Social justice in the news

High up in the news agenda this week has been the Vestas wind turbine factory occupation and RBS' interim profits. Not stories that people automatically assume resonate with the work of the World Development Movement but what ties these, at first glance, disparate strands of news together is climate justice. And that means justice for the workers at Vestas, who are fighting for their jobs; justice for climate-conscious tax payers, who are fighting for their money to be used wisely; and justice for the world's poorest people, who are fighting for their lives.

The workers at Vestas have been putting up a fight not only in attempt to protect their jobs, or better their meager redundancy package, but also because they are proud that they have genuinely green jobs, and know that the UK needs more of these jobs, not fewer.

RBS continues to lend to dirty and destructive energy companies, when it should be contributing to a more sustainable and ethical future for us all. Although last week Ed Miliband announced he would influence RBS to invest in wind power, it's unclear at this stage whether it will happen. But it is clear that our money will be put to the best use by RBS investing in a low carbon future rather than in undemocratic regimes and environmentally devastating projects around the world.

The fight over Vestas and RBS are campaigns to be fought for and won, but the nature of these two fights show the failure of a paralysed government. The chasm between the government rhetoric and action on tackling climate change through investing in a low carbon future that creates green jobs is gargantuan. The workers at Vestas, the UK tax payer and the world's poorest people are all being let down by this chasm.

Dangerous climate change will affect the lives of millions of people around the world; it will make people poorer as it sweeps away their homes, their jobs and sometimes their lives. And yet they are not responsible for climate change. That's why we're calling on the UK government to take action to reduce the UK’s emissions and show the rest of the world that it can be done. It's time to close the chasm. It's time to stop climate injustice.