees centigrade but his targets are flawed, and will not deliver the reductions in emissions that are needed to avoid catastrophic climate change. The Prime Minister must act now, and adopt a target of 80 per cent emissions reductions if he is to live up to his rhetoric on climate change and poverty alleviation.”

ENDS

For more information or to arrange interviews with Beverley Duckworth, 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 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

Water campaigner visits South Africa

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 16:54:57 GMT

On Tuesday, Vicky Cann, the World Development Movement’s water expert, travelled to South Africa for the first African Water Network meeting.

The African Water Network was launched earlier this year with the support of WDM. The Network brings together activists from across 20 countries in Africa to oppose water privatisation policies and campaign for progressive public alternatives to tackle the global water crisis across the continent. Vicky will be taking part in a march through Soweto to highlight the damaging impact that water privatisation can have on communities.

WDM has a long tradition of supporting activists around the world and has been instrumental in setting up numerous campaign groups; including the Fairtrade Foundation, Jubilee 2000, Make Poverty History and the Trade Justice Movement.

You can read Vicky’s blog, which will include contributions from African water activists, photos and videos of the visit at: http://wdmsouthafrica.blogspot.com/

For comment or interview please contact:

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

Comment from the World Development Movement in response to the announcement of the climate change bill in the Queen’s Speech:

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 15:41:09 GMT

Benedict Southworth, director of the World Development Movement said:

“The target to reduce carbon emissions by 60% in the climate change bill simply isn’t enough to avoid disastrous consequences for the world’s poor. The government’s proposed ‘review’ of the target, after it has become law, looks like a delaying tactic in the face of compelling scientific evidence on the need for greater emissions cuts. Unless the Prime Minister toughens up on climate change, his credibility and reputation on tackling global poverty will be seriously undermined.”

ENDS

For comment or interview 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

WDM is calling for the climate change bill to: include carbon emission reduction targets of 80% by 2050 (not 60%) and 40% by 2020 (not 26 – 32%); to include the UK’s share of international aviation and shipping emissions in reduction targets, and to include annual targets for reduction in CO2 emissions.