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

Rio+20: UK pushes for ‘privatisation of nature’

22 June 2012

On the final day of the Rio+20 summit, the World Development Movement has slammed the lack of commitment from rich industrialised countries in the Rio+20 agreement, and has condemned the UK government’s use of the summit to push for the privatisation of nature.

Kirsty Wright, campaigner at the World Development Movement, said:

Rio+20 has produced a pathetically unambitious document devoid of solid commitments and packed with diplomatic fudges and ambiguous language. This will do nothing to solve the multiple crises we face.

Rio+20 Great Nature Sale: ‘ebay auction’ launched

20 June 2012

Ebay seller “Rio_Summit_Nature_Sale” today listed some of the world’s most famous forests, oceans, lakes and species for sale on ebay.

European proposals ‘inadequate’ to combat food price hikes

20 June 2012

European proposals for the regulation of the commodity markets are inadequate to prevent excessive speculation from contributing to food price spikes, according to a new report released today.

Report condemns EU push for biomass-fuelled ‘green economy’ at Rio+20

19 June 2012

EU plans to promote the replacement of fossil fuels with biomass at the Rio+20 Earth Summit could lead to hunger and environmental devastation, according to a report released today by the World Development Movement and the Transnational Institute.

The report, ‘Bio-economies: the EU’s real ‘Green Economy’ agenda’, condemns the EU’s bio-economy vision as “a tantalising mirage, promising a green future but likely to deliver a parched and arid reality”.

FSA ‘acts as lobby group for the City’

19 June 2012

The UK’s financial regulator is compromised by corporate capture and is increasingly acting as a lobbying arm for the sector it is supposed to regulate, a new report reveals today.

The report, ‘Financial Services Authority: watchdog or lapdog?’, by the World Development Movement, documents how funding from the City of London, a board dominated by figures from the banking sector, and a rapidly revolving door have led to a close relationship between regulators and the financial sector.

Barclays AGM: Protestors to target Barclays for banking on hunger

25 April 2012

Campaigners from the World Development Movement will protest at Barclays’ AGM tomorrow, exposing Barclays’ role in fuelling global hunger by betting on food prices.

Where: Entrance to the Barclays AGM, Royal Festival Hall, South Bank, London SE1 8XX

When: 10.30-11.30am, Friday 27 April

Two suited, blue masked Barclays ‘eagles’ on Barclays bikes will join protestors holding placards reading, ‘Barclays banks on hunger’.

Campaign groups call for tough rules to curb food speculation

23 April 2012

Ahead of deliberations by MEPs on Wednesday, 25 campaign groups from across Europe today released a statement (PDF) urging the EU to use the review of its Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) to curb financial speculation on food prices.

The European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee (ECON) will meet on Wednesday to discuss the report on the Commission’s MiFID proposal by the rapporteur, German MEP Markus Ferber.

UK development fund implicated in money-laundering investigation

16 April 2012

A private equity fund backed by Britain’s Department for International Development (DfID) is under criminal investigation by the European Union and Nigerian anti-corruption authorities for its alleged involvement in fraud and the laundering of millions of dollars looted by James Ibori, the ex-Governor of Nigeria’s oil-rich Delta State, according to an inquiry to be aired tonight by BBC Newsnight.

EU commodity market regulation battle commences

26 March 2012

The battle over EU commodity market regulation commences this week, with key bureaucrats meeting in Brussels tomorrow to thrash out an agreement on regulation of commodity derivative markets.

The European Parliament’s rapporteur for the review of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID), German MEP Markus Ferber, said on Friday that he intends to introduce strong controls on financial speculation in these markets:

Calls for Osborne to tackle speculation as food prices rise

20 March 2012

UK consumers are paying 3.7 per cent more for food than they did a year ago, leading to calls for the Chancellor George Osborne to tackle financial speculation on food prices. The rise has added more than £100 to the average household’s annual grocery bill.

Inflation figures released today reveal that food prices rose by 1.2 per cent from January to February this year, contributing to the 3.7 per cent annual rise, which is well above the government’s 2 per cent target for overall inflation. [1]