Good news for once!

Our community is strong and powerful. And here are 5 victories from 2016 to prove it. Hey {NAME}, We can't lie...2016 has been a tough year. And while many struggles will carry over into the new year, there's still one thing that gives me hope: Our community is strong and powerful. And here are 5 victories from 2016 to prove it. --------------------------------------------------------------- 1. An Un-BEE-lievable win in France! This year, France became the first country in the world to ban neonics after a final vote by the National Assembly. The ban goes above and beyond the EU ban on neonics, prohibiting the bee-killing pesticide completely and permanently. You and more than 550,000 SumOfUs members spoke up against the French parliament and the Minister for Agriculture and rocked the vote for a biodiversity law that includes a total ban on neonics by 2020 (and some pesticides even earlier than that)! [Stand with Bees] 2. We beat OceanaGold! The Australian mining company OceanaGold had a multimillion dollar contract to build a massive gold mine in the county of Cabañas in El Salvador. The project would have depleted the last source of remaining water for the country, so the country refused to give the company mining permits. In response, OceanaGold filed a lawsuit against El Salvador for $250 million. Hundreds of thousands of us took a stand with people in El Salvador to remind OceanaGold that water is more precious than gold. And, thanks in part to the 31,000 SumOfUs members who emailed the World Bank directly about the case, in October the Bank dismissed the suit. Better yet: the mining giant has to pay compensation to the people of El Salvador to cover their court costs. [Stop OceanaGold] 3. TTIP is as good as dead. This is what happened: The US and EU were negotiating a massive trade pact that would have given corporations the power to sue countries over regulations they don’t like. When TTIP became a possibility three years ago, nobody thought people-power stood a chance against this corporate-backed trade deal. But you proved them wrong. Millions of you took action online and offline and protested together against the corporate deal. Our members signed petitions, lobbied the European Commission, and spoke truth to our politicians. And now, the infamous trade pact is fading away, with even the Vice-Chancellor of Germany calling the deal a failed one. [Stop the TTIP] 4. We're holding Facebook to account. Just before Korryn Gaines, a 23-year old black woman, was shot to death by police in the United States, Facebook removed her online footage of the deadly encounter at the request of local police. So many of you around the world told Mark Zuckerberg that if he wants to be seen as a champion for human rights, the company needs to come clean about how it collaborates with law enforcement. And now, Facebook is moving in our direction. We have met with the company several times in response and are pushing to make sure Facebook is transparent and held accountable to the public. [Keep Facebook accountable] 5. We stopped SeaWorld from keeping orcas in captivity! We did it! California signed the “Blackfish Bill” into law, banning SeaWorld and other corporations from imprisoning orcas for profit. This was only possible because you made your voice heard. We took your 1.7 million signatures to the California legislature. The petition was cited by the bill sponsor and got massive media attention. The relentless pressure worked and now SeaWorld has officially closed its orca breeding program. And the new California law is icing on the cake. [Seaworld Stop breeding orcas] [email][Will you share these wins with your friends on Facebook?] --------------------------------------------------------------- In the year that saw some things move backwards, these moments remind me of why I joined SumOfUs in the first place. Our movement gives me hope. Because when we act together, our global community of millions is powerful enough to bring even the biggest corporations to their knees. Thank you for standing with us even when times get tough. We can’t wait to make our voices even louder next year. Cheers to more winning in 2017! Carys, Reem and the rest of the SumOfUs team [P.S. These victories wouldn’t be possible without members like you chipping in. Will you please donate whatever you can afford to to get wins that matter to you in 2017? Every little bit counts.] --------------------------------------------------------------- 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 or become a SumOfUs core member with a regular monthly donation. [Set up a monthly donation] [Chip in $3 instead] This email was sent to {EMAIL}. | [Unsubscribe]