"Tous a Nice": Setting the scene for the G20 counter mobilisations

This week the G20 heads of state are meeting in Cannes on the south coast of France. Just over 30km away, the alternative summit, the ‘people’s forum’, is taking place in Nice, where thousands of people from different countries, organisations, social movements, unions and campaigning groups have come to discuss alternatives to the current financial system and take action against it.

Cannes and Nice are both towns on the French Riviera. This is France’s most affluent holiday destinations- play ground for the rich and famous and a fitting setting to be talking about the unjustness and inequalities of the current financial system. And with Monaco, one of Europe’s most famous tax havens, less than 20km away, the counter summit is in a convenient location to be talking about tax justice. 

The week of mobilisations was kick-started yesterday with a (heavily policed) march from the centre of Nice to the convergence space for the people’s forum. The convergence space is based in an old abattoir, and is where many of the sessions will be taking place. I’ve come to Nice to meet people involved in different struggles, learn from different movements and feed in WDM’s research on food speculation and the World Bank’s involvement in climate finance.

Five things I’ve done since arriving in Nice are:

• Gone on a march with over 10,000 people;
• Met the South-East Asian representative of ‘La Via Campesina’;
• Participated in the first international meeting of the different ‘occupy’ movements which included people involved in occupations in Tunisia, Egypt, Spain, Wall Street, Germany and Greece;
• Taken part in an international environmental justice assembly;
• Eaten a lot of cheese!