We actively monitor our supply chains, from electronics to textiles, and require certification for many of our products.
I’ve contributed to these efforts over the past eight years, and I’m proud of what Ghent has achieved.
For those interested:
In 2019, the City of Ghent was named Europe’s Fair Trade Capital, partly because of our ethical procurement policy that puts human rights and fair trade at its core.
The City of #Ghent stands firm against authoritarianism, wherever it comes from.
Florida may have put us on a blacklist for refusing to work with companies profiting from occupation and apartheid.
We’ll wear that as a badge of honor.
De VS (onder Trump en voorgangers) en Netanyahu staan aan dezelfde kant van deze schande. Het stoppen van een genocide die je zelf mogelijk hebt gemaakt na 2 jaar onafgebroken bloedvergieten, maakt je geen vredesstichter maar een dader die op de rem trapt wanneer het bloed al tot aan de lippen staat
If you aren't angry, you're not paying attention
Trump, die militairen inzet tegen eigen mensen, eist meer geld voor militairen en krijgt bijval van een nationalistische defensieminister die in het verleden al onmenselijk beleid pushte (o.a. pleitten voor het opsluiten van kinderen en samenwerken met regimes zoals Soedan 'om migratie te beperken')
#Conscious
#eco-friendly
#sustainable
Almost half of all environmental claims made by online traders are exaggerated, false or deceptive.
When lying is allowed, honest entrepreneurs are punished.
Disappointing
"Chatgpt, schrijf een bericht waarin ik een wapenstilstand aankondig. Mijn naam is Donald. Stijl: de bomma die net sociale media heeft ontdekt"
Musk and Trump are teaching the world a valuable lesson: When two (powerful) parties fight, it doesn’t mean you have to pick a side. Sometimes both are wrong, petty and despicable in their own ways.
Comeosleden (o.a. Decathlon en Amazon): "Wij willen minder regeltjes. Je kan ons toch niet verantwoordelijk stellen voor wanpraktijken aan de andere kant van de wereld!"
Maar ook: "Wij kunnen niet concurreren met Shein, want die betalen hun werknemers niet en houden zich niet aan de regels."
"Het echte probleem is niet dat mensen tegen verandering zijn, maar dat de voorgestelde verandering vooral bepaalde economische actoren ten goede komt en niet de samenleving."
@kimclaes.bsky.social
"De Europese Commissie kiest hiermee voor een blinde grondstoffenrace boven mensenrechten en milieubescherming en legitimeert daarmee een corrupt regime dat zijn eigen bevolking negeert.”
@saramatthieu.bsky.social
3/ There isn't an easy answer to the question: "What should I buy?"
Labels and reforms exist, but on 'moving workplaces' in international waters, oversight fails.
#ModernSlavery thrives at sea, so it seems.
2/ It's often migrant workers that are trapped for months on boats, unpaid and abused. Confiscated IDs, withheld pay, beatings, no medical care. There are plenty scandals, in West Africa, Southeast Asia, the UK and the EU.
1/ A while ago I received a question on the sustainability of #fish. Often, the focus is ecological (overfishing, bycatch, ocean health...), but human rights are just as critical.
Fishing crews work under so called '3D conditions' (Dirty, Dangerous and Difficult) + adding a 4th D: Dehumanising.
#neocolonialism in practice: the U.S. pushed a false narrative about white farmers in South Africa using a photo from a Congolese massacre, twisting African tragedies to fit their political agendas.
Een veldtrip met @bartox.bsky.social en @koenvantroos.bsky.social, kan niet anders dan een interessante dag opleveren 😉
#extractivism
Just 100 corporations are behind 20% of global extractive conflicts, mostly in the global South. Nearly half of the corporations are headquartered in the global North.
They benefit from resource extraction while local communities face displacement, pollution, and violence.
#extractivism Circular in marketing, linear in practice
The global economy now recycles less than 7% of the 106 billion tonnes of materials it consumes each year, down from 9.1% in 2015
Yet politicians push for more mines (EU), new fossil fuel crackers (Antwerp), less rules for industry (EU/US)...
Deep-sea ecosystems can take centuries to recover, yet research relies heavily on mining companies for access. The industry controls both the impact and the data.
The US act of war on nature, pushing for deep-sea mining, will cause irreversible damage.
/4 On legitimizing the far right: Israel shows that normalization doesn’t tame the tiger. These movements are never satisfied, not even with genocide. Appeasement doesn’t bring stability, it invites escalation without end.
/3 What we risk losing isn’t just funding or policies, it’s the political imagination to believe cities can be moral actors. Yesterday was a reminder of what remains possible if we resist shrinking our ideals.
2/ We spoke of Ghent’s pioneering topics: fair trade, decolonization, sustainable food justice. Can these hold in an age when even moderates mirror the far-right in an efford to contain it, and instead legitimize it? Belgium, nor Ghent are are islands in this storm.
1/ Yesterday in Ghent, we sat down with the deputy mayor (@hafsahopsasa.bsky.social) and key orgs (Amnesty, Oxfam, Red Cross...) to reflect on how a world turning its back on solidarity reshapes local action. #War, #intolerance and fear creep in where trust and cooperation are retreating.
When Trump talks about Fair Trade, I laugh.
In 2015 alone, the global North appropriated 12 billion tons of raw materials, 822 million hectares of land, 21 exajoules of energy, and 188 million person-years of labor from the global South, worth $10.8 trillion in Northern prices.
Calling this #ecoterrorism isn’t hyperbole. It’s deliberate, large-scale destruction of shared environments for private gain, without global consent. This violence isn’t just ecological, it’s political.
Let's call it by its name: An act of war by the US.
Trump’s move to fast-track deep-sea mining in international waters treats the ocean floor like a blank check. No global debate, no long-term vision, just #extractivism at its rawest.
