Justice and Peace Petitions

Petitions

10/7/2021

Take part in the UK-Canada trade consultation

*The UK government is holding a consultation on its trade deal with Canada, which currently includes controversial corporate courts,.*

Corporate courts give fossil fuel companies the power to sue governments for taking action on the climate emergency. Nearly three quarters of mining companies globally are headquartered in Canada, and nearly half of all investment in mining goes through the Toronto Stock Exchange.*Canadian mining and fossil fuel companies are active in corporate courts, and have sued many governments.*

But the UK government is trying to slip corporate courts under the radar. If enough of us speak out, we could get them to back down.

https://act.globaljustice.org.uk/node/2685

26/6/2021

To All World Leaders, Parties of the Three Rio Conventions, and members of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN):

We call on you to ensure the community land rights of indigenous people and local communities (IPLCs) are 100% recognised by 2025 in multilateral agreements as well as in your national legislations and land tenure processes. Recognising the community land rights of IPLCs and respecting their rights is key not only to ensuring their survival, but also one of the most effective ways to address the massive loss of biodiversity we are facing, and the climate disasters associated with it. It is time to correct the harm and injustices committed against the people who are putting their lives on the line to protect the planet.

Click below to sign this petition.

https://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/100_indigenous_land_rights_125/

30/4/2021

Companies in the UK are still producing too much plastic!

It’s not just harming nature and the planet, but it’s causing serious health emergencies around the world too. The UK produces more plastic waste per person than almost any other country in the world – second only to the USA.But because we can’t cope with it, the government is allowing it to be dumped on other countries – and they can’t cope with it either.

Can you call on the government to stop dumping our waste abroad and fix the plastic crisis?

A recent study shows that plastic packaging and plastic bags are the deadliest types of plastic in the ocean. Plastic waste kills hundreds of thousands of seabirds, sea mammals and turtles every year. [1][2]

But plastic is causing serious harm to people too. Less than 10% of the UK’s household plastic packaging is actually recycled in the UK. [3][4] Instead, plastic the government claims is recycled is being exported abroad, where most of it is at high risk of being dumped and burned in the open air. [5]

Communities in Malaysia and Indonesia near where plastic is dumped and burned are reporting serious health problems, like respiratory issues, nosebleeds and headaches. [6][7] The government wouldn’t stand for thousands of tonnes of waste being dumped on the UK – so why is it okay for them to dump waste abroad? This isn’t what ‘world-leading plastic’ action looks like. This is about the continuation of environmental racism, where communities predominantly in the Global South, and communities of colour are facing the health and environmental impacts of our waste.

The government must fix our plastic waste crisis in a way that doesn’t harm people or the planet. They must take responsibility for our waste and stop dumping it abroad. And as the UK is the second biggest producer of plastic waste per person in the world (behind the USA), we must cut our plastic production drastically – recycling alone won’t stop this crisis. Can you call on the government to fix the plastic crisis? 

Notes:

[1] Deadliest plastics: bags and packaging biggest marine life killers, study finds

[2] Ocean Factsheet

[3] Greenpeace analysis based on volume of plastic and recycling data

[4] What really happens to your plastic recycling?

[5] Greenpeace analysis of UK Trade Info

[6] No Time To Waste Report

[7] UK household plastic found in illegal dumps in Malaysia

[8] BBC investigates plastic waste exports to Turkey

16/4/2021

Today I’m joining the Global Day of Action for a #PeoplesVaccine, to demand an end to global vaccine apartheid. We need to stop Big Pharma monopolies so COVID-19 vaccines reach everyone, everywhere. Join the action here: https://peoplesvaccine.org/take-action/

‘People’s Vaccine’ campaign for our Government to support a ‘TRIPS’ (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) Waiver to enable poorer nations to produce the current main Covid vaccines:
In October last year, India and South Africa asked the World Trade Organisation to waive the intellectual property rights (including patents) related to Covid vaccines and other technologies until most of the world had been vaccinated – to help promote more equitable manufacturing capability, distribution of and access to vaccines (as you know, while vaccines were under development, developed nations signed deals with leading manufacturers to secure millions of doses). Unfortunately, as Reuters reported a few weeks ago, the UK, the EU and the USA blocked the waiver proposal and continue to be vocal opponents of it, while over 100 nations, plus charities such as Medicins Sans Frontiers support it.
However, on 14th April, more than 170 former heads of state and government and Nobel laureates (including Gordon Brown, Francois Hollande and Mikhail Gorbachev) signed an open letter to President Biden, asking him to set the example by supporting the waiver.
Our Government may well have contributed over £500m to the Covax scheme for supplying developing nations with vaccines, and has indicated that it may be willing to donate surplus vaccines when the UK is innoculated, but the Covax scheme is now falling behind due to vaccine nationalism (where surges are occurring in nations with manufacturing capacity) and temporary suspensions due to problems with side effects. And as for donating our surplus, that may be too late for many vulnerable people in developing nations.
Only 0.2% of (the population of) low income countries now have vaccines (figures from Independent SAGE briefing today), and widespread vaccine coverage will not be achieved in the majority of developing nations until, at the very earliest, late 2022 to late 2023 (from The Economic Intelligence Unit, January 2021).
From a selfish point of view – due to the increasing incidence of ‘variants of concern’ and the possibility of vaccine-escape variants, developed nations aren’t out of the woods until there is global herd immunity via vaccination, and the longer the pandemic is left to rage, as we see currently in India and Brazil, the greater likelihood of vaccine-escape variants. Besides which, science aside, as one of the scientists on the Independent SAGE committee said today, waiving the patents temporarily is morally the right thing to do. There is also something akin to precedent for this with post-war penicillin production and, after a long legal battle, with HIV medication.

10/4/2021

An excerpt from the Gov’t response:

The proposed measures will allow police to better manage highly disruptive protests, protecting the legitimate rights of those affected by the protests whilst remaining compliant with the European Convention on Human Rights.

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/579012

10/4/2021

https://act.wemove.eu/campaigns/free-seeds/

25/3/2021

Cancel the Debt

The coronavirus pandemic is the worst global health crisis in a century. Yet many countries are being forced to choose between spending money on healthcare or on continuing to pay their debts.

Unless urgent action is taken, countries will be plunged into a new debt crisis as they respond to the threat of the virus while managing spiralling debt payments.  To take action click below.

https://cafod.org.uk/Campaign/Cancel-the-debt

21/3/2021

Right now the government are trying to put a stop to all of that. They’re rushing through a new Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill in Parliament. The bill threatens the basic right to protest and gives more power to the police at a time when serious questions are being asked about them abusing the powers they already have.

This is a threat to democracy, to a safe and equal society, and to a sustainable world. The government has the power to protect our rights. It also has the power to take them away. Urge the government to kill this bill.

Please note that in the time of a pandemic you have duty and responsibility to maintain social distancing throughout.

https://secure.greenpeace.org.uk/page/s/the-right-to-protest?

12/3/2021

Stop big banks profiting during the pandemic

The pandemic is having a disastrous impact on the fight against global poverty, with up to 150 million people at risk of falling into extreme poverty this year.

We need to act urgently to ensure countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean have the resources they need to respond to the pandemic and support their communities.

But many large banks and speculators – including HSBC, Blackrock, JP Morgan and UBS – continue to demand debt repayments from some of the poorest countries in the world. That means these countries have less money to spend on tackling Covid, the climate crisis and essentials such as education and health.

It’s a scandal that some of the world’s richest banks have made a fortune over the last year, profiting during the pandemic, while funds are being drained from the poorest countries in the world.

Right now, Africa is spending three times more on debt repayments to banks and speculators than it would cost to vaccinate the entire continent against Covid-19. 

Cancel the debt campaign

Join Pope Francis’ call for action on debt

Again and again, Pope Francis has called for debt cancellation for the most vulnerable countries, arguing this is critical because of “the severe impacts of the medical, social and economic crises they face as a result of Covid-19.”

Governments from the G20 group of countries have already acted on calls for debt relief and have suspended debt repayments from poorer countries during the pandemic. But most banks and speculators have continued to demand every penny.
Countries such as Zambia and Chad have asked for a break from these repayments so that they aren’t forced to choose between saving lives and replaying loans. But so far, they’ve been refused.

8/3/2021

Click here secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/energy_charter_treaty_fr_pa/

9/2/2021

There is extensive evidence that many women in the Uyghur Muslim community in Xinjiang, China are being subjected to forced abortions.
Lord Alton is currently championing an amendment to the Trade Bill which would give British courts a role in determining whether a country is committing genocide. This would help with putting international pressure on the Chinese Communist Party to stop the practice of forcing abortions on the Uyghur Muslim community along with the wider human rights abuses that evidence shows is being perpetuated against this community. If you would like to email your MP asking them to support the amendment, you can do this easily using a tool which has been set up on the Genocide Response campaign website which can be accessed by visiting the link https://genocideresponse.org/

26/1/2021

It’s 2021. Why is the government allowing a new coal mine?

2/1/2020

There is a new petition

“Claps don’t pay the bills – give all NHS workers a 15% pay rise #NHSPay15”

Our goal is to reach 500,000 signatures and we need more support. You can read more and sign the petition here:    http://chng.it/vM8BXbvgHx

8/12/2020

A petition to stop the government cutting UK aid to those who need it.

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/don-t-cut-uk-aid/

18/11/2020

secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/stop_the_total_disaster_63/

Oil giant Total is about to build one of the biggest oil pipelines in the world — right through the heart of Africa!

It will rip through some of the most important elephant, lion and chimpanzee reserves on Earth, displace thousands of local people, and tip the whole planet ever closer to full-blown climate catastrophe.

Local communities are doing all they can to fight the project, but they’re up against one of the most powerful companies on Earth, and they need help to turn this into a Standing Rock in Africa. Our movement can be that help!

18/11/2020

actionnetwork.org/petitions/our-post-covid-economy-should-prioritise-public-wellbeing-over-private-wealth/

14/11/2020

https://e-activist.com/page/53571/petition/1

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12/11/2020

Living Wage Week 2020 - Stand up for care workers
Citizens UK logo

Today, thousands of people will get a boost in pay as a new Living Wage rate comes into force.

The real Living Wage, which is calculated independently of the Government, is a lifeline for people who work for the 7,000 accredited Living Wage employers in the UK. It’s based on what it actually costs to pay for everyday essentials like food and heating.

 Here’s how much workers stand to earn:
Map showing increase in the real Living Wage rates — £9.50 per hour nationally and £10.85 per hour in London

But right now, half a million care workers on the frontline of this pandemic won’t earn anywhere near this amount.

Care workers are literally risking their lives to care for our loved ones, working day and night. But many are trapped in “in-work poverty”, where they struggle to make ends meet despite working full-time.

Can you write to your MP today and ask them if they think care workers deserve to be paid a real Living Wage?

My work in the Olympic Park, in an area with some of the highest levels of deprivation in the UK shows that you can’t achieve sustainable communities if local incomes don’t meet local costs – like the huge housing costs families face in East London.

Across the country, Citizens UK is successfully challenging low pay and affordable housing shortages. But in the case of care worker wages – we need Government action as well.

As politicians come out in droves to celebrate employers who do the right thing during Living Wage Week 2020, there’s no better time to call on MPs to prioritise proper wages for social care workers.

It’s powerful to see thousands of faith and community leaders and civil society organisations signing a petition from Citizens UK to the UK Government who can invest the extra funding needed in social care.

But the pressure we exert this week is crucial. Consider this our way of putting every politician on notice at a time when media attention is focused on the economy and the new wage rates.

 In the lead up to Christmas, Citizens UK will be publishing the names of every MP who echoes our call to give workers in social care a real Living Wage.

Will we hear your MP say that care workers are #WorthTheMoney?

Let’s hope we do.

28/10/2020

https://www.change.org/p/members-of-parliament-mps-to-give-up-their-food-expenses

12/10/2020