All over the internet, you’ll find campaigns looking for your support. Some ask for donations, and others ask to sign their petition or pledge. There are multiple ways to get actively involved in matters you find important, but there is no doubt that leaving your name or signature is the quickest and easiest way to support a cause. It’s just one action in the ‘bag of tools’ of an activist, but it’s an important and effective one.
Signing petitions is a powerful way to advocate for political change. We can create significant momentum by joining forces and combining our individual efforts. With petitions, causes can pressure decision-makers, influencing them to reconsider their positions or take action in response to public sentiment. Additionally, they can raise awareness about important issues, contribute to civic engagement and democracy, mobilize movements for social change, and hold individuals or institutions accountable for their actions. While signing a petition alone may not guarantee immediate results, it is essential to making a meaningful impact and creating positive change.
For European citizens, one important tool allows participation in shaping EU policies, but not many people know about it. The ECI – the European Citizens’ Initiative – is a unique instrument enabling citizens to call directly on the European Commission to propose legislation in an area of EU competence. EU citizens can support ongoing campaigns or start an initiative of their own. And if the campaign successfully collects 1 million signatures or more, the European Commission must consider legislation.
With that in mind, we want to raise awareness of three campaigns that need your support today. One started as an ECI and is now a fully international campaign, and the other two are busy collecting votes for their initiatives. Let’s check out #StopEcocide, #GoodClothesFairPay and #DignityInEurope!
#StopEcocide
End Ecocide on Earth is a global grassroots movement that advocates for the recognition of ecocide as a crime under international law. Ecocide refers to the extensive damage, destruction, or loss of ecosystems and their biodiversity caused by human activities.
What started out as a European Citizens’ Initiative in 2012 has evolved into a fully international campaign focussed on the recognition and addition of ecocide as the fifth Crime Against Peace in the Rome Statute. This would place Ecocide alongside Genocide, War Crimes, Crimes of Aggression, and Crimes against Humanity, emphasizing the severity of environmental destruction as a crime that requires legal accountability.
In March 2023, the EU parliament agreed to include ecocide as a crime in the revised Environmental Crime Directive (the Draft Directive), which is a historic step towards the recognition of a European crime, but also towards an international crime of ecocide. A great step, but not a reality yet.
Criminalising ecocide is an urgent and necessary step towards achieving climate justice. It holds individuals and entities accountable, protects our ecosystems, and upholds the well-being of our planet’s current and future inhabitants.
Here are three ways you can help the campaign:
- Sign the international petition and support making ecocide and international crime.
By Stop Ecocide: stopecocide.earth/become - Sign the European petition to let the EU parliament know we want ecocide in the new Environmental Crime Directive.
By We Move Europe: act.wemove.eu/campaigns/oil-spill-deforestation - Let’s encourage EU ministers to pass the new Environmental Crime Directive.
By AVAAZ: secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/eu_directive_live_comments
#GoodClothesFairPay
Good Clothes Fair Pay is a European Citizens’ Initiative that calls on the European Commission to introduce legislation requiring that brands and retailers in the garment and textile industry conduct specific due diligence in their supply chain to ensure workers are paid living wages. If successful, this legislation would be the first EU-wide living wage law focused on garment workers globally.
Currently, most textile and garment workers experience exploitative working conditions and receive inadequate wages that can’t even fulfil their basic needs. The COVID-19 pandemic has not made it easier; it has worsened wage insecurity, leaving workers without a safety net and struggling to afford essentials like food, healthcare, and housing. By paying fair wages, we can uplift workers from poverty, preserve dignity, advance gender equality, encourage sustainable development, endorse ethical practices, boost local economies, and foster a fairer global trade system.
We can help garment and textile workers by calling on the European Commission to introduce the right due diligence legislation. Here is how:
- Read all about the campaign at: GoodClothesFairPay.eu
- Let the European Commission know we need fair wages for garment workers by signing the petition at: www.goodclothesfairpay.eu/sign
- Not from the EU? Share the campaign far and wide to tell the world we must make this international legislation!
#DignityInEurope
The treatment of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in the EU often violates the principle of human dignity due to inadequate rules and a lack of solidarity among member states. At the same time, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights emphasizes the inviolability of human dignity and the need to respect and protect it. According to the charter, every individual has the right to essential rights such as healthcare, social assistance, housing, education, and employment – this also applies to all migrants.
While the European Commission desires to improve the dysfunctional asylum and migration system, there is still a need for various legislative and policy changes at both EU and national levels to guarantee the respectful treatment of all migrants. Through the Dignity In Europe European Citizens’ Initiative, citizens can call on the EU to provide dignified reception upon entry, aligning with fundamental rights stated in the EU Charter and international law.
The initiative calls for a new mechanism for distributing asylum seekers throughout the EU and adopting binding reception standards in member states for food, health, housing, education, and employment, ensuring dignified and comparable living conditions for asylum seekers.
We can help migrants, refugees and asylum seekers by calling on the European Commission to provide a dignified reception and living conditions. This is how:
- Read all about the new ICE campaign at: dignity-in-europe.com
- Let the European Commission know everyone deserves a dignified reception and living conditions by signing the petition at: eci.ec.europa.eu/030/public
- Not from the EU? Share the campaign far and wide to tell the world that migrants, refugees and asylum seekers deserve dignity in Europe.


