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World Development Movement blog

4 April 2012

Last week was a big week for our campaign to regulate food speculation, with developments on the relevant legislation in both the European parliament and Council of Ministers. 

2 April 2012

It is increasingly looking like the British government is using aid as a way to further British business interests rather than to fight global poverty. This worrying trend prompted our director, Deborah Doane, to write in the Guardian clarifying that since the Pergau Dam legal case that the World Development Movement won in 1994, tied aid has been illegal. This is cartoonist Ben Jennings' take on the story. 

23 March 2012

Guest post by Jonathan Treat

Bernardo Vásquez was the second anti-mining activist to be shot dead in Oaxaca in the past two months. Three others at the scene of the assassination of Vasquez were also shot and remain in serious condition.

"One thing is clear: this was a political hit. Bernardo was murdered because he dared to speak out." (Dawn Paley)

22 March 2012

There has been good news this week for those concerned with the impacts of food speculation on the world’s poor. The Danish bank Nordea, which is the largest financial services group in Northern Europe, has agreed to move out of agricultural commodities, whilst German bank Deutsche has announced that it is moving in the same direction.

21 March 2012

Knutsford is a small town in East Cheshire, just 16 miles from Manchester. It's known locally for customs such as ‘sanding the streets’ on May day and the three-hour endurance race for penny farthing bicycles every ten years. It’s also home to UK chancellor, George Osborne, who is the MP there.

Today, we take the campaign to regulate food speculation ‘home’ to George Osborne. The local newspaper, the Knutsford Guardian is running a WDM-sponsored, advertisement in this week’s version of the paper:

16 March 2012

Facebook timeline is here. Show your support for the World Development Movement by using one of our specially designed Facebook timeline covers. 

15 March 2012

The news that Greg Smith, executive director of Goldman Sachs’ European equity derivatives business, resigned yesterday accusing the Wall Street bank of being morally bankrupt is the latest reminder of the morally dubious practices of one of the world’s biggest investment banks. Among its many divisions is a commodity derivative trading arm - big enough that the firm is generally regarded as one of the two top players in food and other commodity speculation, which experts increasingly agree is contributing to global food price spikes.

14 March 2012

Guest post James Angel, used to be campaigns and policy intern

We might have hoped that the 2008 financial crash would have presented us with an opportunity to rethink the power and influence that the financial sector has amassed since its deregulation in the 1970s. But, far from this, since the crash we’ve seen ever-increasing financialisation.

13 March 2012

This week I read a recent report by Friends of the Earth Europe. ‘Farming Money: How European banks and private finance profit from food speculation and land grabs’ is an interesting read for anyone concerned about poverty and social justice issues. 

12 March 2012

Guest post by Meera Karunananthan, The Council of Canadians

The Council of Canadians, Food and Water Watch and Focus on the Global South invite you to virtually Occupy the World Water Forum – a corporate trade show aimed at giving the world’s largest water multinationals privileged access to high-level policy making behind closed doors.

9 March 2012

Guest post by Homaira Abdullah, used to be activism and events intern

As we come to the end of Fairtrade Fortnight, we have a chance to reflect on what Fairtrade has achieved and how it fits into the wider narrative of food sovereignty.

8 March 2012

A radical vision from European grassroots...

8 March 2012

Here in Scotland there is a lot of pride amongst parliamentarians over our climate change act, considered one of the most ambitious pieces of climate change legislation in the industrialised world. Of course, as climate change campaigners, we realise the challenge lies in its implementation, but we have been watching with interest the gusto with which the First Minister Alex Salmond travels the world (carbon emissions from aviation aside!) promoting Scotland’s climate change act.

1 March 2012

Guest post from the Move Your Money campaign

On-going bonus culture, failing to meet lending targets to small business and increasing customer complaints has been the narrative for the exasperated public this February. Post the financial crisis, behaviour in the city hasn’t changed and it’s high time something was done about it.  

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New Year's Revolution posterWorking groups feed back to the assemblyWDM supporters make up-cycled wallets out of juice cartonsThe group hears legal advice tips for activistsSarah Reader from the World Development Movement shares lobbying tipsrubicon walletRecycler Swinda inspects a tetra Pak walletparticipants discuss revolutionParticipants debate whether web-based activism reaches older audiences.jpgParticipants debate boycotts as a tool for revolution

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