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Articles by Heidi Chow
Winning debt justice with a new government
The Labour party has won the election. I am excited about what this means for winning debt justice because a new government opens new opportunities for our campaigns. Ahead of the election, Debt Justice supporters played a huge part in pushing the issue of unjust debt onto the agendas of all parties. Over the last six weeks, we made sure that MP candidates heard about our Together Against Debt People’s Manifesto to tackle the household debt crisis.
Global Finance for People and Planet
About the event Please note that spaces are limited and attendees must have knowledge and experience of debt justice, climate finance and climate advocacy in order to join the Roundtable. Almost 50 per cent of countries experiencing debt crises are small and vulnerable Commonwealth Member States facing severe loss and damage from climate change. A recent analysis found that debt-stricken nations have paid a staggering $50 billion to G20 creditors in debt repayments since 2020.
I’m ready to fight harder – Manchester Together Against Debt - Debt Justice
These were the words spoken by Andy Burnham, the newly re-elected mayor of Greater Manchester, in his acceptance speech after winning his third term. He used his speech to say how he had been powerfully affected by hearing people speak about the impact of the debt crisis at our hustings event a week earlier in Manchester, where we had invited all the mayoral candidates.
Climate Finance Exposes the West’s Debt Hypocrisy
The proposal from today's Paris finance summit to tackle the climate crisis through more loans to indebted countries will only harm the Global South – exposing the reality of an economic system built to suit the West. This week, President Macron is convening the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact in Paris in response to the increasing financial pressures on global south countries.
Pakistan’s Devastating Floods Show the Climate Crisis Is Also a Debt Crisis
A woman and children sit outside their tent after taking refuge on higher ground following floods during the monsoon season in Jamshoro, Pakistan, August 26, 2022. Photo: Reuters/Yasir Rajput With 33 million people affected and the death toll over a thousand and rising, the human and economic cost of Pakistan’s flood is set to be astronomical. Pakistan has over 7,000 glaciers, the largest number outside the polar region, and higher global temperatures are making them melt faster and earlier.
Pakistan’s Devastating Floods Show the Climate Crisis Is Also a Debt Crisis
The flood in Pakistan is a humanitarian crisis of epic proportions. Entire towns, vital infrastructure, homes, farmlands, and crops are being washed away. With a third of the land under water, 33 million people affected, and the death toll over a thousand and rising, the human and economic cost is set to be astronomical. It is estimated that the extensive damage to the country will cost at least $10 billion.
Heidi Chow - The Wire Science
The COVID-19 Vaccine Must Be Universally Available. Anything Less Is Immoral.
It’s Time to Cancel Ukraine’s Foreign Debt
As bombing and shelling ripped through Ukraine’s towns and cities in the first week of the invasion, the Ukrainian government still made a scheduled interest payment to its private lenders on time. The lenders — mostly international finance institutions, banks, and hedge funds — are all queuing up to collect their debts, with no sign of respite.
We Need Thomas Sankara’s Political Vision Today
Today marks the thirty-fourth anniversary of the violent assassination of Burkina Faso president Thomas Sankara. This year, the anniversary also coincides with the belated trial of some of those accused of involvement in his killing. Although his presidency lasted just four years, Sankara has become an icon of pan-Africanism. His legacy continues to inspire movements against imperialism and colonialism across the world.
Africa Needs Thomas Sankara’s Political Vision Today
Today marks the thirty-fourth anniversary of the violent assassination of Burkina Faso president Thomas Sankara. This year, the anniversary also coincides with the belated trial of some of those accused of involvement in his killing. Although his presidency lasted just four years, Sankara has become an icon of pan-Africanism. His legacy continues to inspire movements against imperialism and colonialism across the world.
Vaccine equality: Who gets it?
By Heidi Chow, originally published by New Internationalist April 29, 2021 Access to life-saving Covid-19 vaccines should not be reserved for the rich. But that is what’s happening on a global scale today. Heidi Chow calls for technology to be shared and patents to be suspended in order to unlock vaccine production for all.
Why we are targeting AstraZeneca - Global Justice Now
By: Heidi Chow Date: 26 April 2021 Campaigns: Pharma For the past year, we have been calling on AstraZeneca and other vaccine makers to drop their patents and share the vaccine technology and know-how with the world. But, a question we are often asked is: Why are you targeting AstraZeneca?
The COVID-19 Vaccine Must Be Universally Available. Anything Less Is Immoral.
A woman wearing a protective face mask, March 2020. Photo: Nik Anderson/vperemen.com/Flickr, CC BY 2.0. There was a collective sigh of relief at the news that Pfizer’s early results show an effective COVID-19 vaccine may be on the horizon. Pfizer’s boss trumpeted the announcement by declaring: “Today is a great day for science and humanity.” A vaccine breakthrough is indeed great news but sadly it’s not for the whole of humanity – just a small fraction.
The COVID Vaccine Must Be Universally Available. Anything Less Is Immoral.
There was a collective sigh of relief at the news that Pfizer’s early results show an effective COVID-19 vaccine may be on the horizon. Pfizer’s boss trumpeted the announcement by declaring: “Today is a great day for science and humanity.” A vaccine breakthrough is indeed great news but sadly it’s not for the whole of humanity — just a small fraction.
4 reasons we should be worried about big pharma's grip over publicly funded Covid-19 vaccines
The government has committed millions of pounds into researching and developing a Covid-19 vaccine. Oxford University’s vaccine research has received much attention because of the promising results from initial trials. This vaccine project has been supported with £84 million of public money. But if it ultimately proves to be safe and effective, there are real concerns that it will not reach vulnerable groups around the world.
$2,340 for a Covid-19 treatment?
Yesterday US pharmaceutical company, Gilead announced that they will charge an extraordinary $2,340 for a five-day treatment course for the drug remdesivir, which is being used as a treatment for Covid-19. The drug has been developed with substantial amounts of public money in the US, with a reported $70.5 million of public investment. Researchers have estimated that the drug can be made for $9, including a reasonable profit.
Coronavirus has exposed the pharmaceutical industry as not fit for purpose
By Heidi Chow As the spread of coronavirus continues unabated, the response of the pharmaceutical industry is being thrust into the spotlight. For years, major public health crises have exposed the fundamental conflict between profit and public health in our pharmaceutical system.
The race is on for a coronavirus vaccine. But who will get it?
As the spread of coronavirus continues unabated, the response of the pharmaceutical industry is being thrust into the spotlight. For years, major public health crises have exposed the fundamental conflict between profit and public health in our pharmaceutical system.
Big tech companies have too much power. But Trump wants to lock it in
The leaked trade papers from meetings between the US and UK revealed how a trade deal with the US could be used to create and lock-in new rules for the digital economy. The US government is pushing an agenda to protect big tech companies like Amazon, Google and Facebook from regulation.
When Trump said climate change was off-limits, the UK didn't even put up a fight
The US has banned mention of climate change from trade talks that Trump’s administration has been holding with the UK.
A Trump trade deal could multiply the threat from 'corporate courts'
The US has insisted on the most extreme version of corporate courts in US trade talks – just like in TTIP, the EU-US trade deal we stopped in 2016. The leaked trade documents from secret meetings between the US and UK reveal that US corporations could get massive new powers to secretly sue the British government in ‘corporate courts.’ Investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS), or corporate courts, allow foreign corporations to sue governments in secret courts outside of the national legal system.
How Trump wants to force the NHS to pay more for medicines - Global Justice Now
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How Trump wants to force the NHS to pay more for medicines
Boris Johnson’s government has been adamant that drug pricing is not on the table for a trade deal with Trump. But the leaked trade papers of their secret meetings with the US exposed that this is simply not true. In fact, discussions on drug pricing have not just been taking place between the UK and US negotiators, they are very advanced.
Medicines for the Many
In the UK and across the world, patients are being denied medicines because of a system that prioritizes profits before lives. Labour announced bold policies this week to tackle the immediate crisis in medicines prices as well as transform a fundamentally broken system and re-orientate it to serve public health. For decades, “Big Pharma” has decided what medicines get produced and who gets them.
Medicines for the Many
In the UK and across the world, patients are being denied medicines because of a system that prioritises profits before lives. Labour announced bold policies this week to tackle the immediate crisis in medicines prices as well as transform a fundamentally broken system and re-orientate it to serve public health. For decades, ‘Big Pharma’ has decided what medicines get produced and who gets them.
This week in Libya we saw the full horror of Britain’s brutal migration policy
This week we saw the full horror of Britain’s brutal migration policy. 53 migrants were killed on Tuesday when a Libyan detention centre was bombed. Despite repeated warnings, the Libyan government which is recognised and supported by Britain, imprisoned these migrants close to a military base, making them a clear potential target. And it gets darker still, with reports emerging of Libyan guards opening fire on migrants who attempted to escape from the prison after the bomb had exploded.
Brexit trade delusions show why Britain needs to confront its history of empire
Edward Duncan’s painting of the East India Company iron steam ship Nemesis destroying Chinese war junks in Anson's Bay, 1843 |Credit: National Maritime Museum, London On 7 December, 2016, nearly six months after the referendum, Prime Minister Theresa May gave a speech to the Gulf Cooperation Council in Bahrain.
The UK government has blatantly chosen to side with big pharma over patients
The UK government has recklessly blocked global efforts to tackle big pharma secrecy this week in Geneva. But across the world, people are mobilising to give a strong message that it’s time governments put people over the power of big pharma. With prices of medicines skyrocketing at unsustainable levels, transparency can no longer be optional for the pharmaceutical industry.
Stop the UK blocking global efforts for affordable medicines
This week in Geneva a resolution is being voted on which could help make drugs more affordable around the world. Yet we’ve discovered that the UK government is trying to undermine the resolution at this week's World Health Assembly – and is even pushing for all references to “high prices” to be taken out. This is an outrage. High prices are a big reason why people are not getting the essential medicines they need, in the UK and around the world. Denying that they exist is not an option.
Reclaim the Power!
Fracking is just one example of how the corporate grip on power is getting stronger in the UK. Therefore the World Development Movement will be at Reclaim the Power camp in Blackpool this weekend to resist fracking and to link up with other movements against the corporate power grab. Reclaim the Power is not just about stopping fracking in the UK. It is about challenging a political system that puts corporate profits before people and the planet.
Behind the Rio games lies a calamity on an olympic scale
As the Olympics gets underway in Rio de Janeiro, Brazilians and foreigners alike will almost certainly have a great time. Despite the delays, the protests and the Zica virus (now apparently under control), there is a lot going for these Olympics: no other people in the world are as good as the Brazilians at organising spontaneous street parties; the weather is warm but not sweltering; and Rio de Janeiro is one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
Corporate courts thrown out by Europe. Now Britain must follow the lead
A landmark ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) today could mark the beginning of the end of the so-called ‘corporate court’ system within Europe. This infamous system is now to be found in hundreds of trade and investment deals. Under the guise of protecting investments in foreign countries, the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS), as it’s officially known, allows big business and super-wealthy investors to sue foreign governments for regulations they don’t like.
The Fanatical Mr Fox - 10 reasons the trade secretary is a threat to our food, the environment and democracy
Can we trust our International Trade Secretary to represent public interest? No, and here are ten reasons why not... As it stands, MPs cannot access negotiation documents, draft agreements or reject trade deals. Liam Fox’s new Trade Bill means MPs and the public will have even less power to scrutinise trade deals than they have now. Liam Fox, ‘Donald Trump’s man in cabinet’, has already met with the US president’s negotiators.
Seven flies in the ointment of the Paris climate deal euphoria
The headlines from the Paris climate talks tell an inspiring story. Agence France-Presse reported an outbreak of “euphoria” as the international climate accord was sealed. Reuters hailed a global “turn from fossil fuels.” The Guardian headlined “a major leap for mankind.” The celebratory tone is partly relief at the fact that 195 countries managed to agree to any kind of climate deal at all.
The story behind Monsanto’s malicious monopolies in India
India’s countryside has been marred with tragedy over the past twenty years with nearly 300,000 farmers committing suicide. A staggering 60,000 of these tragic deaths have taken place in the state of Maharashtra, located in India’s ‘cotton-belt.’ Many factors have contributed to this suicide epidemic including debt due to crop failures, reduced subsidies and volatility in global markets. But locals point the finger at the global seed corporation, Monsanto.
The Paris attacks make climate protests more important than ever
It will be deeply ironic if climate activists from around the world are among the first to fall foul of France's emergency powers. Of course, those campaigners have nothing to do with the brutal attacks on Paris last Friday night. On the contrary, they will challenge the unequal, unsustainable and militaristic policies on which terrorism has thrived. We've been here before.
Not just transition? Coal and a Colombian miners union
Last week, along with colleagues at London Mining Network, global union IndustriALL, Colombia Solidarity Campaign, Justice for Colombia and War on Want, we hosted Jairo Quiroz and Igor Diaz, members of Sintracarbon, the union that organises workers at the Cerrejón coal mine in Colombia. Cerrejón is owned by three multinational companies, Anglo American, BHP Billiton and Glencore which receive billions of pounds of financing from the UK financial sector.
Youth, technology and resistance: an interview with Paul Mason
At Take Back Our World, the relaunch conference of Global Justice Now, 17 year-old Tito Mogaji-Williams sat down with the journalist Paul Mason to discuss the place of young people in relation to politics in an era of globalisation and rapid technological development. This interview is cross-posted from the blog of Unite the Youth, a political youth group of which Tito is a member.
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