Category Archives: Food for Thought
Sustainability and climate change in fair trade
Should the fair trade movement include policies to ensure that fair trade is environmentally sustainable; so that climate change becomes a part of that movement? (This is an open space session so I will try and draw out the main themes of discussion as it flows). Studio Allaya is a craft based organization that supports [...]
Also posted in Events, Fair Trade Futures Tagged climate change, fair trade, sustainability Leave a comment
Open space: EPAs (economic partnership agreement)
The fundamental principle for EPAs is a free market. This may work for European countries as they are at the same level of development, economical infrastructure is in place. However it does not work for the ACP (Africa, Caribbean, Pacific) countries. It is not an even playing ground; odds are heavily stacked against ACPs not least because of the negotiation process required to trade in the EU (for example intellectual property rights – some countries may not be able to negotiate this). Bilateral trade agreements have a major drawback: they take no account of development needs.
Trade negotiations may seem dull but when it comes to rich countries ripping off poorer countries the fair trade movement can understand this and empathise with this so should be a part of that process. (Mike Gidney).
Also posted in Education, Events, Fair Trade Futures, Uncategorized Tagged activism, EPA, EU, fair trade, political Leave a comment
Nuggets from the open space sessions