Thanks to pledgebank

This blog exists thanks to pledgebank. What's the point of writing a blog if nobody is going to read it? So I registered with http://www.pledgebank.com/brazilspblog/ saying I would write a blog on my forthcoming trip to Brazil if 20 people would promise to take a look. Thankfully that target has been hit and surpassed, so it is worth starting work. I hope you will keep reading!

This is a quick entry to kick things off. I am leaving for Brazil on 6 May to arrive on my birthday, 7 May. My wife, Sonia, has been there for a month and we missed being together for our fourth wedding anniversary so it is even more important to be there on this date.

Right now I'm splitting time between sorting out renting out our flat, packing my bags, putting things in order at work and campaigning to promote the Simultaneous Policy (SP) during the election campaign. Hectic days.

SP is a lot like pledge bank, but on a global scale. It aims to bring governments to pledge to bring in the policies that are really necessary to solve global problems when sufficient others have made the same pledge. We are at the first steps in this potentially world changing journey. Here in Cambridge our MP signed the pledge to implement the Simultaneous Policy alongside other governments in August last year. For a full list of who's signed around the country and more details see http://www.simpol.org.uk

Simultaneous implementation is intended to remove the fear governments have of losing investment and jobs by taking action to address issues such as climate change and unfair trade alone. Our MP Anne Campbell cited the problem she has had in gaining support for tax on aircraft fuel. If the UK taxes fuel Heathrow would likely lose its prominence as a transport hub to Schipol or Charles de Gaulle airports. So a good case for SP, though no reason to stop campaigning for pollution tax by other means. What it would do to the price of my ticket to Brazil is another matter. Thinking about that brings home how effective pollution taxes would be.

Adopters here in Cambridge have tried to persuade other candidates to sign the pledge, but with no takers as yet. The clock is ticking. Adopters undertake to vote for any candidate, within reason, who has signed the pledge, or to encourage their preferred party to support SP. We've also been leafleting about SP, encouraging people to go to the website to check out who has signed the pledge and judging by the traffic many are doing so. As this is being targetted as a key marginal the votes of Adopters and others who have checked the site could make all the difference.

One of the things I want to do while in Brazil is meet up with Adopters there. We've had several policy fora at Cambridge SP Adopters Group (CAMSPAG) on topics such as "Making all trade Fair Trade", "Achieving sustainable energy use", "Food security for all", "Holding corporations accountable". The titles show how SP is focused on solutions, not problems or protest, though the policy fora give space to both. But are our solutions cooked up here in Cambridge acceptable to people in Brazil? I don't know and I want to find out. I also want to know what are their priorities. We have already come across the issue of water rights, of which I'll say more later.

There are some interesting meetings in the pipeline in Brazil and who knows what surprises along the way. Now I have to haul another few boxes into the loft. Next time I'll say a little bit more about why I think it is so important that global justice campaigners in the UK look to learn from partners in other countries. Though you have to be careful or you may end up marrying one of them and have to cross the Atlantic to meet up with the in-laws.