World Fair Trade Day 08 MAY 10

BIG BANG!! 09 MAY 09 WORLD FAIR TRADE DAY

09 MAY 09 saw 1000 World Fair Trade Day Events across 70 countries register to the World Fair Trade Day Events website. Independent calculations suggest it hit 8.2 million people. More than that, it witnessed the birth of the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO) and the delivery of a new and more powerful approach to advocacy. At the same time we also witnessed atrocities in Peru with both the lives of indigenous people and the ecology of the remaining Rainforest under terrible threat. Multinational mining cos with government support seem to be locked into a dangerously out of date concept of what is acceptable. The world needs a powerful Fair Trade movement and it will take the energies of millions of us to build one.  More soon.

Poverty and climate change are manufactured. You can change that. Authentic Fair Trade delivers vital investment to producers and sustainable business practice across the globe. World Fair Trade Day is a big day for the planet. Create an event, join an event, change a planned event, put 09 May 09 in your diary, street, village, venue, country and promote it like there's no tomorrow... which may not be far from the truth. Trade the old way, that doesn’t work, for the new way that does.

THE WORLD FAIR TRADE ORGANIZATION PRESENTS:
BIG BANG!! A WAKE-UP-CALL FOR THE PLANET

You are called to participate in World Fair Trade Day 09 MAY 09, a global event focused on making Fair Trade a worldwide economic solution to the big issues we face today. The theme for World Fair Trade Day is BIG BANG!! - the birth of the sustainable economy with reverberations from grassroots to G8 and big repercussions for the future.

BIG BANG!! is scheduled for 9th May 2009 when drumming will encircle the planet, from Chatham Islands to Samoa, a journey of 48hrs, a world first ‘global day’ of change. World Fair Trade Day is organized by the World Fair Trade Organization; representing 110million Fair Traders, $2bn products & produce and a100% commitment to change!

BIG BANG!! event planning, marketing and networking tools are available on the purpose built World Fair Trade Day 09 website where you can create your own space and the change that you want to see. www.worldfairtradeday09.org

BIG BANG!! A new beginning. The moment the sust ainable economy burst s into life and creates a universe of new market s fit for the future.

BIG BANG!! An explosion of respect for the planet and the Fair Trading artisans, farmers, growers, producers, brands and businesses on it.

BIG BANG!! A cultural, economic, polit ical event fuelled by a vast release of energy from 110 million farmers, artisans, and supporters to accelerate the change to br ing about a bet ter way of life.

BIG BANG!! A human react ion to the Wor ld Trade Organizat ion’s failure to beat t rade injust ice and social and environment al degradation.

BIG BANG!! The silent major it y’s reply to the G8’s failure to beat climate change and the globalized business issues that ravage the planet.

BIG BANG!! A market response to failure in a financial system that ’s left millions more people hungry, homeless, without health care and education.

BIG BANG!! Your chance to unite and ignite with Fair Traders around the world from Desmond Tutu to Annie Lennox; Fingerlickin' Records to Sir Paul McCartney; Eddie Izzard to The Zawose; Dudu Sarr to Sigur Ros; President Obama to STOMP!!

Put 09 MAY 09 in your diary, st reet , village, venue, country, create an event, be par t of BIG BANG!! Just drum; with sticks, hands, fingers,
friends, family, neighbors, passers-by, a crowd, an audience, a solution, Beat poverty Beat climate change Beat economic crisis Beat a drum!!

www.worldfairtradeday09.org has been built to help you plan, organize, network, produce and promote whatever it is you decide to do. You’ ll find information and support for your event, as well as free marketing materials for publicizing it . Between now and the day, you’ ll find yourself part of a powerful, ever growing community with solutions for the biggest issues we face today.

With your energy, involvement and vote, BIG BANG!! will launch an agent of change, known as G9, with a mission to deliver the Fair
Trade’s solution to poverty, climate change and economic crisis to the G8 conference in Maddalena, Italy, July 09.

"If we truly believe that Fair Trade is both sustainable and effective, then it is the solution to the world's financial crisis." PAUL MYERS, PRESIDENT, THE WORLD FAIR TRADE ORGANIZATION (WFTO)

BIG BANG!! The vision of the Wor ld Fair Trade Organizat ion and every individual, network or organization with a 100% commitment to Fair Trade. BIG BANG!! 09 MAY 09 www.wor ldfair t radeday09.org

SUMMARY OF EVENTS LEADING UP TO BIG BANG!!
A chain of events has turned World Fair Trade Day into a big day for the planet.

04 JULY 08 G8. Humanitarian failure. 25% of world population now at risk of hunger. Crisis exacerbated by climate change/FAILED agricultural policies. 8 years after G8 leaders pledge to cut the number of hungry people by 50%, the number of hungry people doubles. FAILURE to reduce greenhouse gas emissions presents further threat to economic/environmental stability. Climate change is causing havoc in agriculture in developing countries where yields are down by up to 40%. The G8 FAIL to demonstrate leadership or to act with urgency. Their joint statement FAILS to deal with extreme oil price increases, the spike in food prices, the impact of the U.S. recession and accelerating global warming, ongoing public health disasters, persistent global poverty.“I’m pleased to report that we’ve had significant success,” President George Bush. The G8 leaders call for completion of Doha Round negotiations at the World Trade Organization, to further deepen reliance on a global food trading system that has driven the poorest people off their land and undermined developing countries’ ability to feed themselves “We must act decisively now. If we don’t we will be failing the world’s poor and destroying the best basis for continued economic growth in the future. The cost of failure is simply too great.” Gordon Brown

31 JULY 08 The Doha Round FAILS. World trade talks create further division between wealthy and developing nations, erects barriers for related global undertakings; reducing greenhouse-gas emissions; ending food-export restrictions. A rising tide of nationalism and chest
beating by emerging economic giants, casts substantial doubt on the ability of parties to deliver solutions for climate change or high oil and food prices within a global framework. The World Trade Organization has FAILED to deliver. Its rules mean 153 members must agree on a deal. In reality, only the major economic powers get a say. No African nation was among the power group that conducted most of the negotiations. The issue of U.S. cotton subsidies, of vital relevance to cotton-producing nations in Africa, wasn’t discussed. Structural and operational change is required. SUCCESS must replace FAILURE.

08 AUGUST 08 The stage is set for a new concept in sustainable trade and environmental practice. Fair Trade has experienced strong growth across global markets, demonstrating the potential for powerful transformation among developing world producers through the emergence of the ethical evolution of our species. Fair Trade can no longer be ignored. A number of barriers
stand in the way of success; multinational organizations have morphed into Fair Trade look-alikes while protectionism has reached levels not witnessed since the 1930s - the top echelons of power are obfuscating and closing ranks to maintain the status quo. This alignment of selfinterest threatens the planet and the survival of our species. Structural change in the way the world trades has become imperative and non-regulation is no longer an option.

15 OCTOBER 08 The birth of the World Fair Trade Organization. 09 MAY 09 World Fair Trade Day, the only day in the calendar for large-scale mobilization and collaborative activity to beat poverty, climate change, financial crisis. 110million people organized through a democratic core [The World Fair Trade Organization] to bring about change. Global grassroots events uniting local communities across 5 continents and 80 countries in an unprecedented display of optimism, commitment and humanity. Self-organizing groups promoting Fair Trade values through networks, friends and families. Local and global trade is transformed by this extraordinary festival of social and economic vision. WFTD09 falls one month before G8, Italy offering potential for high-level intervention and the Birth of The
Sustainable Fair Trade Economy. BIG BANG!! 09 MAY 09 www.wor ldfair t radeday09.org “Trade has been a cornerstone of our growth and global development. But we will not be able to sustain this growth if it favors the few, and not the many. Together, we must forge trade that truly rewards the work that creates wealth, with meaningful protections for our people and our planet. This is the moment for trade that is free and fair for all.” Barack Obama