Fairtrade Fortnight 2022

FAIRTRADE FORTNIGHT runs from 21 February to 6 March 2022

For two weeks each year at the end of February and start of March, thousands of individuals, companies and groups across the UK come together to share the stories of the people who grow our food and drinks, mine our gold and who grow the cotton in our clothes, people who are often exploited and underpaid.

Help us get the message out in SE Hants. Contact us if you’d like to join our planning meetings.

Join us on 3rd March to hear how Climate Justice and Fairtrade are linked.

Sarah Brazier, Campaigns Manager at the Fairtrade Foundation, has agreed to talk to local groups on Zoom about how the climate emergency impacts on producers in poorer countries and how we can all campaign for climate justice.

Find our more and register here

There’ll be a Fairtrade breakfast and exhibition on Fairtrade and climate justice at Portsmouth Anglican Cathedral. There will also be a display of Fairtrade products.

The breakfast will be on Sunday 27th Feb from 8.40 to 9.30 am, 10.15 to 11 am and 12pm to 1pm. Donations to the Fairtrade Foundation

There will be a Fairtrade Museum Trail at Portsmouth Museum. See if you can spot all the items in the displays that can now be purchased as Fairtrade.

See all the events taking place in Gosport They are planning a variety of activities for Gosport – from a drop-in community coffee morning at Privett park Cricket Club to materials for Schools and Churches to displays and chats to supermarket shoppers.

Fareham Fairtrade group will be having a stand and will be telling people about Fairtrade on Saturday 19^th February 9am-4pm in Fareham Shopping Centre

Fairtrade Fortnight 21/2 to 6/3

There are still many farmers and workers growing the food we eat every day who do not earn enough to feed their families, invest in their community or build resilience against health and climate shocks.

Fairtrade Fortnight is the time when the movement comes together.

Farmers, campaigners, supporters, shoppers, civil society, commercial partners and the Fairtrade Foundation work together to shine a light on the problems farmers still face, and how we can all be part of the solution by choosing Fairtrade

This year, our focus is on climate justice.

Climate justice was never going to be won or lost at one conference in Glasgow.

Our climate justice campaign will continue in 2022 to increase the pressure to turn promises into action before and during COP27 in Cairo.

Our key messages

• The failure to deliver enough progress at COP26 means we can’t wait a year for governments get serious at the next COP summit.
• Fairtrade Fortnight 2022 is our next major moment to further amplify the voices of Fairtrade producers on the frontline of the climate crisis and the important role of businesses and consumers in supporting them to build greater climate resilience through Fairtrade.
• COP26 didn’t deliver the change needed to tackle the climate crisis, but it’s not too late – together we can all act to keep 1.5 alive.
• The climate crisis is the biggest threat to the livelihoods of millions of small-scale farmers and agricultural workers in low-income countries worldwide.
• Farmers need better incomes and financial support to adapt to changing weather patterns and change their farming methods to ensure a low-carbon economy.
• Choose Fairtrade and show solidarity with those on the frontline of the climate crisis. Join us this Fairtrade Fortnight and choose to act for climate justice

What you can do

• Try new Fairtrade products.
• Share the word about Fairtrade. It’s easy to organise a coffee morning or tea party, a chocolate tasting or a cake competition.  There are plenty of posters you can order, or just talk to people.
• Join the online Choose the World you Want Festival from 21 February to 6 March. From online panels to bake-offs and coffee mornings, there’ a whole programme of events planned. https://www.fairtrade.org.uk/choose-the-world-you-want/
• Find out what’s happening around SE Hants on https://campaign.exchange/2022/01/18/fairtrade-fortnight-2022/
• Sign up for our local meeting on Fairtrade and Climate Justice on 3^rd March. We’ve invited Sarah Brazier, Campaigns Manager at the Fairtrade Foundation to start our discussion. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/climate-justice-and-fairtrade-tickets-262425159717

Other ideas for acting locally

Coffee mornings/tea parties. See Traidcraft The big Brew

Articles for church newsletters

Promoting the national Choose the World you Want Fairtrade Festival

Sharing with food groups

Sharing quiz materials

Publicising online materials for young people

Church services (maybe including some of the excellent videos you can find online)

Using social media. Selfies with FT products?

Campaigns like counting outsourced emissions, supporting the Business, Human Rights and Environment Act , challenging corporate courts. Fairtrade and Climate Justice and the Fairtrade Foundation’s call for a living wage

Since last Fairtrade Fortnight we have seen the G7 and COP26 take place. Over 33,000 campaigners joined 1.8m Fairtrade farmers and workers in backing the Be Fair With Your Climate Promise challenge to world leaders at the UN COP26 summit. But frustration came as the wealthiest nations failed to recognise the urgent need to invest in farmer expertise by delaying their promised $100bn annual funding to the most climate vulnerable countries until 2023. That isn’t good enough.

“A frustrating conclusion to a summit filled with hope.” This was the verdict of Mary Kinyua, Fairtrade’s lead COP26 delegate, and a Fairtrade flower farmer representative.

Climate justice was never going to be won or lost at one conference in Glasgow. But where the COP26 agreement fell short, we need to increase the pressure for urgent action.

CHOOSE THE WORLD YOU WANT THIS FAIRTRADE FORTNIGHT

We need to be louder than ever to make sure politicians turn their promises into action at COP27 in Cairo next year. The failure to deliver enough progress at COP26 makes it even more important that governments get serious next year. We also need businesses to support Fairtrade more than ever.

In Fortnight 2021 we heard about the determined, ambitious work of Fairtrade farmers taking on the climate crisis. The deep frustration is that politicians from the world’s wealthiest nations at COP26 failed to match that ambition and determination.

As Fairtrade farmers continue their work, we need our politicians and business leaders to work harder.

COP26 may be over, but we need to make sure climate justice remains a top priority. For politicians, for business leaders, and for all of us.

HOW CAN I GET INVOLVED IN FAIRTRADE FORTNIGHT? 

HOW DOES FAIRTRADE SUPPORT FARMERS IN THE CLIMATE CRISIS? 

Fairtrade is about social, economic and environmental justice. These are built into our standards and drive everything we do. A root cause of the inability to adapt to and mitigate climate change is poverty. More money in the hands of farmers is needed if they are to adapt and survive the climate crisis. Choosing Fairtrade fights for improvements in producers’ livelihoods with collective strength through co-ops and their bargaining power, the protection of a Minimum Price and Fairtrade Premiums. 

In 2019, Fairtrade also launched an ambitious new living incomes campaign to lead the way to a sustainable future for cocoa farmers. A living income would provide farmers with a decent standard of living – enough to cover all their cocoa farming costs and enough to cover their basic human rights, like a nutritious diet, children’s education and healthcare. Only when they have met these basic needs can they start to meet the challenges of our changing climate. 

Traidcraft Exchange are calling on us all to support the Business, Human Rights and Environment Act which would reqire companies to tackle human rights abuses in hteir supply chains. Find out more