Positive Money is coming to the City of the Future

I am keen for people to grasp what Positive Money is saying; i.e. that banks create almost all of our nation's money supply and that it is a big problem.

Most people seem to think that the government creates our money and that we all deal in it for the things we need for our daily lives. Unfortunately, this is not so.

Almost all the money in circulation apart from the tiny amount that is bank notes and coins is money created by commercial banks when they issue loans. This makes banks the owners of almost all our money and they get to decide where it goes in the economy. They put it into raising the price of houses which hurts people.

Instead, new money should be created in measured amounts, that won't cause inflation, by the Bank of England, as an asset of the nation. Then the Bank of England (I personally think) should give it to the elected government who should spend it on things that help us run a lively export economy and earn our living in the world by doing stuff that actually makes the world better for people; i.e. infrastructure, university and technical education, science, research, product development and power generation research etc.

It is a crucial change that could actually take place to take the power to create money from the banks and give it to public authority i.e. the Bank of England. Then we'd stand a chance of getting on our feet as a nation and having a good influence on the world. There would be good satisfying jobs and a point to getting a good education so as to be useful players in such a great and honourable endeavour.

I'm really glad that Birmingham Friends of the Earth are putting on the "City of the Future" event where ideas like this can be discussed and there will be plenty more on this at our stall on 20th March at the Council House in Birmingham. See you there.


Dick Rogers

City of the Future

Recently we've all been a little miffed about the current economic situation, with a circulating question of:

Can we shift to a healthier economy? If so, what would it look like?

At Birmingham FOE, we are organising an eye-opening event which aims to
capture the current economic debate, discussing what it currently provides for us and identifying the real-life tools which would be required to have a better, more sustainable economy.


I was excited enough about this to volunteer to help organise it.

The Idea:
A panel of four economic experts will each present three ideas that would inspire new hope for young people and their chances
for future employment and a better environment.
…
A second panel of representatives from local  groups, cross-examine the presented cases.
…
Discussion will be opened up to the audience. ← this is your part!

The Date:
Tuesday 20th March 2012 is the time and the place to stop being miffed and start being active!

Pop it in your diaries and I hope to see you there (keep an eye out for details of our amazing panel).

Rachel Tyson

Edit: Registration is now open on our website:  http://www.birminghamfoe.org.uk/other/city-of-the-future

CLIMATE JUSTICE NOW! SPEAKER TOUR

Here are the details of our speaker event at the University of Birmingham Avon Room, University Centre on 19th November at 7pm.


CLIMATE JUSTICE NOW!- UK SPEAKER TOUR
The climate crisis has been caused by rich industrialised countries, but it is the world’s poorer majority who are paying the highest price, as extreme weather events become more common, freshwater glaciers melt, and droughts increase. We believe that this means rich countries owe a ‘climate debt’ to the global south.

The Climate Justice UK speaker tour this autumn will see public meetings held around the country. Join us to hear why we need a global climate agreement which is both effective and delivers justice for the global south, and how you can make this happen.
Speakers are:
* Mohammed Shamsuddoha (Equity Bangladesh)
* Andy Atkins (Friends of the Earth)
* Hilary Thorndike (Refugee Council)

Spread the word: Invite your friends to this event!

Full details of the tour can be found at: http://www.climatejusticenow.org.uk

Organised by: World Development Movement, People & Planet, Jubilee Debt Campaign, and Friends of the Earth.

More information about the Shared Planet conference is at: http://peopleandplanet.org/shared-planet-09

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WHAT IS CLIMATE JUSTICE?
The climate crisis has been caused by the rich industrialised countries, but it is the world’s poorer majority who are paying the highest price, as extreme weather events become more common, freshwater glaciers melt, and droughts increase.

We believe that rich countries owe a ‘climate debt’ to the global south. Not only do we need to reduce our emissions drastically, but we also need to provide new money so that poor countries can develop in a sustainable way and cope with the climate crisis which is already putting millions of lives at risk. This should not be seen as overseas aid, given out of charity, but compensation for our overuse of the earth’s resources.

In the run up to the UN climate negotiations in Copenhagen in December, rich countries are trying to bully developing countries into accept unreasonably large emissions cuts, whilst shirking making the necessary cuts themselves. At the same time, they are seeking to channel climate change funding for poor countries through the World Bank, the largest multilateral lender for fossil fuel projects in the world! What’s more, this will mostly be in the form of loans which will only add to the unjust debts which developing countries owe the rich world.

Come and hear our speakers explain why we need a global climate agreement which is both effective and delivers justice for the global south, and how you can make this happen.

I'm With Stupid

In a one-off special event, The Age of Stupid is coming to Birmingham!

This phenominal film is set 50 years in the future in a world ravaged by climate change. Pete Postlethwaite plays a man looking back at archive footage from 2007 asking the question "why didn't we save ourselves when we had the chance?" The Age of Stupid has received rave reviews and Mark Lynas has described it as "the most powerful piece of cultural discourse on climate change ever produced."

On 15th March the film is having its "People's Premiere" at 70 cinemas accross the UK and Birmingham's Vue at Star City is one of them. As well as a screening of the film there'll be guest speakers, live link-ups to the solar-powered premiere in Leicester Square and more.

We want to make sure this event is so popular that other cinemas show the film when it goes on general release on 20th March, so please book your tickets now.

“We could have saved ourselves, but we didn’t. It’s amazing. What state of mind were we in, to face extinction and simply shrug it off?” - The Archivist, The Age of Stupid

Speaker Event

So far the Kyoto Protocol has arguably done very little to tackle climate change on a global scale, but is there another way? Oliver Tickell believes there is. The journalist, environmentalist and author of “Kyoto2: How to Manage the Global Greenhouse” is coming to Birmingham to discuss the Kyoto2 Initiative which proposses a new framework for a global climate treaty.

Jointly organised by Birmingham Friends of the Earth and Aston University, the event will be taking place on:

Tuesday 17th February
6:30pm
Aston University Business School Conference Centre

Climate change guru George Monbiot describes Kyoto2 as “The most intelligent treatment of the politics and economics of climate change I have ever read. Brilliant, clear and unanswerable."

You can find out more about Kyoto2 and Oliver Tickell at www.kyoto2.org

Help to spread the word by joining the Facebook event page here