cross-posted from For People For Planet
This October, the decision-makers at the International Monetary Fund and World Bank will be in Washington, DC for a week of closed-door meetings.
Inside the meetings, the Boards of Governors of these institutions will continue their nearly 80-year tradition of a small group of people from the most privileged countries in the world making decisions that affect every single person and every single place on this planet, most devastatingly the Global South.
Outside, a global coalition of activists, organizations and the everyday people impacted by the World Bank and IMF’s decisions will gather to make our voices heard, disrupt the meetings, and reject the idea that the choices these institutions are making are what’s best for humanity and the planet we call home.
Climate resistance at the World Bank #ForPeopleForPlanet pic.twitter.com/2UThGZlSjn
— Luísa Galvão (@luisagalvao3) October 12, 2022
Demands:
- Debt Cancellation. We demand the unconditional cancellation of all debts owed to the IMF and World Bank
- Climate and Colonial Reparations. Global North countries must pay reparations for their past and ongoing wrongs.
- End destruction of people and Planet. We demand the end of support for all new oil, gas, and coal extraction, transport, and use projects
?BREAKING: CODEPINK was just ejected from the IMF/World Bank meeting in DC, chanting “Cancel all debt! Reparations now!” pic.twitter.com/Ew7tRIOblj
— CODEPINK (@codepink) October 11, 2022
Actions:
Oct 12: Bike Bloc – Let’s Crash their Party! Join us at 5pm at Edward R. Murrow Park (H St. and 18th St NW) for a bike bloc to disrupt business as usual for the G-20 finance ministers. We’ll snake through the streets of Foggy Bottom during rush hour traffic, as the finance ministers work to make their way to their dinner. Then we’ll end the ride outside the dinner where we’ll shine a light on the shady backroom deals that are being made over caviar and brandy.
Got to DJ a critical mass tonight on @ShutDown_DC’s massive mobile sound system. Honestly the most fun I’ve had in forever! pic.twitter.com/QP7pJb8kFg
— Andrew Nazdin (@andrewnazdin) October 13, 2022
Oct 13: The People vs the IMF and World Bank. We are hereby putting the IMF and World Bank on trial for their crimes against life on earth. Operating on behalf of the predatory financial vultures, these institutions have imposed policies in our countries that have enriched a few elites while subjecting vast numbers of our people to a life of perpetual misery. Today, they are making a shameful bid to capitalize on the climate disasters, economic crisis and war-induced shocks to ensure exorbitant profits for the rich. We, the People of the World, affirm that life and dignity of all people is sacred. We reject the notion that life can be banked on and hedged, or that we owe debt to those who have exploited our people and plundered our lands.
Oct 13: Drown Them Out! Noise Demonstration at the G-20 Press Conference. On Thursday, October 13, after a day-and-a-half of backroom plotting and planning the G-20 finance ministers will emerge from their closed door meeting for a press conference where they’ll try to explain how continuing to rig the economy to benefit rich fossil fuel companies is going to somehow address the climate crisis. We’ve heard enough of their lies and excuses so we’re going to drown them out! Join us for a noise demonstration outside of the World Bank Headquarters to drown them out! Bring noise makers, megaphones, pots and pans, and air horns! We’re meeting at 1pm at Edward R Murrow Park so we can be ready to GET LOUD when the press conference starts at 1:45pm.
Oct 14: Another World is Possible! Disrupt the IMF & World Bank and Create the Future We Need. The morning of October 14th, delegates to the Annual Meetings of the IMF and World Bank will make their way to DAR Constitution Hall for their plenary session. Inside the meeting they’ll double down on their failed system of economic imperialism that created the climate crisis. Outside, we’ll take the streets to envision a new world, where we decarbonize and decolonize our global economy and create a new system that works for people and for our planet. We’ll hold a festival of resistance right in the middle of the streets surrounding the hall with music, food, art and culture as a way to embody the world we are trying to create.