CCMJ is a corporate member of ECCR. I am about to renew our annual subscription at £30.
Here below is the Executive Director’s report – full of fine ‘palliative’ work within the dying western system. On all that work, it is to be congratulated and generously supported.
But in terms of human society at large and our UK public policy for creating a genuine, ‘curative’ and integrated political-economy serving people and planet over the flowing generations, it does not also tackle the root faults of contemporary models of economy and governance. Our old dilemma of persuading people of BOTH/AND; the need to pursue both immediate ‘palliatives’ and radical long-term ‘curatives’ surfaces here again.
It would be good to hear from you of any ways in which we could influence ECCR through our membership. At the very least, please acknowledge your hearing and understanding of, and any local responses to, this issue.
I will shortly send you comments on the new edition of the quarterly journal ‘LAND AND LIBERTY’ which has a number of bold articles on aspects of a curative political-economy – vital and fundamental thinking about land, rent, money, interest and blinkered exponential growth. All matters that will only change if a ‘critical mass ‘[ ? a community of people in the Christian ethos] acts together to define and act upon a bold curative proposal.
Also shortly, I will report the launch the new website of the proposal for change ‘using the system, to become the system, to change the system, to recover trust’ , known as the Independent Constitutionalists UK [ICUK]
Watch this space! Yours, Peter <peterchallen@gmail.com>
THE ECCR REPORT
2016 has been a busy year for the ECCR team – Sabrina Groschel, our Ethical Money Churches Project Officer (EMCPO) in the South West, Abi Nicholls, our newly appointed EMCPO in the West Midlands, Mary Frazer who looks after our finance & administration and me.
Our activities in 2016 have included:
· Development of our Ethical Money Churches project in the South West led by Sabrina –where we have worked with 33 churches and 5 ecumenical groups, running workshops and speaking at lectures, events and community gatherings. In total, we estimate that we have reached about 2,500 people directly and many more indirectly and we have already seen a number of impacts on congregations and their wider communities during the initial stages of the project. The congregations have developed ethical investment criteria, set up finance committees, hosted community events and discussed topics which they would not normally feel comfortable talking about;
· In response to the launch of our report “Forced Labour, Human Trafficking & The FTSE 100” produced in partnership with USPG, Finance Against Trafficking and Rathbone Greenbank – congregations in the South West have been working together and engaging with a local company about its modern day slavery statement. Others are seeking ways to examine care homes about their use and treatment of migrant labour.
· Following the award of a grant from the Barrow Cadbury Trust to take the EMC project to Birmingham and the Black Country, we appointed Abi Nicholls in August and have established a working group with the Churches and Industry Group for Birmingham and Solihull and the Black Country Urban Industrial Mission. We will be working with a number of churches in 2017 and also the Methodist Tax Justice Network.
· In Nigeria our partner Shareholder Alliance for Corporate Accountability (SACA) continued to work to bring understanding and insight into the strengths and weaknesses of Shell’s Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMoU) process through selected community case studies. We held a round-table with Father Kevin of SACA to raise awareness of the issues and to inform and gain support to engage further with Shell in Nigeria.
· We participated with others in the ‘Aiming for A’ shareholder special resolutions for Anglo American, Glencore and Rio Tinto which directed the companies to additional annual reporting in relation to the management of the companies’ carbon footprint and responsiveness to climate change issues. The resolutions intend to be ‘supportive but stretching’ for companies covering five different areas of climate change-related strategy, including reducing operational emissions, maintaining a portfolio of assets resilient to future energy scenarios, and supporting low-carbon energy research and development.
· Working with the London Mining Network and SACA we submitted a paper to the Ethical Investment Advisory Group (EIAG) of the Church of England National Investing Bodies which is developing an ethical investment policy for the extractive industries. We also joined others in writing to Bernd Lange, Chair of the International Trade Committee of the European Parliament about ensuring good corporate practice in the mining and extractives sector and companies sourcing from conflict areas.
· We launched a new ECCR website in December which we hope you will find to be more ‘user friendly’ and be easier to navigate. Our ‘Your Faith Your Finance’ website, which is a joint venture with Quaker Peace & Social Witness, continues to be a valuable reference tool and was well used during the year.
In 2017, we look forward to building on our work programme in the following ways:
· Continuing our development of the EMC project – helping individuals and groups to determine how they can use their financial, human and capital assets in new ways to address the social problems of the day;
· Taking our work on modern day slavery to more members and churches;
· Working in partnership with one of our corporate members to increase advocacy activities in the mining sector;
· Publishing our monthly e-Newsletter giving news from the Churches and other sources in the areas of economic justice, human rights and environmental sustainability. We will also be providing a monthly ‘call to action’ for our members on specific issues.
· Following a core grant from the Friends Provident Foundation developing the ECCR secretariat team to bring much needed additional capacity in communications. fundraising and membership development. Further details can be found at: http://www.eccr.org.uk/work-for-us/
This requires additional funding over and above our current budget. Your subscription is very important to us – attached is our 2016/17 membership invoice for £30, which I trust you will find in order. Should you be able to make an additional donation in support of our work, it would be a great help and highly appreciated!
In the meantime, should you have any questions or wish to discuss any aspects of our plans and activities, please do not hesitate to contact me.
With very best wishes for 2017 from us all at ECCR.
John Arnold, Executive Director • www.eccr.co.uk
