Workers' Liberty

The G8 Summit of World Leaders meets in July 2005 in Scotland. A campaign has started to get the world's leaders to put Fair Trade on the summit's agenda and tackle global poverty.

A target of 1,000,000 names by June 2005 has been set. And the organisers want to highlight the following facts:

• As many as two billion people are living on less than $2 a day.

• $97 of every $100 generated by exports goes to the world's richest countries.
• Income in the poorest 5% of nations has dropped by 25% in the past 10 years. Income in the richest 5% has grown by 12%.
• World trade is estimated to be worth $10 million a minute - the world's 49 least developed countries account for only 0.4% of this. (Christian Aid).
• Developed nations make up 20% of the world's population but consume 86% of the world's goods. (UNHDR)
• The net wealth of the 10 richest billionaires is $133 billion, more than 1.5 times the total national income of the least developed countries. (UNDP).
• The cost of eradicating poverty is 1% of global income. (UNDP)

The Gr8 G8 Fair Trade Petition is organised by New Consumer: http://www.newconsumer.org. Phone: 0131 561 1780