Driving home across a cold, dark Gloucestershire hillside one evening I was chatting with a good friend of mine about a climate justice march I’d attended a week before. Then he asked the question - “But what difference does it make?”
It’s a good question. Why do we join rallies, lobby our leaders, write to companies and boycott certain brands and products, if not to make a difference? I’m not sure if I gave the perfect answer, but I was able to draw on plenty of examples of inspiring people, moving moments and real, tangible change that's happened because of the actions of Christian Aid supporters who show up and speak out.
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A movement that has achieved so much, Fairtrade is now celebrating its 30th anniversary. There was nothing like it before it existed.
It’s an ethical production label that I’m sure you’ll be familiar with. It’s now recognised by 92% of the UK population and regarded as the most trusted in the country.
There are over 5000 Fairtrade products from bananas to gold to oil – many are commonplace in supermarkets across the UK - and all of it happened because of people like you marched with receipts in hand to their local supermarkets to demand Fairtrade items be stocked on the shelves.
From teabags to flowers, Fairtrade items are now commonplace and make a real difference to the world’s farmers and their families. None of this happened in a vacuum. Fairtrade’s existence and impact are the direct result of decades of work by churches, town councils, educational bodies and politicians.
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The Jubilee Debt campaign sought to pressure powerful western countries to cancel the debt owed by governments from 52 low-income countries.
These countries were being forced to service that debt with huge interest payments, and as a result were unable to provide basic services like clean water, schools or hospitals.
And it succeeded. Because of people showed up and spoke out.
On one iconic day in 1998 over 70,000 people travelled to Birmingham for a ‘Hands Around the G8’ protest.
It was powerful and it was moving. I still feel emotional recalling how many of us stretched our arms to reach the next person in the human chain, knowing every person there mattered. Above all, it worked. It took time, but in 2005 G8 leaders committed to significant debt cancellations.
To date, thirty-six countries have had over $130 billion of debt cancelled via initiatives created by the G8 in direct response to the jubilee debt campaign.
The fight continues to this day.
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Countless individuals continue to take up the fight for climate justice, pushing for motions in churches, challenging banks to stop funding fossil fuels, calling on governments to support climate vulnerable communities.
In the face of more severe and more frequent storms, floods and droughts around the world it can be easy to forget the positive changes we’ve made.
Like, for example, the fact that only a couple of weeks ago the UK stopped producing electricity from burning coal. Yes, that actually (if quietly) happened very recently. You can read all about that over here.
Within all of these movements there are thousands of individuals doing humble but incredible things.
Margaret is a shining example of someone who just gets on with putting her faith into action and doesn’t look for praise (we had to kick her door down to convince her to make this film).
There’s very little glitz and glam to meeting in drizzly town squares, but it’s the bread and butter of campaigners the world over (ask Greta Thunberg). And it works...
Selaine Saxby, the MP mentioned in the video above, accepted Margaret’s invitation to meet with her and her church and took the petition back to the UK parliament and organised a Parliamentary debate.
Change is made by those who show up - people like Margaret, and people like you.
So, what difference does it make? Well, sometimes our actions can bring huge changes that have positive impacts for our global neighbours.
But not all campaigns, actions and movements result in change.
What’s guaranteed though is that, if we do nothing, nothing will change.
To quote Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,
The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.