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Blog / 13 September 2016

Global counter-power is increasing

To me, our partner organisations are a significant counterpower. Both ENDS supports them to raise their voices in policy discussions. This way I also see myself as a 'counterpower' against the current economic system.

Counterpower questions the status quo. This is important because for way too many people this status quo has adverse consequences. Moreover, our economic system is not sustainable: the thirst for profit is bigger than the availability of natural resources and the capacity of the atmosphere to absorb CO2. Also, this system leads to increasing inequality in the world.

 

Will global counterpower succeed in changing the status quo? I often ask myself this question, because generally we want to go faster than seems to be possible in practice. But when I talk to our partners and international colleagues, I note that the global counterpower is increasing, a development Both ENDS significantly contributes to.

 

A good example is an Indonesian fisherman organisation which won a lawsuit in June this year. The result was that the government had to stop reclaiming land in the Bay of Jakarta. And even if the government intends to start doing this again, the fishermen in the Bay of Jakarta will not easily resign themselves to this anymore!

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