Moral Economy Project Symposium and Outreach

Hi Everyone

I'm new here but I'd like to raise awareness for this and spread the word to as many light-and-serious hearted active and wonderful people as possible out there!

 X xxx M

WFTD CONFIDENTIAL

NOT FOR THE EYES OF José Manuel Durão Barroso; Silvio Berlusconi; James Gordon Brown; George Walker Bush; Yasuo Fukuda; Dmiry Anatolyevich Medvedev; Stephen Joseph Harper; Angela Dorothea Merkel; Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa.

A recent chain of events has turned World Fair Trade Day into what could become a very big day for the planet. Please have a read and circulate to any people or groups you believe are serious about positive change. We need to raise massive participation, across trade, environmental, health, education and social justice networks, if we are to build a genuinely transformational network and a platform for the future we all want to see.

We’re all counting on you.


Check out www.worldfairtradeday09.org

and become a fan on our Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/pages/World-Fair-Trade-Day-09/42779836176

CHAIN OF EVENTS LEADING UP TO AND THRU WORLD FAIR TRADE DAY 09MAY09
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 the Doha Round negotiations at the World Trade Organization, aiming 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 self-interest threatens the planet and the survival of our species. Structural change in the way the world trades has become imperative and non-intervention is no longer an option.




09 MAY 09
World Fair Trade Day (WFTD) presents the only day in the calendar for global mobilization of significant activity, to impact poverty, climate change, world health and the imbalance in trade. 110 million people, organized around a democratic core known as the International Federation of Alternative Trade (IFAT) deliver USD 2 billion in Fair Trade product and produce can bring about the structural change the planet must see; through global events at grassroots level, impacting local communities across 5 continents and a minimum of 70 countries. An unprecedented display of authenticity, passion and commitment must be provided. Self- organizing groups will rally around the Fair Trade concept and promote it through their networks, friends/families. Local, national and global trade will be impacted through social, economic and political gatherings. Collectively, all events are world changing. WFTD falls one month before G8 09 Italy and offers the potential for high-level intervention - a correction in the balance of trade.