The latest from WDM

Welcome to the World Development Movement news pages. You can view our news by category in each campaign section, or get the whole lot below. For press inquiries please contact the press office.

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News

Government aid spending plans criticised by World Development Movement

28 February 2011

The Department for International Development will tomorrow announce changes to the way aid money is spent. Aid for ‘fragile’ states will be a priority, as will maximum value for money and the UK's national interests. It will also cut aid to UN agencies that support agricultural development in favour of emergency relief programmes. The news has been met with criticism from anti-poverty campaigners, the World Development Movement who criticised the government for 'fighting terrorism, not poverty, with the aid budget'.

Protest over RBS bonuses and dirty investments

24 February 2011

As bailed-out bank RBS publishes details of its 2010 financial results, campaigners call on the government to cure RBS of its high-risk oil addition. RBS’s results show that it is still not making a profit and today’s photo call highlights the unhealthy investments of an unhealthy bank.

Protests in South Asia against World Bank climate loan

21 February 2011

Tim Jones, Jubilee Debt Campaign

Activists in Bangladesh and Nepal speak out against new debt, whilst a Nepalese parliamentary committee has said the country should ask for grants rather than loans.

G20 finance ministers urged to tackle financial speculation on food

18 February 2011

Over 100 European and international organisations are calling on the G20 Finance Ministers, who are meeting this weekend, to rein in speculation on food prices by banks, hedge funds and pension funds.

UN and French government call for urgent action on record food price

4 February 2011

Press release, 04.02.2011

At a joint press conference, Director-General Jacques Diouf of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation and the French Agriculture Minister, Bruno Le Maire called financial speculation on food both economically dangerous and morally unacceptable. They called for an international response at the G20 to the record food prices and volatility including regulation of financial speculation on commodity markets. The World Development Movement welcomes this and supports action to tackle dramatic food price rises and volatility by reducing speculation on food by banks, hedge funds and pension funds.

GM isn't the answer to hunger

1 February 2011

The World Development Movement criticised the findings of the Beddington report which promotes the introduction of genetically modified (GM) crops as a key solution to global hunger.

The focus on GM in the Chief Scientist's report is a red herring and does not correctly identify the real causes of hunger.

Record food prices worsened by banking speculation

7 January 2011

Current soaring food prices are being worsened by record levels of financial speculation, according to a leading UK anti-poverty group. Latest figures from the World Development Movement reveal that hedge funds, investment bankers and pension funds have poured over $200bn into food markets since the financial crisis, betting on the rising price of food.

City speculators drive up the price of Christmas turkey

4 January 2011

This year, the British public will be paying more for their Christmas turkey because of City speculators. Betting on commodity prices by hedge funds and investment banks has led to rapidly rising prices of animal feed [1], driving up the retail price of turkeys.

Paul Kelly, an award winning turkey farmer and breeder, warned that turkey prices this Christmas are going to be more expensive than last year and we will be paying up to £3 extra for our festive bird. He said:

WDM's human blackjack game wins digital campaign of the week

20 December 2010

Heidi Chow, Food campaigner

Last Friday, WDM’s human blackjack game won Third Sector’s digital campaign of the week. Third Sector is the UK’s leading publication for the voluntary and not-for-profit sector and has over 80,000 readers.

Third sector praised WDM’s web based campaign:

Governments applaud but no real progress made for developing countries at Cancun

11 December 2010

At the conclusion of the climate talks in Cancun, UK-based anti-poverty campaigners from the World Development Movement say that no real progress has been made since last year’s meetings in Copenhagen in terms of tackling emissions due to rich coutnries feet-dragging. But although they cautiously welcomed the establishment of a new ‘Green Climate Fund’ to help poor countries cope with climate change, they raised strong concerns over the level of finance and potential role of carbon trading and markets.