A global mobilisation for a Just Recovery

Offline Action Guide, 17 & 18 July, 2020
G20 Finance Ministers meeting, Saudi Arabia

 

 

What does Just Recovery mean?

Choices being made right now will shape our society for years, if not decades to come. As decision-makers take steps to ensure immediate relief and long-term recovery, it is imperative that they consider the interrelated crises of wealth inequality, racism, and ecological decline, which were in place long before COVID-19, and now risk being intensified.

This is about our money, our jobs, our future – our lives. It’s time we take back ownership of the discussions and decisions made by leaders who have regularly failed us: whether it’s acting against climate change, preventing the pandemic from spreading as strongly as it did, or fighting the structures and institutions of systemic racism.

Why G20?

The people that control national purse strings, i.e. Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors from the world’s 20 richest countries, are meeting on 18th July, and will build mainstream consensus of how governments and banks will react. These choices will determine if we’ll continue to fuel the climate crisis.


The opportunity for our movement with the Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting on July 18th is largely about two things:

  • Sharpening the narrative of conflict between a green, sustainable, and people focused recovery vs. a corporate-run, privatised fossil fuel business as usual; 
  • Bringing wider public interest and engagement into this arena where decisions are made with our money, and creating more pressure on governments, decision-makers, and potential-champions: letting them know we demand a Just Recovery and that we’ll hold them to account.

We don’t believe the G20, as an entity, is an ongoing strategic target, per se, but the meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors provides an opportunity to draw together national demands for a just recovery, elevate them at a pivotal international moment that highlights the choice point for decision-makers, and that builds solidarity across communities facing this crisis.

We want to:

  • Create urgency – this is happening now.
  • Not without us – we are the ones we are waiting for
  • This isn’t just about “investments” – this is about putting our economic structures into question – divest, defund.
  • Dracula strategy: hijack coverage that might go to G20. Don’t let those who have failed us pretend to be those who will save us.
  • Create an international perspective – linking impacts across borders.
  • Create an intersectional space – this isn’t only about climate

 

Actions Menu

The common ingredient: facemasks

Face masks are the symbol of our times.

    • They’re accessible to many, and where they’re not, it’s possible to create DIY-masks.
    • They’re a perfect support for direct, on-point messages
    • They provide an easy to use platform to express demands while preserving physical distance, or in places where lockdown hasn’t been lifted or where protests aren’t permitted.
    • Messages can go out both in our local communities (just by walking the streets while wearing the mask, or by organising protests and marches) as well as online.
    • They’re a powerful way to state that we are legion – and that no matter who we are, where we are, we demand a just recovery.

Disruptive actions

Civil disobedience

In some places, civil disobedience can be an option.

Street murals

This is an excellent way to block and occupy a public area and turn it into art. Here is a guide on how to do them.

Symbolic

Projection Actions

You can use these graphics and this guide to project your message to a landmark in your town. You might need to get a permit and you can work with your local authorities to receive it. Good thing about this one is even one person can do it!

Non-presence rallies

COVID times allowed us to be even more creative with our mobilising. If your area is still under heavy restrictions, you can leave symbolic objects in an area and your banners with your messages and use the visuals.  

Low-key photo opportunities

You can hold a banner with a few people, wearing your face masks with messaging and snap a photo with your banners in front of a symbolic landmark.

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