John,

This has been one of the most devastating and isolating years in recent
history, but in the midst of it all, you came together and created
incredible hope and change. 

You gave a mother fighting to save other children from the painful death
her daughter suffered at the hands of Monsanto’s Roundup poison, the
resources she needs to continue her brave battle. 

[1]Group of mothers in a field holding a sign calling for action on
glyphosate poisoning.

Sofia and a group of mothers in her community who have suffered due to
glyphosate poisoning are taking their case to court to ban glyphosate once
and for all.

You forced banks and insurers in Canada, France and the UK to transform
from being climate killers to becoming allies in the climate fight. 

You helped an Amazon indigenous community protect their land from
government destruction. 

You pushed Delta Air Lines, a major corporate donor, to withdraw support
for racist, divisive politicians in Georgia. 

You protected the privacy of people everywhere from tech startup
Clubhouse, helped kick Trump off Twitter, and exploded into the national
conversation on disinformation and Big Tech regulation in the US. 

[2]News articles in the New York Times, BBC and other outlets featuring
images of a SumOfUs stunt where photos of tech CEOS like Mark Zuckerberg
were superimposed on the bodies of the participants in the capitol
insurrection.

Headlines from our disinformation action outside the US Capitol Building.

All in the last four months!

And that’s not all. Scroll below to check out everything we’ve done
together, just in 2021. If this is what we can achieve in the midst of the
worst pandemic in a century, imagine what we can do together in the years
to come!

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Saving the bees in Germany

Thanks to the determination of SumOfUs members, we helped to collect more
than 70,000 signatures for a referendum that led to a landmark state law
protecting bee habitat and regulating pesticide use everywhere! It’s an
incredible model that will serve as a benchmark for all of Germany, and
immediately protect the essential bee habitat of Brandenburg. 

And it only happened after a long and difficult citizen’s initiative
process, a massive coalition mobilisation and months-long negotiations
with parliamentarians. And the governing coalition has committed to
passing the law as soon as it’s entered into Parliament! 

[3]A young child wearing a read coat clutching a soft toy bee stands in
front or protestors holding signs that calling for action to save the bees

A young bee defender joins a protest calling on German lawmakers to
protect the bees. Picture credit: Joerg Farys

Charting protected land in the Amazon

When Bolsonaro came to power in Brazil, mining activities in indigenous
territories rose by 91% in 2019. And the Tupinambás are on the front
lines, trying to defend their land from invaders and corporate permits. 

To make their home officially recognized and protected as Terra Indigena
by authorities, they were told they needed to go through a difficult and
expensive charting process, one they couldn’t afford to complete on their
own. 

But our community swiftly came together and raised the money necessary to
help buy all the needed equipment, organize the charting process and
collect data. And the community was able to start this important process
to save their home land. 

Cacique Brás - a Tupinambás representative, wrote to us to say:

“I am grateful for the help to the Tupinambá people. The work we [the
Tupinambá] can do thanks to your support will reflect on other Indigenous
Peoples and it will make the Tupinambá and their territory monitoring
references in the fight for Indigenous People’s rights and helping other
peoples fight for their rights”
 

[4]A group of Tupinambá community members kneeling and standing for a
group photo in the forest all raising their right fists in solidarity

Members of the Tupinambá community taking part in their territory
demarcation.

Turning Lloyd’s of London into a climate leader in insurance

Tens of thousands of SumOfUs members in the UK signed a call for major
insurance group, Lloyd’s of London to adopt clear climate targets,
breaking their cozy relationship with dirty coal investments.

[ [link removed] ]Check out the video!

Then the call was delivered with a bold, eye-catching full-page ad in a
major insurance publication and a series of in-person actions near the
Lloyd’s headquarters. 

Just weeks later, Lloyd’s announced their first ever climate policy!
Thanks to our community, this behemoth in fossil fuel financing is on the
road to divestment, stopping millions in new fossil fuel projects. 

 

[6]Full page ad paid for by SumOfUs members shows the Lloyds Chairman's
face covered by a cut out quote from David Attenbrough which reads the
future of humanity and indeed all life on earth now depends on us. Under
that a message reads 40,000 people call on you to ban fossil fuels from
the Lloyds market

The full page ad SumOfUs members paid for in a major insurance publication
calling out Lloyd's Chairman Bruce Carnegie-Brown.

Forcing the Bank of England to protect our planet

After 60,000 signed a call for the Bank of England to adopt climate as a
key consideration in policy and investments -- setting the stage for the
entire banking sector to make a similar shift -- the UK government ordered
the head of the bank to protect the planet as an official part of their
job! 

The petition was delivered in an incredible four page full color ad in the
Exchequer’s local newspaper, ensuring that he and all his neighbors saw
the campaign. And it worked, helping to win a historic shift in the policy
of the UK’s central bank! 

[7]A newspaper laid out on a table showing the four page ad delivering
SumOfUs members' petition in the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer's local
paper

The four page ad delivering SumOfUs members' petition in the UK Chancellor
of the Exchequer's local paper.

This is just part of a larger push to make central banks go green, and use
their power as regulators to green the entire financial sector. 

Protecting our Privacy from WhatsApp and Clubhouse

After over 450,000 SumOfUs members called for Big Tech to protect our
privacy and stop stealing our data to fuel manipulation and
disinformation, the team filed two landmark claims with regulators. 

Clubhouse, a new app exploding in popularity, was illegally downloading
contact information and personal data from all users. SumOfUs sprang into
action and delivered a thousands-strong petition by filing an emergency
complaint with a French regulator. An official investigation was launched
and Clubhouse ended its worst data privacy busting practices!

At the same time, WhatsApp was pursuing a new policy to take all of our
personal details and hand them over to Facebook to fuel their
hyper-targeted and manipulative advertising program -- in flagrant
violation of many national privacy laws. We filed an official complaint
with Brazil’s regulator, and built a massive media moment around it,
forcing the government to act! Once Brazil bans the data transfer, we’ll
take our call to other regulators around the world, including states in
the US with similar privacy protections.

Building opposition to arms sales to Yemen  

After a petition in France garnered massive support, SumOfUs members
launched a powerful swarm of phone calls to strategic MP targets calling
on them to create a commission on France’s arms trade into Yemen -- arms
that are used to kill civilians. 

The pressure worked so well that the whip MP in charge of foreign affairs
called staff and begged us to stop the phone calls -- we agreed, but only
after she rapidly created the commission and launched the investigation. 

The report was released and it clearly demanded parliamentary control over
arms sales -- a win that could give the people of France a direct say in
whether their government should be selling arms to violent forces in
Yemen.

Reforming Uber  

Tens of thousands of us signed petitions and sent messages to help turn
Uber, the famous ride-sharing app, into a green and sustainable employer.
In a coalition of groups from across Europe, we pushed Uber to adopt a 50%
electric vehicle target by 2025! Setting a standard for ride-sharing
everywhere.

And, after four years of member campaigning and a landmark legal case,
Uber has finally agreed to respect basic workers rights for drivers! That
means they get basic protections and benefits, across the UK. And it gives
huge momentum for the fight for worker’s rights everywhere! 

[8]Group of Uber drivers and SumOfUs campaigners stand in front of a
printed copy of 100,000 petition signatures

Over 100,000 petition signatures are delivered to Uber in partnership with
GMB Union calling for Uber to protect the safety of passengers and
drivers.

Calling for Big Tech reform in the US, UK and EU  

It started in January when 70,000 SumOfUs members helped lead the push to
pressure Twitter to ban Trump. This included taking our message right to
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey's doorstep!

From there, the movement for Big Tech reform started to gain momentum
everywhere. We took our call to regulators: filing a complaint in France
against Clubhouse for illegally taking our private data and contact list;
filing a complaint in Brazil against Facebook for illegally passing taking
our WhatsApp data; and using both of these to pressure the US to act as
well.

Now we’re gearing up to support major legislation in the UK and Europe
that will serve as the gold standard for BigTech reform everywhere: making
sure we are protected from data extraction, surveillance and manipulation.

[9]News headline about Trumps twitter ban. Reads: Here's what led to
Twitter permanently removing Trump's account

[10]Image from a news article showing the boat SumOfUs members hired to
station outside Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey's bayside home with a large banner
saying Twitter: Ban Trump

----

And all of that is just what we are winning this year!

There is an unimaginable amount of essential work for our community, but
we are responding to the needs of those around us, building community and
coalitions and working to address injustice everywhere.

Together, there’s no limit to what we can achieve.



With so much hope and gratitude for all you have done,
Emma and the rest of the SumOfUs team


 

 

SumOfUs is a worldwide movement of people like you, working together to hold corporations accountable for their actions and forge a new, sustainable path for our global economy.

Please help keep SumOfUs strong by chipping in $3. [link removed]