Civil Society Reflection Group launches report: No future without justice
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Published on Fri, 2012-06-15 20:10
by Roberto Bissio Twenty years ago, the concept of “sustainable development” was adopted at the highest level in Rio de Janeiro to simultaneously aim at preserving the planet for future generations and promoting a sound development to meet the needs of the present ones. Twenty years after, the volume of international trade has multiplied by five and the per capita world income has doubled to around ten thousand dollars a year. And yet sustainable development is far from being achieved. Increased resources has not accelerated poverty reduction and instead social inequality is on the rise in most countries, North and South, while the unsustainable production and consumption patterns have already overstepped several “planetary boundaries.” What happened was that while the UN was agreeing on an agenda of justice, social progress, gender equality and respect for nature, two decades ago, at the economic level binding bilateral or multilateral rules for trade and investment created new rights for corporations while limiting the rights of people and the ability of governments to regulate them. This faith in the capacity of unregulated markets to bring unending prosperity collapsed with the global financial crisis that started in the US in 2008 and is still shaking the world. And yet no new governance architecture has been erected or even designed to replace the failed one. This faith in the capacity of unregulated markets to bring unending prosperity collapsed with the global financial crisis that started in the US in 2008 and is still shaking the world. And yet no new governance architecture has been erected or even designed to replace the failed one. Governments have been unable to agree on ways to, for example, adequately address the threats of a new financial crisis or of climate change. Worse even, in the current negotiations towards the Rio+20 Conference, the developed countries that are largely at the origin of both these catastrophes want to delete from the book the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities.” We are all on the same boat, yes, but some jump into it with sandals and others expect it to carry their SUVs. Worried about the urgency of the situation, a group of 18 leading civil society activists and scholars from around the globe released on 5 June a joint report titled No future without justice, calling for fundamental changes to tackle the root causes of the multiple crises in the world. The Civil Society Reflection Group on Global Development Perspectives (the group’s official title) demands “to draw lessons from the environmental, social and economic crises, to look beyond conventional development concepts and goals and to rethink fundamentally the models and measures of development and social progress – in the North and the South. Rio+20 and the emerging discussions on a post-2015 development agenda provide a unique window of opportunity to reconsider the current development paradigm and to changing the course towards a holistic, rights-based development approach.” The Civil Society Reflection Group on Global Development Perspectives (the group’s official title) demands “to draw lessons from the environmental, social and economic crises, to look beyond conventional development concepts and goals and to rethink fundamentally the models and measures of development and social progress – in the North and the South. Rio+20 and the emerging discussions on a post-2015 development agenda provide a unique window of opportunity to reconsider the current development paradigm and to changing the course towards a holistic, rights-based development approach.” “New concepts like ‘green growth’ are at best attempts to treat the symptoms of the problems without tackling their root causes. Instead, fundamental changes at three levels are needed: The principles and values needed to promote those changes have already been agreed upon internationally as part of the UN Charter, the human rights system and different UN conference resolutions, such as the Millennium Declaration of 2000. What is needed now is to base on those principles the necessary fiscal and regulatory reforms. That entails a profound strengthening of democratic governance structures at national and global level that reintroduce justice notions into the functioning of the economy. The Group defines a future framework and core principles for Global Sustainability Goals (see "A Framework for Global Sustainability Goals," below). In particular, the rights of future generations, which is essentially the same as the Rights of Mother Earth, now imbedded in the constitutions of Ecuador and Bolivia, do need to be defined, promoted and protected and the Group identifies the institutional mechanisms that could do that. The principles and values needed to promote those changes have already been agreed upon internationally as part of the UN Charter, the human rights system and different UN conference resolutions, such as the Millennium Declaration of 2000. What is needed now is to base on those principles the necessary fiscal and regulatory reforms. That entails a profound strengthening of democratic governance structures at national and global level that reintroduce justice notions into the functioning of the economy. The Group defines a future framework and core principles for Global Sustainability Goals (see "A Framework for Global Sustainability Goals," below). In particular, the rights of future generations, which is essentially the same as the Rights of Mother Earth, now imbedded in the constitutions of Ecuador and Bolivia, do need to be defined, promoted and protected and the Group identifies the institutional mechanisms that could do that. In that way, the principles of justice not only provide for a reorientation of the way that societies function, but they can also reign over the patterns of production and consumption that define how humankind relates with nature and thus, with the future human generations. The full report is published in the Development Dialogue series of the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation (Development Dialogue No. 59/ June 2012) in cooperation with Social Watch, Third World Network, Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN), the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Global Policy Forum and terre des hommes. It is freely accessible at:www.dhf.uu.se. The report will be launched officially at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday, 16 June 2012, 11:30h, Room T8, RioCentro. It is also presented jointly with the first Global State of Civil Society report by CIVICUS at the Cape Town International Book Fair on 17 June. The report will be launched officially at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday, 16 June 2012, 11:30h, Room T8, RioCentro. It is also presented jointly with the first Global State of Civil Society report by CIVICUS at the Cape Town International Book Fair on 17 June. For further information see:www.reflectiongroup.org. Members of the Civil Society Reflection Group on Global Development Perspectives: Members of the Civil Society Reflection Group on Global Development Perspectives: A Framework for Global Sustainability GoalsThe following list is the preliminary result of a joint brainstorming exercise of Reflection Group members. It is work in progress and should only illustrate the thematic scope of a potential set of global goals discussed in the group, without specifying individual goals and targets. By all means, any future framework of Global Sustainability Goals (GSGs) should be adopted universally but it should simultaneously take account of the specific framework conditions of the individual countries. What we need are common goals but differentiated targets and indicators. The goals should reflect the principles of solidarity and subsidiarity. In addition, GSGs have to incorporate strong transparency and accountability mechanisms at national and global levels. Without them any set of goals remains meaningless. Furthermore, a new set of GSG indicators should measure not only access and outcome but also the maximum available resources at national and global levels to achieve the goals. This includes the calculation of extraterritorial obligations and fair and equitable burden-sharing formulas, for example with regard to the costs of climate change. Finally, a future set of GSGs should reflect the fair (re-)distribution of access rights and resources within the planetary boundaries – that is, the ecological limits of the Earth. The proposed framework for the GSGs is based, inter alia, on the core values laid out in the Millennium Declaration. The following list is the preliminary result of a joint brainstorming exercise of Reflection Group members. It is work in progress and should only illustrate the thematic scope of a potential set of global goals discussed in the group, without specifying individual goals and targets. By all means, any future framework of Global Sustainability Goals (GSGs) should be adopted universally but it should simultaneously take account of the specific framework conditions of the individual countries. What we need are common goals but differentiated targets and indicators. The goals should reflect the principles of solidarity and subsidiarity. In addition, GSGs have to incorporate strong transparency and accountability mechanisms at national and global levels. Without them any set of goals remains meaningless. Furthermore, a new set of GSG indicators should measure not only access and outcome but also the maximum available resources at national and global levels to achieve the goals. This includes the calculation of extraterritorial obligations and fair and equitable burden-sharing formulas, for example with regard to the costs of climate change. Finally, a future set of GSGs should reflect the fair (re-)distribution of access rights and resources within the planetary boundaries – that is, the ecological limits of the Earth. The proposed framework for the GSGs is based, inter alia, on the core values laid out in the Millennium Declaration. Core Goal 1 – Dignity and Human Rights for All Core Goal 1 – Dignity and Human Rights for All Core Goal 2 – Promote Equality and Justice Core Goal 3 – Respect for Nature and the Planetary Boundaries Core Goal 4: Building Peace through Disarmament Core Goal 5: Foster Fair and Resilient Financial Systems Core Goal 5: Foster Fair and Resilient Financial Systems Core Goal 6: Strengthen Democratic and Participatory Governance Core Goal 6: Strengthen Democratic and Participatory Governance Source: http://www.un-ngls.org |
