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Roundtable
4:
Parliamentarians
and Elected Officials
(revised
January 24, 2002) |
Introduction
(in
french)
The
new generation of global survival issues, combined
with the forces of economic globalization present
a wide range of challenges to national governments.
As a matter of high priority, national governments
must address the fundamental values and ethical
principles that are needed to underpin national
political, legal and institutional frameworks.
It is argued that unless public policy is grounded
in a new system of values, national governments
will continue to make choices that will continue
to impede the transition to sustainable development.Most
countries in the world play host to a wide diversity
of cultures, and while every culture, race, community
has their own ethical principles, value systems,
and their own religious backgrounds, there are
certain universal principles which can serve as
a unifying force in the development of a truly
global community. The central objective of the
Parliamentarians and Elected Officials Roundtable
is to assess why most national political, legal
and institutional frameworks are not properly
grounded in value systems or perhaps value systems
that are inimical to sustainable development and
to examine the role of ethics in promoting sustainable
development at the national level.
Session
One: The Ethics-Related Obstacles and Challenges
to Achieving Sustainable Development
- 1.
What are the new impacts, risks and threats
posed by economic globalization to national
governments ? More specifically, what are
the particular ethics challenges faced by
governments in their efforts to make globalization
work for sustainable development?
-
Maurice Strong asserts that fundamental challenges
for national governments include articulating
the fundamental values and ethical principles
to underpin national political, legal and
institutional frameworks. Strong maintains
that unless public policy is grounded in a
new system of values, "we will be working
in an anarchistic system where the strong
will always prevail and will not be subject
to any real constraint or discipline or societal
responsibility." What are the key challenges
faced by national governments in forging new
value systems? Please provide examples that
illustrate Strong's assertion regarding the
consequences of national decision-making systems
that are not grounded in new value systems
of global responsibility, equity, human rights
and fairness
-
Without strong national governance, neither
the opportunities nor the threats of globalization
can be effectively managed for human development.
What are the specific challenges to strengthening
national governance systems?
Session
Two: The Role of Ethical Principles and Norms
in Promoting Sustainable Development
- What
is the role of ethical norms and values in
ensuring the promotion of societies that are
grounded in: (i) attitudes of universal respect
for human dignity; (ii) protection of the
most vulnerable people in societies and promotion
of the realization of their human rights;
(iii) principles of economic, ecological and
social justice to ensure that all members
of society can enjoy a decent quality of life;
(iv) principles of environmental stewardship?
- Maurice
Strong asserts that while it is true that
every people "have their own ethical
principles, their own value systems, and their
own religious traditions, there are certain
universal principles which we must all embrace
for our common good to enable us to survive."
From the perspective of parliamentarians and
national government representatives, what
are the specific universal principles that
should more prominently underlie national
decision-making frameworks and should guide
democracy-building efforts at the national
level?
-
More specifically, what are the new environmental
and social ethical norms that are needed to
guide the efforts of national governments
in their attempts to capture global opportunities
in trade, finance and employment and to ensure
that they translate these opportunities into
enhanced human development?
-
To attract foreign direct investment, the
traditional macro-economic package calls for
liberalizing capital, providing incentives,
formulating conducive industrial policies,
etc. However, the traditional approach does
not necessarily ensure political, social or
environmental stability. What are the ethical
norms that should guide national governments
in creating domestic policy and regulatory
frameworks that will not only attract foreign
direct investment, but will ensure that private
capital flows are directed towards human development?
Session
Three: Policy Recommendations for Action and
Implementation
-
The Secretary-General's report on the Implementation
of Agenda 21 highlights a very wide range
of recommendations geared towards the roles
and responsibilities of national governments
in the promotion of sustainable development.
These include:
(i) Integration of sustainable development
goals into national policy frameworks;
(ii) Removal of perverse economic subsidies;
(iii) Achievement of four-fold increases in
resource efficiency;
(iv) Universal access to basic human needs;
(v) Implementation of national strategies
to ensure protection of key environmental
resources;
(vi) Provision of incentives to the private
sector to increase the flow of foreign capital
to developing countries
and economies in transition;
(vii) Promotion of more integrated approaches
to economic, social and environmental aspects
of sustainable development in policy formulation
and decision-making at the national levels;
(viii) Cross-sectoral and participatory, multi-stakeholder
approaches to the formulation of national
strategies and plans for 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? In particular,
what are the ethics dimensions that should
be highlighted within the above-note recommendations?
-
What are the concrete measures that national
governments must develop to make globalization
work for human development and to protect
their populations against the vulnerabilities
and inequities that globalization creates?
How should these measures be replicated in
the Global Deal to be agreed at Johannesburg?
-
What are the concrete measures that national
governments must develop to generate pro-poor
growth that reduces inequalities and enhances
human development (i.e. remove anti-poor biases
in the macro-economic framework; restructure
public expenditures and taxation; ensure access
to productive resources, etc.)
Session
Four: Political Strategies for Johannesburg and
Beyond:
- What
are the new alliances that must be forged
in order to promote national-level pro-poor
growth strategies at Johannesburg?
-
What are the political strategies needed to
better engage national governments in addressing
the fundamental factors underlying implementation
failure of Agenda 21 and other key international
instruments and in forging greater political
will to realize sustainable development goals?
-
What are the strategies needed to ensure the
development of good governance norms, which
integrate the fundamental ethical norms and
principles as enshrined in the Earth Charter?
-
What are the strategies needed to engage political
support of national governments in favour
of the development of an enforceable international
framework to govern the operations of TNCs?
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