WDM pig piñatas travel the world in sty-le!

Rosie Rogers, campaigner

It’s been two months since the first WDM pig piñata went to the public slaughter. Since then, the World Bank piggy banks have been smashed (or held in custody!) in Brussels, Cancun and over a dozen cities and towns across the UK.

The piñatas (which were made with lots of love, care and creativity) were smashed in public to represent our demand that the money for developing countries to combat the impacts of climate change should be controlled by the United Nations Adaption Fund and not the undemocratic World Bank. The homemade World Bank piggy banks were filled with fair-trade chocolate coins and then smashed so all could see the coins cascade into a box labelled ‘United Nations Adaption Fund’. The stunt was a new way for supporters to introduce the climate debt campaign to the public.

After the smashing success of the pig stunt for WDM supporters across the UK, the pigs went global.

December 8 saw the world-wide launch of the campaign ‘World Bank out of climate finance’ which is supported by hundreds of NGOs, mostly from the global south. Friends of the Earth activists made their own pig and encouraged the public to smash it outside the World Bank offices in Brussels to show their support for the campaign. Tragically, the World Bank squealed to the cops and the pig was instead taken into custody by the Belgian police.

On the same day, activists in support of the new campaign joined forces in Cancun to march to the conference centre where the climate negotiations were taking place and smash in a giant World Bank piggy bank, in true Mexican style.
Accompanied by money-grabbing monsters, huge banners, colourful placards and loud voices, protesters took to the street to show their solidarity against the World Bank taking the lead in climate finance. Groups included Via Campesina, Jubilee South and, of course, WDM. You can see the video here. 

Following the climate talks in Cancun and the new Green Climate Fund, it is clear that the World Bank is not loosening its grip on channelling climate finance to developing countries. However, the details of the fund are yet to be decided. 

As our WDM pigs trot off around the globe, the campaign is still gaining momentum. It is imperative that climate finance reaches the people that need it and in the form of grants, not loans.

To read more on how you can get involved, click here