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Roundtable
5:
International
Institutions and Organisations
(revised
January 24, 2002) |
Introduction
(in
french)
Just
as the nineteenth century mechanisms of national
governance were inadequate for the challenges
of the post-war era, so today’s institutions
of international governance are inadequate for
the challenges of the 21st century. International
organizations, which have been created to promote
the global public good, face the difficult challenge
of reconciling their Members States’ diverse
national priorities with the overarching goals
of global sustainability imperatives. The Carlsson
Commission on Global Governance asserts that effective
global governance systems must necessarily be
guided by a new set of global ethics in order
to guarantee global peace, security and sustainable
development.The central objective of this Roundtable
is to address the role of ethical norms in strengthening
the democracy and accountability of global governance
systems and as well, in ensuring their effectiveness
in promoting sustainable development imperatives.
Session
One: The Ethics-Related Obstacles and Challenges
to Achieving Sustainable Development
- Just
as the nineteenth century mechanisms of national
governance were inadequate for the challenges
of the pre-war era, so today's institutions
of international governance are inadequate
for the new challenge of the 21st
century. What are specific examples of democratic
and ethics deficits in global governance systems?
-
It is suggested that an effective global governance
system guided by a global ethic, as proposed
in the Carlsson Commission on Global Governance,
is the only way to guarantee global peace
and security. What are the factors that have
impeded the expression of a global ethic to
underlie global governance systems?
-
The world is rapidly becoming "one"
and just as quickly, citizens of the world
are becoming global neighbours as a result
of advances in science and technology. What
are the new ethical challenges that will be
imposed on global governance systems as a
result of these developments?
Session
Two: The Role of Ethical Principles and Values
in Promoting Sustainable Development
- The
redesign of global governance in the new millennium
requires a common core of values, standards
and attitudes. The core values of respect
for life, liberty, justice, equality tolerance,
mutual respect and integrity underlie the
Charter of the United Nations and the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. How can these
core values be used to guide the redesign
of global governance?
-
Recent efforts in global governance reform
have been grounded in concepts and principles
of economic efficiency and competition. How
to ensure that global governance systems are
reoriented to ensure human development, social
protection and human well-being as the end,
with open markets and economic growth as the
means?
-
Multilateral agreements and regimes hold only
national governments accountable. National
governance holds all actors (State and non-State)
accountable within national borders, but is
being overtaken by the rising importance of
supra-national global actors (TNCs) and international
institutions. What are the fundamental standards
and norms needed to set limits and define
responsibilities for all actors?
-
What are some of the guiding principles, norms
and standards of national governance systems
that should be replicated at the international
level to ensure more robust systems of global
governance?
-
Which goals and commitments of the global
conferences of the 1990s should be integrated
into the framework of ethical norms to underlie
reformed and strengthened global governance
systems?
-
Maurice Strong asserts that the Earth Charter
has the potential to be ranked as a third
pillar for the Third Millennium (the others
being the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights). Do you feel that the Earth
Charter sets out the right balance of moral
and ethical principles needed to guide the
behaviour of people and nations towards the
promotion of sustainable development?
Session
Three: Policy Recommendations for Action and Implementation
- The
Secretary-General's report on the Implementation
of Agenda 21 sets out a number of recommendations
for building a stronger and more coherent
system of international governance for sustainable
development. These include inter alia:
(i) Promotion of integrated approaches to
economic, social and environmental aspects
of sustainable development in policy formulation
and decision-making at the global level;
(ii) Promotion of greater coherence in the
work of intergovernmental bodies;
(iii) Fostering of partnerships at all levels,
including governments, international institutions
and other stakeholders;
(iv) Promote greater policy coordination among
the functional commissions of ECOSOC dealing
with different aspects of sustainable development.
Are there additional recommendations that
should be included in the above package as
set out in the Secretary-General's report?
How should these recommendations be elaborated
upon beyond the general points highlighted
in the Secretary-General's report?
- The
Secretary-General's report recommendations
on strengthening global governance focus almost
entirely on strengthening the structural foundations
of global governance systems without focusing
on the underlying principles that must be
promoted to ensure the reform of global governance
systems that are more inclusive, participatory,
accountable and transparent. What are the
concrete institutional reform measures needed
to remedy the current inequities and imbalances
in the structures of global governance and
how should they be integrated with the reform
recommendations as currently set out in the
above-noted SG report on Implementation of
Agenda 21?
- It
has been suggested in numerous global governance
reform initiatives that several new institutions
of global governance needed for the 21st
century. These include: (a) a stronger and
more coherent United Nations to provide a
forum for global leadership with equity and
human concerns; (b) a global central bank
(to take on global macro-economic management
and supervision of international banking);
world environment agency; (c) world investment
trust with redistributive functions (to recycle
international surpluses to developing countries);
(d) two-chamber General Assembly to allow
for civil society representation; (e) global
human security fund; (f) economic security
council; (g) world anti-monopoly authority
(to monitor TNC activities).
Do you agree with these proposals? IF so,
how should these proposals be framed more
concretely for Johannesburg and what are the
specific ethics dimensions that should be
integrated into their design blueprints?
Session
Four: Political Strategies for Monterrey, Johannesburg
and Beyond:
- What
are the strategies needed to secure political
support for reform efforts for "global
governance with a human face"?
- What
are the strategies needed to secure political
support for stronger global institutions to
check and balance the power of Northern governments
and TNCs and to redress the marginalisation
and exclusion of many Southern governments?
- What
are the political strategies needed to engage
the support of key governments in strengthening
the democracy and accountability of global
governance systems?
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