Civil Society Reflection Group launches report: No future without justice

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.”

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: 

• Changes in the mindset, the guiding concepts and indicators of development and progress. 

• Changes in fiscal and regulatory policies at national, regional and international levels in order to effectively overcome social inequalities and the degradation of nature and to strengthen sustainable economies. 

• Changes in institutions and governance mechanisms at national, regional and international levels.”

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: 

Alejandro Chanona Burguete (UNAM, Mexico), Barbara Adams (Global Policy Forum Europe, USA), Beryl d'Almeida (ABC, Zimbabwe), Chee Yoke Ling (Third World Network, China), Danuta Sacher (terre des hommes, Germany), Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker (International Resource Panel, Germany), Filomeno Santa Ana III (Action for Economic Reform, Philippines), George Chira (terre des hommes, India), Josefa 'Gigi' Francisco (Development Alternatives with Women for the New Era, Philippines), Henning Melber (Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation, Sweden), Hubert Schillinger (Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Germany), Jorge Ishizawa (PRATEC, Peru), Dasho Karma Ura (Centre for Bhutan Studies, Bhutan), Roberto Bissio (Social Watch, Uruguay), Victoria Tauli-Corpuz (Tebtebba Foundation, Philippines), Yao Graham (Third World Network Africa, Ghana), Jens Martens (Coordinator, Global Policy Forum Europe, Germany), Wolfgang Obenland (Assistant Coordinator, Global Policy Forum Europe, Germany).

Members of the Civil Society Reflection Group on Global Development Perspectives: 

Alejandro Chanona Burguete (UNAM, Mexico), Barbara Adams (Global Policy Forum Europe, USA), Beryl d'Almeida (ABC, Zimbabwe), Chee Yoke Ling (Third World Network, China), Danuta Sacher (terre des hommes, Germany), Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker (International Resource Panel, Germany), Filomeno Santa Ana III (Action for Economic Reform, Philippines), George Chira (terre des hommes, India), Josefa 'Gigi' Francisco (Development Alternatives with Women for the New Era, Philippines), Henning Melber (Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation, Sweden), Hubert Schillinger (Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Germany), Jorge Ishizawa (PRATEC, Peru), Dasho Karma Ura (Centre for Bhutan Studies, Bhutan), Roberto Bissio (Social Watch, Uruguay), Victoria Tauli-Corpuz (Tebtebba Foundation, Philippines), Yao Graham (Third World Network Africa, Ghana), Jens Martens (Coordinator, Global Policy Forum Europe, Germany), Wolfgang Obenland (Assistant Coordinator, Global Policy Forum Europe, Germany).

A Framework for Global Sustainability Goals

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.

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 



Targets on:

›› Poverty eradication 

›› Full employment 

›› Decent work 

›› Social security

›› Food security 

›› Water/sanitation 

›› Housing 

›› Health, including reproductive health 

›› Education 

›› Cultural diversity 

›› Fundamental freedoms (movement, religion, thought, speech, information, association, sexual orientation) 

›› Anti-discrimination laws

Core Goal 1 – Dignity and Human Rights for All 



Targets on:

›› Poverty eradication 

›› Full employment 

›› Decent work 

›› Social security

›› Food security 

›› Water/sanitation 

›› Housing 

›› Health, including reproductive health 

›› Education 

›› Cultural diversity 

›› Fundamental freedoms (movement, religion, thought, speech, information, association, sexual orientation) 

›› Anti-discrimination laws

Core Goal 2 – Promote Equality and Justice



Targets on:

›› Gender equality and equity, and women’s empowerment 

›› Income and wealth (Gini coefficient or similar measure)

Core Goal 3 – Respect for Nature and the Planetary Boundaries



Targets on:

›› Ecological footprint 

›› Climate change/per capita greenhouse gas emissions 

›› Rate of biodiversity loss 

›› Nitrogen input to the biosphere

›› Global freshwater use 

›› Change in land use 

›› Ocean acidification 

›› Interference with the global phosphorous cycle 

›› Ozone depletion 

›› Chemical pollution 

›› Deforestation 

›› Renewable energy 

›› Energy consumption 

›› Resource/energy efficiency (Factor Five) 

›› Total resource accounting

Core Goal 4: Building Peace through Disarmament



Targets on:

›› Abolition of nuclear weapons 

›› Reduction of production and trade of arms (including small weapons) 

›› Reduction of military expenditures

Core Goal 5: Foster Fair and Resilient Financial Systems



Targets on:

›› Macroeconomic imbalances 

›› Global currency mechanism to prevent volatile fluctuations and competitive devaluations 

›› Illicit financial flows 

›› Transparency of financial flows 

›› Debt sustainability 

›› Environmentally and socially harmful subsidies 

›› Harmful tax competition 

›› Total economic valuation of Foreign Direct Investment and TNC activities 

›› Participatory and gender budgets

Core Goal 5: Foster Fair and Resilient Financial Systems



Targets on:

›› Macroeconomic imbalances 

›› Global currency mechanism to prevent volatile fluctuations and competitive devaluations 

›› Illicit financial flows 

›› Transparency of financial flows 

›› Debt sustainability 

›› Environmentally and socially harmful subsidies 

›› Harmful tax competition 

›› Total economic valuation of Foreign Direct Investment and TNC activities 

›› Participatory and gender budgets

Core Goal 6: Strengthen Democratic and Participatory Governance



Targets on:

›› Access to participation in decision-making for all (at all levels) 

›› Access to complaint mechanisms (ombudsmechanisms) for all in case of rights violations or violations of rights of future generations at all levels of governance. 

›› Full citizen rights for residents and eradication of discriminatory practices against immigrants, migrants, refugees and asylum seekers 

›› Citizen empowerment

Core Goal 6: Strengthen Democratic and Participatory Governance



Targets on:

›› Access to participation in decision-making for all (at all levels) 

›› Access to complaint mechanisms (ombudsmechanisms) for all in case of rights violations or violations of rights of future generations at all levels of governance. 

›› Full citizen rights for residents and eradication of discriminatory practices against immigrants, migrants, refugees and asylum seekers 

›› Citizen empowerment

Source: http://www.un-ngls.org


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