September, 21 2022, 03:27pm EDT
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For Immediate Release
Contact:
Sophie Richmond, srichmond [at] climatenetwork.org
Bronwen Tucker, bronwen [at] priceofoil.orgÂ
Shaye Skiff, kskiff [at[ foe.orgÂ
Climate groups from around world call on World Bank President David Malpass to be fired
Climate change organizations under the Big Shift Coalition have called on the World Bank to fire its President David Malpass. In a panel discussion at a New York Times event yesterday, Malpass refused to back climate science and was labeled a "climate denier" by former US Vice President Al Gore.
NEW YORK
Climate change organizations under the Big Shift Coalition have called on the World Bank to fire its President David Malpass. In a panel discussion at a New York Times event yesterday, Malpass refused to back climate science and was labeled a "climate denier" by former US Vice President Al Gore. Malpass was asked three times to state whether he believed man-made fossil fuel emissions contributed to climate change and after trying to evade the questions multiple times, ultimately answered with: "I am not a scientist".
Last year, over 70 groups from around the world sent a letter to World Bank Governors and Executive Directors calling on David Malpass to be fired over his failure on climate action. A staffer at the World Bank wrote in a scathing opinion piece that Malpass "has neither the vision nor credibility to make the World Bank a climate leader". The climate adviser to the UN Secretary General singled out the World Bank for "underperforming on climate". Al Gore said in an interview to the Financial Times that the WB is "missing in action" and "needs new climate leadership". According to insider reports reviewed by the Financial Times, Malpass played a direct role in blocking the ambition of the joint MDB announcement on climate finance at COP26.
Notes:
- NYT journalist twitter thread: https://twitter.com/dgelles/status/1572336049136828420
- Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4w5TOHigaf8 07:10-08:15 minutes
- Oil Change International's Public Finance for Energy Database shows the World Bank Group provides more fossil fuel support than any other multilateral development bank, at $1.8 billion a year on average from 2018 to 2020.
Member groups of the Big Shift Coalition issued the following quotes in response:
Bronwen Tucker of Oil Change International: "The World Bank Group still funds more fossil fuels than any other MDB, and they continue to lock Global South countries into expensive and volatile fossil fuel contracts through their heavy-handed policy lending programs. Now we know why. With Malpass at the top, the World Bank Group cannot be trusted as a partner in sustainable development."
Dean Bhekumuzi Bhebhe of Power Shift Africa: "The investments by the World Bank in Africa continue to fuel the impacts of the climate crisis experienced by communities across the continent. There is no time for climate denialism. The World Bank must act now to end all fossil fuel finance and invest in sustainable, renewable energy for all. It is critical Africa attracts increased investments to leapfrog dirty energy and become a green leader and not just a victim of the climate emergency."
"The World Bank must not be led by a climate denier and President Biden should call on the Bank's Board to fire him immediately," said Luisa Galvao of Friends of the Earth US. "The ancient agreement where the United States nominates Bank Presidents also needs to end. We need democratic and globally equitable governance."
Fran Witt of Recourse: "Our partners around the world are suffering the catastrophic results of climate change". "Scientists agree that climate change has been caused by the unfettered burning of fossil fuels, and it is universally agreed that climate action means dramatically cutting carbon emissions. But the World Bank Group cannot align its portfolio with the Paris Agreement goal of keeping global warming below 1.5C with a climate change denier at its helm! Malpass must go!"
Sonia Dunlop, Programme Lead on MDBs and Public Banks and climate change think tank E3G: "This is a step too far. It is time for the White House and governments all over the world to think hard as to who they want at the helm of the World Bank. The World Bank is critical to the global fight against climate change. You don't need to be a scientist to understand climate science. The facts are clear, and there's no alternative but to act."
Tasneem Essop, Executive Director, Climate Action Network: "A self-pronounced climate denier at the helm of the World Bank at this stage of the climate emergency is inexcusable! The World Bank continues to use public money to finance fossil fuel projects in Global South countries where people are already suffering the worst impacts of climate change. For the World Bank to maintain any shred of decency Malpass cannot remain as President."
Heike Mainhardt, Senior Advisor with Urgewald: "Given Malpass' climate crisis denial stance, it is no wonder the World Bank provides more finance, tax breaks, and higher tariffs to benefit fossil fuels than any other public development bank. We stand with UN leadership and call on the World Bank's shareholders to step in - to stop the World Bank's public funding of fossil fuels."
Elaine Zuckerman, Gender Action: "While civil society pressured the World Bank to acknowledge climate change's harmful impacts on all humanity including its non-uniform gender, geographical and class differences, eliminate direct but not indirect fossil-fuel financing and fund some renewable energy projects, Malpass's persistent denial that climate change is manmade undermines saving our planet from climate destruction."
David Ryfisch, Team Leader for International Climate Policy at Germanwatch: We urgently need more climate action by the World Bank. This can only happen if the leadership is on board. This is clearly not the case. There is no time to convince president Malpass of climate science, if he hasn't understood it by now. Shareholders - including Germany - have to make it clear that denying man-made climate change is unacceptable for the president of the World Bank.
Oil Change International is a research, communications, and advocacy organization focused on exposing the true costs of fossil fuels and facilitating the ongoing transition to clean energy.
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US Healthcare Workers Back From Gaza Tell Harris and Biden: 'End This Madness'
"Every day that we continue supplying weapons and munitions to Israel is another day that women are shredded by our bombs and children are murdered with our bullets."
Jul 26, 2024
As President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Thursday, dozens of American healthcare workers who recently volunteered in the Gaza Strip urged the U.S. leaders to do everything in their power to end Israel's assault on the enclave, citing the horrors they witnessed firsthand.
In an open letter addressed to Biden, Harris, and First Lady Jill Biden, 45 physicians, surgeons, and nurses wrote that "we wish you could see the nightmares that plague so many of us since we have returned: dreams of children maimed and mutilated by our weapons, and their inconsolable mothers begging us to save them."
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The healthcare workers called on the Biden administration to "withhold military, economic, and diplomatic support from the state of Israel and to participate in an international arms embargo of both Israel and all Palestinian armed groups until a permanent cease-fire is established, and until good-faith negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians lead to a permanent resolution of the conflict."
"We are not politicians. We do not claim to have all the answers," they continued. "We are simply physicians and nurses who cannot remain silent about what we saw in Gaza. Every day that we continue supplying weapons and munitions to Israel is another day that women are shredded by our bombs and children are murdered with our bullets. President Biden and Vice President Harris, we urge you: End this madness now!"
This is an open letter addressed to @POTUS, @VP , and @FLOTUS signed by 45 American physicians and nurses, about what we saw while working in Gaza. Please feel free to distribute. A PDF can be downloaded from the link and/or QR code on page 1. pic.twitter.com/LHVvmeAFad
— Feroze Sidhwa (@FerozeSidhwa) July 25, 2024
The letter was released as Netanyahu, fresh off his widely condemned address to the U.S. Congress, met separately on Thursday with Biden and Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.
In remarks following her meeting with Netanyahu, Harris said that "what has happened in Gaza over the past nine months is devastating," pointing to "the images of dead children and desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety, sometimes displaced for the second, third, or fourth time."
"We cannot look away in the face of these tragedies," the vice president added. "We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering. And I will not be silent."
Harris said she told Netanyahu directly to "get this deal done"—referring to a cease-fire agreement with Hamas—but, as expected, she did not break with the administration on supplying arms to the Israeli military.
While there has been no obvious policy change from the administration now that Harris has taken over for Biden at the top of the Democratic Party's presidential ticket, Trita Parsi of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft argued that the vice president "clearly broke with Biden on Israel in terms of rhetoric and tone."
Parsi also contended that there was "a substance shift."
"Biden has disingenuously claimed that Hamas blocked a cease-fire deal," Parsi wrote on social media. "By saying that she urged Netanyahu 'to clinch the deal,' Kamala pointed to the real obstacle."
BREAKING: VP Harris speaks after meeting with Israeli PM Netanyahu
Harris calling for an immediate cease-fire deal to free the hostages.
The VP saying she “will not be silent" about the suffering in Gaza, the "devastating" loss of life and the "dire" humanitarian crisis. pic.twitter.com/Fe5QPoOuFh
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) July 25, 2024
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Labor advocates on Thursday decried a ruling by the California Supreme Court upholding a lower court's affirmation of a state ballot measure allowing app-based ride and delivery companies to classify their drivers as independent contractors, limiting their worker rights.
The court's seven justices ruled unanimously in Castellanos v. State of California that Proposition 22, which was approved by 58% of California voters in 2020, complies with the state constitution. Prop 22—which was overturned in 2021 by an Alameda County Superior Court judge in 2021—was upheld in March 2023 by the state's 1st District Court of Appeals.
The business models of app-based companies including DoorDash, Instacart, Lyft, and Uber rely upon minimizing frontline worker compensation by categorizing drivers as independent contractors instead of employees. Independent contractors are not entitled to unemployment insurance, health insurance, or compensation for business expenses.
There are approximately 1.4 million app-based gig workers in California, according to industry estimates.
While DoorDash hailed Thursday's ruling as "not only a victory for Dashers, but also for democracy itself," gig worker advocates condemned the decision.
"Over the last three years, gig workers across California have experienced firsthand that Prop 22 is nothing more than a bait-and-switch meant to enrich global corporations at the expense of the Black, brown, and immigrant workers who power their earnings," plaintiff Hector Castellanos, who drives for Uber and Lyft, said in a statement.
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Lorena Gonzalez, president of the California Federation of Labor Unions, AFL-CIO, said that "we are deeply disappointed that the state Supreme Court has allowed tech corporations to buy their way out of basic labor laws despite Proposition 22's inconsistencies with our state constitution."
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Prop 22's passage in November 2020 with nearly 59% of the vote was the culmination of what was by far the most expensive ballot measure in California history. App-based companies and their backers outspent labor and progressive groups by more than 10 to 1, with proponents pouring a staggering $204.5 million into the "yes" campaign's coffers against just $19 million for the "no" side.
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"If Uber really cared about good benefits and fair wages, it could make that happen tomorrow," the campaign added. "Instead, it has shown it would rather slash pay, bamboozle voters, and put drivers' lives and livelihoods in danger—all while promising $7 billion in stock buybacks to banks and billionaires."
Veena Dubal, a law professor at the University of California, Irvine who focuses on labor and inequality, toldCalMatters that Thursday's ruling was "a really tragic outcome," but "it's not the end of the road."
Dubal's sentiment was echoed by some California state legislators, who said the ruling presents an opportunity to act.
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Prop 22 has served as a template for lawmakers in other states seeking to deny or limit basic worker rights, benefits, and protections.
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Four youth-led groups on Thursday urged Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, to "fight for our future" by pursuing a policy agenda the coalition unveiled in a March letter to U.S. President Joe Biden.
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March for Our Lives, which was launched after the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, honored Harris with the group's first-ever endorsement on Wednesday, calling her "the right person to stand up for us and fight for the country we deserve."
"To defeat Trump, you must rebuild support and enthusiasm among young voters."
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"You have an urgent and important task. To defeat Trump, you must rebuild support and enthusiasm among young voters," the coalition told Harris on Thursday, noting that she sought the Democratic nomination during the last cycle. "You should build on your 2020 campaign platform where you put forward a strong vision to make the economy work for everyday people and ensure a livable future for us all."
The groups urged Harris to support the Green New Deal, Medicare for All, and the Reverse Mass Incarceration Act. They pushed her to expand pathways to citizenship, keep families together, end fossil fuel subsidies, and create good, union jobs. They also called on her to prioritize gun violence prevention and investments in public health solutions and green, affordable housing.
"Democrats are at a critical crossroads with young people," the coalition wrote to Harris on Thursday. "Polls showed Biden and Trump neck-and-neck among young voters."
ANew York Times/Siena College poll conducted July 22-24 shows Trump leading Harris 48% to 47% among likely voters and 48% to 46% among registered voters—differences that fall within the margin of error.
Forbesnoted Thursday that "Democrats are far more enthusiastic about Harris than they were Biden, the Times/Siena survey found, with nearly 80% of voters who lean Democrat saying they would like Harris to be the nominee, compared to 48% of Democrats who said the same about Biden three weeks ago."
The outlet also pointed to two other polls conducted by Morning Consult and Reuters/Ipsos since Biden dropped out, which both show Harris with a narrow lead over Trump.
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"Young people are energized and ready to organize against fascism and for the future we deserve," they concluded. "This is your chance to energize young people and our communities to vote, mount one of the greatest political comebacks in decades, and deliver a resounding defeat to the far-right agenda of Trump and Vance."
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