TWN: Unfulfilled commitments and promises
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Published on Fri, 2011-11-04 08:10
On its contribution to the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio2012), the Third World Network (TWN) linked the expectations that surround the conference with the “unfulfilled commitments and promises” taken on by the world leaders almost 20 years ago. “The paradigm shift from unsustainable economic growth models to sustainable development was a commitment at the highest political level but this has not taken place,” and, in fact, “the ecological crisis from resource depletion to pollution and climate change has worsened since 1992”, said this organization. Rio2012 should “focus on implementation” of previous agreements on sustainable development rather than change them, including “the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, that is based on equity and the historical responsibility of developed countries “according to TWN’s paper. TWN urged “to reaffirm” this principle and other agreed in 1992, “as the political framework for sustainable development”, and to entrust the UN the role of “primary forum for an institutional framework for sustainable development”. Rio2012 must also “revive the work of the UN on a global framework for corporate accountability”. This organization based in Malaysia also proposed the creation of a Council on Sustainable Development under the General Assembly, an “international financial architecture reform” that should include “a rigorous regulatory framework on the private financial sector” and “fair and equitable trade rules” that should take into account “the rejection by many developing countries of further liberalization that undermines sustainable development and the imbalances in the existing agreements”. TWN explained the “implementation gaps of the sustainable development agenda” on its “overshadowing […] by globalization characterized by economic liberalization”; the “weakening of multilateralism”; the “disproportionate influence of global economic institutions and their lack of public accountability, including to the UN”; and the “lack of implementation means”. A “distorted distribution of economic wealth is at the high price of a deregulated and destabilized international financial system, and a multilateral trade system that is largely characterized by rules that are not balanced, operating to the disadvantage of developing countries,” warns TWN’s proposal. “This system favours transnational corporations and a minority of the population. When financial and economic crises hit, the majority especially the poor bear vastly disproportionate impacts.” “With income inequalities sharpening in all countries, over-consumption and unsustainable consumption dominates production choices (and hence natural resources use and financial resources allocation) while the poor and marginalized are deprived of a dignified standard of living,” adds the paper. “At the same time, the ecological crisis from resource depletion to pollution and climate change has worsened since 1992. Social marginalization, and even exclusion, is on the rise despite some progress in the social dimension in several developing countries. In recent years and increasingly so, developed countries are also going through social tensions and upheavals,” noted TWN. More information Source » |
