Global Week of Action in London. Credit: Andrea Domenicioni

Planning a Global Week of Action

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Introduction

A Global Week of Action is a week when people across the world take action with a common goal, set of targets, and with shared demands, storytelling and visual identity. This document builds on the learnings from the Insure Our Future Global Week of Action. It is written based on experiences from this context, though there will be lots of relevance for those working in different contexts.

Context

In early 2024, the Insure Our Future (IOF) campaign network organised a Global Week of Action (GWA) calling on the insurance industry to end their role in driving the climate crisis through their insurance of fossil fuel projects. This highlight video shows some of the creative actions that took place.

It was the first ever global coordinated period of action against the insurance industry, and saw over 100 actions take place in 31 countries across the world from February 26th to March 3rd. 

Thousands of people took to the streets and half a million digital actions were taken to demand that the world’s biggest insurers stop insuring fossil fuels, respect human rights and help accelerate a just transition towards clean energy.  Media coverage was extensive, with over 150 media hits shining the spotlight on the role of insurers in the climate crisis. 

The GWA resulted in immediate and significant wins. Zurich, the world’s 6th biggest fossil fuel insurer and a primary target of the GWA, announced major new fossil fuel restrictions which exclude the underwriting of new oil and gas extraction and metallurgical coal projects. Other wins (so far!) are from Probitas, Tokio Marine and Chubb. 

This document builds on the learnings from the IOF GWA. It is written based on experiences from this context, though there will be lots of relevance for those working in different contexts.

If you only have a short time, check out the Key Learnings section.

What is a Global Week of Action?

A Global Week of Action is a defined period of time (in our case, a week) when people across the world take action with a common goal, set of targets, and with shared demands, storytelling and visual identity. It is similar to Global Days of Action. 

One advantage of a week of action is that it gives participants more flexibility to organise their action at a moment that fits best for them. You can also create a sense of escalation throughout the week and have more space for storytelling and spotlight fights, actions or communities.

In any case, you want to keep the pressure high on your target(s). There is likely to be autonomy on action design and implementation, but a shared common focus or goal. The actions might include physical actions such as rallies and sit-ins at a site of power of the target, and digital actions such as mass emailing and social media engagement aimed at the decision makers of the target you are aiming to move. 

A GWA acts as a focal point to escalate a campaign and build power, and is only successful when supported by strategic communications and engagement with the targets.

Why do a Global Week of Action?

Insure Our Future needed an escalation strategy to push more global insurers to move away from oil and gas, as the company climate commitments were slowing down.

The main strategic goals of the IOF GWA were to spotlight the role of the global insurance industry as a critical pillar of support for the fossil fuel industry and to create enough pressure to have the targets act on our demands.  

Our GWA aimed to  strengthen our movement’s collaboration; bring many more activists and communities into insurance campaigning for the first time; reach a broader audience outside of our echo chamber; get a much wider range of media coverage in industry and mainstream press; escalate actions and pressure on fossil fuel insurers; and secure negotiation meetings with key company targets to discuss their policies. 

Through a sharp focus and a well coordinated escalation at a global scale, we won immediate policy changes from the targets.

© Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum

Key Guiding Questions

How is it embedded in a wider strategy and campaign?

To ensure impact, your GWA needs to be linked to a wider campaign and done at a strategic moment to get the results you wish to achieve. It can have various aims, but needs to have clear steps afterwards to ensure success – as one-time hits rarely have impact other than shining a spotlight.

How extensive?

A GWA works best when there are common targets, demands and messaging that work across the world (with some variations of course). For example, global corporations with operations and offices in many countries can be more effectively pressured when they see actions happening in many locations and constituencies. 

How many targets?

It’s best to pick only a target or a limited number of targets that can be moveable and focus pressure on them to get results. 

How long?

A period of action can be called for any length of time, the most common alternatives being a Day of Action and a Month of Action. Consider if you think there will be enough actions to have multiple events/pushes happening each day.

How does this moment help you build momentum?

A GWA also works best if you not only have a strong plan for telegraphing actions and activities to targets during the time period, but also have a strong absorption plan for ongoing activity and momentum building for your campaign. Otherwise, it can be seen as a moment in time that can be disregarded, and you’ll lose momentum from across the movement, in which case you might want to organise smaller activities or something else entirely.  

How to secure wins, and what happens if you don’t get any?

It’s important to be ambitious, but also realistic with what you want to achieve to be able to secure some wins. What will be your next steps if you don’t secure a win directly?  If there aren’t next steps, does the target think the pressure has subsided, like they had hoped? Are you trying to build a movement or connect groups and activists for a specific campaign moment?

On February 27, 2024 climate activists marched down 6th Ave in Manhattan, stopping at AIG, Chubb, and Tokio Marine offices with a clear message: Insure Our Future, not fossil fuels. The demonstration comes just days after a report exposed the 35 different insurance companies supporting oil and gas projects across the U.S. Gulf South. (Photo by Erik McGregor)

Key Learnings

If you only read one section, make it this one! Our most important learnings from the Insure Our Future Global Week of Action were:

  1. Vision
    A clear vision from the beginning, including a compelling theory of change and a narrative of how the GWA fits within a wider campaign and movement.
  2. Coordination & Leadership
    Lead by inspiring and empowering people and groups to take part. Aim for a balance of coordination, autonomy and participants’ ownership.
  3. Part of a wider strategy
    Insert your GWA into a campaign pressure sequence on your target(s) and continue to pressure them until they move on your demand(s). Keep fighting until you win by setting your winning horizon and step-by-step wins, and communicate about these with the participants.
  4. Ambition
    Be ambitious with your organising. A GWA is an opportunity to try new things and to engage with entirely new audiences.
  5. Strategic date
    It’s essential to choose a good, strategic date. Trying to line it up with a meeting of the target, or during or ahead of a key moment for your target (e.g. AGM or annual results), or the anniversary of a disaster, or the start of a UN climate conference, etc. A moment that connects the tactic to the target for the media and supporters.
  6. Budget
    Calculate your main costs and ensure you have the necessary budget for a GWA. Always plan for extra if you can. Coordinating and mobilising on such a large scale takes capacity and money, and expectations should be scaled to reflect the resources you are able to commit to it. You’ll need to plan for a budget that is adapted to what you wish to achieve before saying yes to something ambitious like this.
  7. Support and grants
    Support groups/people joining you with a long lead-in time, micro-grants where possible, solid coordination, clear communication, key resources and relevant trainings, (such as communications training).
  8. Community
    Create spaces with a sense of community and solidarity; where groups taking part feel supported, connected to each other, part of a wider fight for justice, and feel empowered and energised. And that can continue after the actions are done, so the movement continues and grows, even if it’s not at the same fervour.
  9. Centring the most impacted communities in resistance
    Throughout your organising and comms output, make sure the voices of the most impacted people are heard loudest. This is the most compelling approach, as well as the just one.
  10. Take language justice seriously
    If you want global participation, plan for translation of key materials and ideally have people in the coordination team that speak multiple languages.
  11. Security
    Take security into account and ensure participants have considered the security risks in their region if they take part, as well as any resources the organising body is able to provide should support be needed (eg. legal advice).
  12. Communication is as key as organising
    Identify the audiences that need to see your global push and plan solid communication on various channels before, during and after your GWA.
  13. Have fun!
    Organising and taking part in a GWA is a rare and special experience. It leaves many movement leaders, existing and new supporters feeling very empowered to see their smaller actions add up to something big. Celebrate!

Action taken in Nigeria by Voices of the Vulnerable on 29th Feb 2024. © Voices of the Vulnerable

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