National Justice and Peace Network

20/08/2026

Global Justice Now - ISDS Days of Action 15 - 17 October

In the space of a year, what British politicians saw as a distant possibility has become a triple threat: corporate courts have been weaponised against the UK, first for cancelling a coal mine and then over Russia sanctions.

In June, a Chinese investor threatened a third case over the UK’s takeover of British Steel. It is seeking a whopping £1 billion after the government’s decision to nationalise the Scunthorpe steelworks. The company had planned to close the plant within days, leaving 2,700 jobs on the line in this historic British industry.

These cases show the impacts of ISDS across many parts of our lives – from climate, to war, to jobs – and the pile-on demands we step up our action.

That’s why we’re getting in touch to ask you to Save the Date: on 15 – 17 October Global Justice Now is organising three global days of action on ISDS with allies around the world.

They are a chance to raise public awareness about this little-known but dangerous system, grow the coalition fighting it, and put pressure on decision-makers.

In the UK we’re bringing together a coalition to take part in these days of action. Global Justice Now local groups are planning activities all over the country and there will be a rally in London. To get involved with plans or to be connected with people organising in your local area, you can reach out to: [email protected].

You’ll be joining people around the world, with nearly 100 organisations in different countries supporting the global days of action. The global picture on corporate courts is similarly urgent, with an average of 60 cases every year, and the share of cases involving the fossil fuel and extractives sector is growing year on year. But this is also sparking resistance.

One recent result of our international work on ISDS, out of our engagement at the conference on transitioning away from fossil fuels in Santa Marta, is the launch of a Working Group on ISDS by the governments of Colombia, Vanuatu, Ghana and Tanzania. This is the first time a set of countries has agreed to work together on the issue. But we need to grow this movement and hold all our governments accountable for ambitious action.

This coming together will be a major moment in the campaign. Keep an eye on the event page on our website and more emails from us with further details, but in the meantime save the dates of 15 – 17 October for the global days of action!

In solidarity,
Cleodie Rickard,
Trade campaigner at Global Justice Now

19/08/2026

"You hear about the violence that occurs in the West Bank but being confronted with its visceral impact, on Palestinian children and families you’ve previously shared meals with is an experience I don’t think will ever leave me.”

Rosie, an Ecumenical Accompanier in the West Bank, shares more about what accompaniment means: https://www.eyewitnessblogs.com/rosie-time-to-act-feature/

16/08/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/1DeMvVwxqw/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Guy's news: It’s getting serious (and data centres can’t help us)

For decades I have been infuriated by articles in The Economist, The Telegraph et al. suggesting that higher CO2 levels and rising temperatures would be a good thing for Europe’s farmers, increasing the rate of photosynthesis and hence yields. A few people further south might suffer (they don’t have much money anyway) but at least we would be OK. What are these pillars of rationality writing now as Europe burns? Perhaps that it is too late to fight climate change so we had better adapt and go with it, or, if we reduce our use of fossil fuels at all, it must be a “gentle transition”?

It is both tragic and laughable that we seem intent on spending our last dollar of discretionary capital, not on transition, but on AI and vast data centres whose purpose will be to persuade us to buy more of the crap that has got us into this mess. The reality, which has evaded these economists but which any gardener and farmer knows, is that yield and quality are more often determined by the extremes than the averages, and the frequency of extreme weather events falling outside crop tolerance is increasing faster than averages are moving.

On our farm in the French Vendée, temperatures above 32°C have caused aubergines to abort their fruit due to stress; runner beans in the UK have done the same. We would have been able to top up from Spain but our growers there are suffering similarly, if not worse. Our UK tomato, pepper, and cucumber season is barely three months but is, so far, faring better with the growth potential boosted by high temperatures and sunlight, balanced out by losses due to stress.

Those with irrigation have now, pretty much, run out of water and are keeping what is left for the high value crops. Half the carrots have failed and potato yields will be down 25%. In the south-west, much of our summer broccoli, Tenderstem, cauliflower, and Romanesco has traditionally been grown on unirrigated ground. Many will now fail, with the remaining crops having drastically reduced yield and compromised quality.

As our reservoirs run dry and our crops die, data centres will have plenty of water and energy and leapfrog the planning process. It seems they are needed for the only sort of growth that matters. You can’t eat it and it’s killing our planet but who dares impede a tech bro?

- Guy Singh-Watson, Riverford Founder.

If you would like to sign the Change.org petition against the arrival of a new data centre in Devon, you can do so here: https://www.change.org/p/leave-devon-alone-say-no-to-devon-data-campus-go-fund-me-in-description

14/08/2026

13/08/2026

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/no-to-military-conscription-1

The debate around bringing back military conscription in the UK is rising. Forcing young people into the armed forces deprives them of choices and would be a colossal waste of funds during a cost of living crisis. Add your name to tell the government to rule it out!

13/08/2026

Bishop James Curry: “The problem of settler intimidation is a very real one”

The last Christian town in the West Bank, Taybeh, has been declared a closed military zone by the Israeli army. The army, the IDF, says that this is to address ongoing attacks by illegal settlers on the town. Bishop James Curry, Lead Bishop for the Holy Land for the Bishops’ Conference, has expres...

13/08/2026

https://oikoumene.org/news/peace-treatise-if-you-want-peace-go-and-talk-to-your-enemy

The editorial team of Ralf Becker, Rev. Karen Hinrichs, Prof. Dr Heinrich Schäfer, and Dr Theodor Ziegler are presenting “If you want peace, go and talk to your enemy: An Ecumenical Peace Treatise–2026.”

13/08/2026

“Expressions of solidarity, while much appreciated, are not enough, and action is needed to stop settler violence against Taybeh,”

Taybeh, the only remaining Christian village in the West Bank, includes Christian archaeology dating back to the Roman era and early Christianity. Located in the Ramallah area of the West Bank, the village’s population has dwindled to 1,200 people, all of them Christians. During the 1980s, the pop...

10/08/2026

Who am I? who are we? to whom (and what) do we have a responsibility? and why?

Nick Spencer unpacks the relationship between environmental problems and democratic problems. 06/08/2026

10/08/2026

https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/55622

Sunday 9 August, was the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples. On September 13, 2007, the UN General Assembly adopted the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The UN tells us that: "There are an estimated 476 million Indigenous Peoples in the world living a...