WEED – World Economy, Ecology and Development

WEED advocates for an ecologically sustainable, globally just, and democratic world economic order. We need a fundamental economic and social transformation to halt the impending environmental and climate catastrophe, promote global justice, and ensure respect for human rights worldwide. We focus on international financial institutions (World Bank and IMF), human rights and environmental issues in global value chains of IT and automotive industry, human rights in public procurement, tax justice, debt and the World Economic Forum. To contribute to these aims we do several things:  Research: Politically, we focus on the special responsibility of Germany, the Global North, and international corporate actors for the unjust world economic order and global environmental destruction. We research and analyze the negative impacts of the capitalist economic system on both people and the environment. Advocacy: We engage in public awareness and lobbying efforts within the societal and political sphere, conduct actions and campaigns, and bring analyses and calls for socio-ecological transformation to the public. Alliance building: In collaboration with other civil society organizations and social movements from the Global South and North, we develop reform and transformation proposals that we contribute to political processes and debates, thus driving forward change. Education: Furthermore, we design educational offerings to raise awareness among people about their political options for action.

We are convinced that the World Social Forum is a central global process to contribute to a more just world - especially in times of a highly entrenched world economy, rising authoritarianism, war, and civil society under pressure. Workshop on the World Economic Forum: We are conducting a workshop on perspectives for critique and protests against the World Economic Forum. Together with participants, we want to discuss, how an internationalisation of protests against the World Economic Forum could look like. We also want to debate how a connection between the World Social Forum and protests against the World Economic Forum should and can be reinforced. We are preparing the workshop together with the Swiss protest alliance StrikeWEF and activists who have been organising a protest march against the World Economic Forum in Davos since 2021.  Partnerships and Alliances: We are interested in new alliances to critically engage and protest against injustice produced by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank; international alliances for debt cancellation; collaborative work on workers rights and environmental in value chains of IT products and automotive industry; international tax justice; World Economic Forum.Additionally we are part of a networking of civil society in Germany on the World Social Forum and try to connect any civil society actors interested in various topics with German civil society movements, unions or NGOs. Learning: We try to learn from experiences and ideas from civil society from other contexts - regarding strategy, methods and communication. We try to carry these impulses to German speaking context, so that social movements, NGOs and unions can learn from it.