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Introductory document of topic 2 (part 1/2)
Rob WHEELER
Tuesday, December 03, 2002 9:13 AM
This past month's discussion has been very rich in content and viewpoints.
As we go forward I am sure that this will continue. This month we are
dealing with the theme of the Architecture of Global Governance. This can be
a most broad topic; and we are hoping that we will be able to pursue a
number of specific lines of discussion that emerge in an organic process,
based on what is of interest to the participants.
Many of those that are signed up on the list have a good deal of experience
in discussing and thinking about this topic; while others may be newer to
it. Please, we want to hear from everyone and to welcome all ideas and
viewpoints. I am going to introduce the topic in general (below) and would
then ask that others contribute to whatever aspects of this that you wish in
the opening messages. You do not need to respond to anything that I have
written however; only to respond to and stick with the topic at hand. It is
time to send in your contributions and to begin the discussion now.
Coherency Within Global Governance
One of the first problems that must be solved in terms of global governance
is how to integrate financial and economic decision-making in with the other
elements of governance. Coherency is a major challenge that the nation
states are currently grappling with. In other words how do decisions in one
sphere relate to those in another? This could include such things as the
relationships between environmental protection, social well-being, and
economic and trade activities. What new structures or intergovernmental
organizations are needed to meet what needs and which already exist and only
need to be reformed?
This could include the membership and veto authority of the Security
Council; an Environmental Security Council or World Environmental
Organization; standing peacekeeping forces; a Convention on Corporate
Accountability; etc all of which are already being talked about at the
United Nations. Other ideas have been for a Global Resource Agency, which
would collect fees on the use of the global commons to pay for social
programs and global public goods; an International Sustainable Energy
Agency; Conflict Mediation Teams; and a World Citizens Court; etc.
Many believe that either the UN will have to be seriously reformed or that
new institutions of global governance must be established that have the
capacity to deal responsibly with our common global problems and agreed upon
needs. Should the WP replace the current General Assembly at the United
Nations; should it serve as a second house at the UN; or should it be
established as an independent body? If it is set up as an independent body
and organization, what should its relationship to the United Nations be?
Should the UN itself be reformed, replaced, or left as it is?
Our goal for this month's discussion is not to work on developing or
agreeing on specific proposals for global governance; but rather to consider
how we might best create a system of global governance, based on agreed
principles and values, that will meet the needs of the 21st century and all
the peoples of the world. In other words the topic for this month is more on
the relationship between various elements and institutions of global
governance, rather than on the specifics of how any one of them could be
structured or operate.
Reforming The United Nations
Many attempts have been made over the past 10, 20, 30 years or more to
reform global governance. In fact when the UN was set up fifty seven years
ago, it was accepted that even it would probably need to be strengthened and
reformed on a regular basis. The UN Charter specifically mandates that a
vote be taken ten years after the UN was established to consider holding a
charter review conference (Article 109). In addition, such a review
conference can be held at any time following a two thirds vote of the
General Assembly and including any nine members of the Security Council.
There is also a provision for passing and ratifying amendments to the
Charter, under Article 108, and a number of such changes were made in the
1960?s and early 1970?s. Unfortunately, such a review conference has never
been held.
In fact, Secretary-General Kofi Annan attempted to put UN Reform on the
agenda during the Millennium Summit process, but could not get the support
of a number of important, or rather powerful, nation states. Similarly there
have been a number of areas of transformation or modification that have been
discussed within the UN, including in the areas of peacekeeping and
intervention, security council size and membership, corporate
accountability, etc. However, change has been slow in coming or has actually
been blocked.
It is not easy to change things in this institution, where binding
agreements typically must be passed by consensus. While the UN is fairly
developed as a deliberative body; it is not really set up so as to operate
as a legislative body. For this reason and because it is not near as
effective a global decision-making body as it could be, civil society has
championed a good number of alternative structures and / or modifications
that could be made to strengthen global governance.
Initiatives For Reforming Global Governance
A global conference was recently held in Montreal, Quebec focusing on Civil
Society and the Reform of Global Governance, which a number of the WP21
e-forum participants attended. See www.fimcivilsociety.org/g02. Similarly
the Ubuntu: World Forum of Civil Society Networks is launching a World
Campaign to Reform the System of International Institutions. It includes
plans to set up a Study Commission to draft proposals for reforming the
international system; a World Panel on Global Democratic Governance; a
petition drive to convene a world conference on reforming the international
system. See www.ubuntu.upc.es for more information.
The World Federalist Congress met in its quadrennial session this past
summer in London, England and endorsed quite a number of proposals
addressing global governance, which can be read in the WP21 reference
materials or on the World Federalist Movement website at
www.wfm.org/congress/documents.html. A good number of leaders from WFM are
also participating in the WP21 e-forum.
The Commission on Global Governance published a report for the 50th
Anniversary of the United Nations in 1995, which included a whole series of
proposals primarily focusing on UN Reform. See www.cgg.ch and
www.cgg.ch/chfive.htm on UN Reform. Charter 99 has initiated a project
encouraging and requiring accountability throughout government. See
www.charter99.org.
The Assembly of the UN of the People is also held every other year in
Perugia, Italy and drafts a platform of proposals or a Declaration on Global
Governance and UN Reform. The State of the World Forum launched a Commission
on Globalisation following its Millennium Summit conference in 2000. See
www.worldforum.org.
The International Forum on Globalization has just published a new book
called Alternatives to Economic Globalization: A Better World is Possible.
It lays out 10 governing principles for new rules and institutions for the
global economy, leading to more democratic and sustainable societies. See
www.ifg.org. The IFG Committee on Alternatives has also developed a
comprehensive program and report proposing alternative systems to
corporate-led globalization. It is launching a 3 year campaign to consult
and build support for this. IFG includes programs and committees dealing
with the environmental impacts of globalization, free trade, food and
agriculture, globalization of water, global finance, and the emergence of
corporate governance. See www.ifg.org/programs.htm.
Information about the World Social Forum is also available at:
www.portoalegre2003.org. Thus you can see that there is a lot of interest in
this whole area of the architecture of global governance.
Strengthening And Democratizing Global Governance
In addition, there are a number of initiatives set up to establish new
institutions of global governance which should further strengthen and
democratize it, including an e-Parliament and e-Forum, the World Civil
Society Forum, and the Campaign for World Democracy. This last one is a
campaign to promote the creation of a World Parliament. See
http://www.worldcitizen.org/. The World Civil Society Forum grew out of
a proposal made by the Commission on Global Governance and emerged as one of
the principle initiatives from the UN Millennium NGO Forum. See
www.worldcivilsociety.org.
EarthAction Network initiated the proposal for an e-Parliament two years
ago. It will consist primarily of Members of Parliaments from around the
world that will participate in on-line discussions about global issues. A
substantial team has formed to develop the program and many parliamentarians
are endorsing or participating in the project. The e-Parliament will more
than likely serve as a means for ratifying and enacting legislation at the
national level that has been agreed to at the global level. Those
participating in the development of proposals that could be considered by a
World Parliament could also advance their proposals through the processes of
the e-Parliament. See http://www.e-parl.net/.
The Alliance Proposal Booklet On Reforming Global Governance
And then there is the Alliance's Working Group on Global Governance that
produced a Proposal Booklet on Re-modelling Global Governance for the Earth
Citizens Assembly in Lille, France this past year. The proposal booklet is
posted on the WP21 website and is available from the Charles Leopold Mayer
Foundation in French, English, and Spanish in hard copy. See
www.alliance21.org/en/proposals/summaries/global2.htm.
As the booklet mentions, there is an increasing gap between the
interdependencies that link the people of the entire world (and that bring
us together as one human family) and the legal measures designed to organize
international relationships. There is a lack of rules and cohesiveness at
the global level that results in an imbalance in access to wealth and
resources; the rapid depletion of our natural resource base; and
institutional systems that increasingly fail.
A means must be created to regulate such things as science, corporations,
financial institutions, and economic and military activities. Our current
modes of regulation and decision-making tend to favour the most powerful
actors. There has thus been an increasing consolidation of ownership and
control of the primary institutions of society, including through the media,
political parties, land and natural resources, etc.
(follows in "(2/2) Introductory document of topic 2")
WP21 Alliance Forum on a World Parliament for the 21st Century
E-mail : world-parl@forums.alliance21.org
Fax 1 717 264 5036
Information, inscriptions, désinscriptions: germa@alliance21.org
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