European budget cuts, the Fossil Fuel Non Proliferation Treaty and Gates Foundation to up annual spend

Plus in this week's newsletter I share final details of the kick of my book campaign if you're in New York and want to join!

Jan 28, 2024

Dear Friends and Supporters,

I wanted to start with one final reminder regarding the kick off of my book campaign event coming up this Tuesday, January 30th @ 5:30pm. It will be held on the 15th Floor at 220 E. 42^nd Street New York, NY 10017. I am thankful for our partners at Changing Our World for hosting - there will be excellent speakers, light bites and drinks. You can still RSVP by filling out the following form. Looking forward to seeing all those who can attend!

Also, I am doing a quick poll on Linkedin about the impact of climate activists throwing soup on the Mona Lisa to champion sustainable and healthy food. Let me know what you think!

After an exciting week at Davos, the GC team has been gearing up for a busy February. The team is looking forward to key meetings involving our friends at GAVI, the vaccine alliance, (who are looking at how they ramp up efforts to vaccinate another 300 million children over the next five years!) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), who are continuing to seek support from countries like Australia for their efforts to empower 100 million farmers. Now, onto some updates from the past week.

EU’s geopolitical influence in peril: Advocates call on European Parliament to reject budget cuts for health and climate

You might remember that back in December, as part of the negotiations on the EU’s long-term budget mid-term revision, 26 European Union Members (sans Hungary) agreed to a proposal to use €2 billion of unspent funds - from its development budget in order to fund migration priorities.

This goes against the budgetary rules that only allow for unspent funds to flow back for the benefit of the budget line of origin. The only way to execute this proposal is therefore to implement cuts that will potentially impact the money available for sub-Saharan Africa, among other regions, and key investments in climate or global health.

If Member States agree to this approach, it will set a worrying new precedent, allowing them to bypass EU rules and plunder funding to address poverty to address short-term needs.

Global Citizen and over 20 other CSO groups have analyzed the proposal in detail. See more about our concerns here and please share these with EU leaders and negotiators!

The European Parliament Development Committee expressed our very same concerns this week and we reacted in the press urging the Parliament to stand firm in its position and reject these proposals that represent a bad deal for Europe and its partners.

The final decision will be made by EU leaders on 1 February at the European Council meeting. Stay tuned for more on how we can speak out against these budget cuts.

Global Citizen Europe Board Chair Sabrina Elba Speaks at UK launch of hunger VR film ‘On The Brink’

The Save the Children and the Hungry for Action campaign film was shot by photographer Misan Harriman using 360 technology. It captures the story of Ayan, who lost her four-year-old son to malnutrition, and Faisa, whose one-year-old grandson died from hunger-related illnesses in Somalia.

At the launch of the film in London on Thursday, Global Citizen Europe Board Chair Sabrina Elba spoke passionately about the dire reality of the situation and the need to rebuild global empathy - “the word famine alone should be enough to haunt all of us… the extremeness of it should be something that’s taken very seriously, but I think unfortunately, it isn’t”.

I also was honored to record a short video on hunger, highlighting our work and advocacy on this issue and the road ahead. Global Citizen will continue to confront this crisis and advocate for decisive action on hunger. You can take action here.

The Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty: A good idea, or empty rhetoric?

I came across this blog post that raises questions about the impact and usefulness of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative. I’ve received similar questions in the past. It is an initiative we know a little bit about having helped secure at least 2 of the supportive countries.

I discuss the Treaty initiative in my upcoming book. The treaty was set up to bypass gridlock in UN climate talks. It relies on generating sufficient momentum, even without the participation of the biggest fossil fuel-producing nations. The idea is that once there’s enough support, it will be able to isolate and pressure the remaining holdout countries, broadening the scope of what is achievable. The treaty is thus a vehicle to drive behavior change by gradually establishing new diplomatic norms.

I can see how on the surface it might seem a fairly far-fetched idea but it's actually based on a proven model involving constructing treaties without the involvement of powerful nations to drive behavioral change amongst nations.

The 1997 Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention is a case in point. The US never joined the 1997 Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention but did eventually agree to their phasedown.

"It is significant that most states not party to the treaty are responding to international pressure on this issue. Many are in de facto compliance with the treaty even though they are not legally bound by it. In 2014, the US government announced that it would officially stop the production and acquisition of antipersonnel mines, accelerate the destruction of stockpiles, and ban use of the weapon except on the Korean Peninsula." See: https://lnkd.in/efRMAnnY

We may end up with a treaty that encompasses a significant number of fossil fuel-producing countries. We may not. Last year saw the first two fossil fuel-producing states, Colombia and Timor Leste, sign up. The goal is to contribute to driving the urgent transition from fossil fuel and for that, we need every tool and lever at our disposal, including a plan that the Treaty represents.

Gates Foundation Annual Letter

Gates Foundation CEO, Mark Suzman, brought out his annual letter here. It is packed with a lot of goodness from explaining how the Foundation is doubling its annual spend to highlighting what could be achieved if other philanthropies followed suit. As Mark notes:

“What if, alongside a $100 million dollar gift to a highly selective university, they also gave $100 million to set up a system that makes online textbooks free for every college student in the United States, forever? If a donor gave $20 million to an institution searching for a cure for cancer, and $20 million to fund research on malaria, a disease that still kills a child every minute? Or $5 million to their child’s private school and $5 million to support quality teaching across sub-Saharan Africa?”

I’m glad the principle of ‘Give While You Live’ is gaining more traction. It's something Global Citizen has called on for years now. As Mark points out, “Globally, the net worth of the world’s 2,640 billionaires is at least $12.2 trillion.” And yet, even funds theoretically “pledged” for philanthropy sit idle in foundations and donor-advised funds.

I’m writing a few articles and will have more to say in the coming weeks and months. But one thing I want to implore is that as foundations spend more they also look at investing in policy communications and advocacy (or what I like to call policy entrepreneurship). From everyday citizens to leaders of vulnerable communities working tirelessly for a better world. We need to support these advocates to be in the corridors of power because if you want to set the agenda you have to go where power converges.

This is where philanthropy can be a force multiplier! By investing in the policy advocacy and entrepreneurial capacity of nonprofits. But it will take new levels of risk-taking, trust, and investment from foundations to make happen. I make the case for rewriting the philanthropy playbook in my book.

GC is Hiring - Join The Team!

I’m excited to promote two awesome opportunities to join our team in Africa and Latin America.

A remote role in Rwanda, GC is looking for a Health Policy & Advocacy Lead, who will be playing a critical role on a key policy and advocacy grant-funded, multi-year health campaign, while supporting larger tentpole events such as our growing Move Afrika initiative. Full job description and responsibilities here.

A remote role based in Brazil, GC is looking for a Campaigns Manager who will drive creative campaigning around the Sustainable Development Goals with a focus on women’s rights and civic space. This person will also help bring policy to life on our platforms to inspire and empower our community to take action. Full job description and responsibilities here.

If you’re interested, please feel free to apply or reach out with any questions. Otherwise, please promote within your networks!

My Weekend Reading List

As always, if you’re enjoying the weekly newsletter format, and want even more, you can subscribe to my Substack here where I publish reviews, lists, and articles regularly.

Til next week,

Mick