blog

WDM blog

Blog posts are articles presented in a journal format in a more casual style to our normal news and press releases.

When attending international meetings, or for special large scale events, WDM campaigners produce blog posts which can be rapidly updated with pictures and video. 

You can also follow our campaigners on twitter for instant updates from wherever they are.

Bolivia blog 8: May Day in La Paz

02/05/2010 - 17:51

Kirsty Wright, WDM climate justice campaigner

From what I have seen in the last few weeks, Bolivia seems to me to be one of the most politically engaged countries I have experienced. In my short time here, I’ve already stumbled across a number of impromptu demonstrations.

Bolivia blog 7: Moving forward, looking back

30/04/2010 - 22:17

Kirsty Wright, WDM climate campaigner

As I write, I’m on the bus, heading north from Cochabamba on the long road to La Paz. Saying goodbye to Cochabamba, after two very different but equally inspiring conferences back to back – the ten year anniversary of the water wars and the People´s Conference – as well as meeting so many amazing people, feels like quite a pull.

Blog post: meeting with Philip Hampton, Chairman of RBS

30/04/2010 - 13:32

30 April 2010

Deborah Doane, Director

I’ve been campaigning for stronger corporate accountability for a fairly long time. So it should come as no surprise to me that I don’t generally see eye to eye with corporate executives. But sometimes, just sometimes, you hope the facts speak for themselves – and that those corporate executives would have a sudden attack of conscience. So when a group of us met with RBS executives in Edinburgh after their AGM, we hoped the facts would speak for themselves.

Blog post: Meeting with Philip Hampton, Chairman of RBS

30/04/2010 - 11:42

Deborah Doane, Director

I’ve been campaigning for stronger corporate accountability for a fairly long time. So it should come as no surprise to me that I don’t generally see eye to eye with corporate executives. But sometimes, just sometimes, you hope the facts speak for themselves – and that those corporate executives would have a sudden attack of conscience. So when a group of us met with RBS executives in Edinburgh after their AGM, we hoped the facts would speak for themselves.

Bolivia blog post 6 - more than a thousand words

29/04/2010 - 13:52

Kirsty Wright, WDM climate justice campaigner

On the final day of the ‘cumbre’, I thought a photo diary would be the best way to capture some of the sights of Bolivia.

Live blog: Protest in London against RBS' involvement in tar sands extraction

28/04/2010 - 08:26

Pontus Westerberg, WDM's web officer is outside the RBS branch on Threadneedle Street following what is going on and keeping you updated throughout the morning. 

RBS invites us to meet days before AGM protests - PR spin or genuine concern?

27/04/2010 - 12:43

Kate Blagojevic, press officer

The PR tactic of organising a meeting with your opponents days before a protest or critical report is launched is as old as the hills. But it can still be disarming.

WDM has been working with PLATFORM and People & Planet for a year on the campaign to get RBS to stop investing our money in dirty and unethical companies and projects. During that time, we have repeatedly asked for meetings with high level reps from RBS to explain why they are the target of our campaign so that they will see that we are talking sense. They have always ignored us or offered us a meeting with their head of corporate sustainability, Andrew Cave. With no disrespect to Andrew, a meeting with the head of corporate sustainability of the bank that's got a track record of investing in the most unsustainable fossil fuel projects in the world is as useful as a chocolate teapot. We need to get in higher up, with someone who we can talk about the real issues with, rather than getting the corporate, green-washed brush off.

Bolivia blog 5: Climate debt, we're not all in this together

23/04/2010 - 16:19

Kirsty Wright, WDM climate justice campaigner

To the 'people of the world' gathered in Cochabamba, its becoming increasingly clear that climate change is not just an environmental issue but a matter of justice. This week, hearing the testimonies of people from across the world where the impacts of climate change are already pervading into daily reality, has been incredibly powerful. But climate justice is not just about the impacts of climate change, but also impacts from the causes of climate change; the deforestation that destroys the way of life for forest peoples, extraction of fossil fuels, all too often being pushed through the neo-liberal policies of institutions like the World Bank, and mined by transnational corporations, with no concern for the impacts of local people. Even many of the solutions being proposed and implemented are pushing people into displacement and deeper poverty. As I heard one African speaker said today, “As long as they keep pushing false solutions, the climate debt continues to increase.”

Bolivia blog 4: Inauguration

21/04/2010 - 21:53

Kirsty Wright, climate justice campaigner

This morning saw the inauguration of the People’s conference on climate change and mother earth rights. A crowd of thousands massed, a mixture of people from across the five continent of the world, creating a quilt of colour between indigenous dress and flags raised high as people awaited their host, Evo Morales, the first indigenous president of (what is now called) the ‘plurinational’ state of Bolivia, in spite of having one of the largest indigenous populations in Latin America. 

Bolivia blog3: Ten years on from the Cochabamba Water Wars

19/04/2010 - 15:34

Kirsty Wright, WDM Climate Campaigner

This weekend Cochabamba celebrated the tenth anniversary of its water wars. The small city, nestled at the foothills of the Andean mountain ranges, previously little known to the outside world, suddenly shot to fame in 2000 when cochabambinos forced Bechtel, a giant American corporation, out of town. Bechtel, under a subsidiary called Agua del Tunari, had taken over the town’s water supply in privatisation deal, pushed by the World Bank, that caused water rates to rise by over fifty percent in a matter of weeks.

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