Campaign for Peoples Goals for Sustainable Development
PAUL QUINTDS IBDN International
UN Summit for the adoption of the post-201S
development agenda
Interactive dialogue 3
Fostering sustainable economic growth and transformation and
promoting sustainable consumption and production
26 September 2015
Thank you Co-chairs and world leaders.
I speak today in behalf IBON International and organizations behind the Campaign for Peoples Goals for Sustainable Development.
Fifteen years ago, at the dawn of the new millennium, in these same halls, world leaders pledged to spare no effort to free our peoples from the scourge of war, to free humanity from extreme poverty, to spare our children and grandchildren from the threat of living on a planet irredeemably spoilt by human activities, to respect fully and uphold human rights for all.
Today we live in a world where our governments are burning millions of dollars every hour on war and weaponry while cutting spending on basic life saving services; where global elites and their corporations are allowed to siphon away billions every year from developing countries in unpaid taxes, through unfair trade rules and oppressive debts; where
giant corporations wield ever greater powers to set the rules while peoples rights are everyday cast aside and eroded; and where governments are persistent in propping up industries that despoil the planet while feeble in tackling the causes and consequences of the ecological crises that now threaten all life as we know it.
Forgive us then if many of us welcome this new declaration with less enthusiasm than is hoped for by the corporate marketing experts hired and licensed by the UN. But do not mistake our cautionary stance for cynicism and despair. No one wants to transform the world more than the millions of people who are not simply left behind but pushed back. Pushed back by what Pope Francis describes as "this system which tends to devour everything that stands in the way of increased profits."
So if we are to truly transform our world, we can begin by transforming this economic system.
First, we need to democratize the ownership of resources and economic gains not just through progressive taxation and expanding public spending on public goods and essential services but also by progressively expanding the share of the economy under public, cooperative, and solidarity-based forms of ownership and management.
Second, by democratizing decision-making in the economy through participatory social planning and cooperation; decentralization based on principle of subsidiarity; and workplace democracy.
Third} we need to reorient the economy towards promoting the wellbeing of the people and the planet instead of growth in profits. This means ensuring that economic actors and their activities are bound by human rights norms and principles; by adopting an ecosystems framework for social planning; and by fostering the values and culture of caring and solidarity for people and nature.
We need not wait for another 15 years for another reckoning. The time for transformation must begin now.
Thank you.
UN Summit for the adoption of the post-201S
development agenda
Interactive dialogue 3
Fostering sustainable economic growth and transformation and
promoting sustainable consumption and production
26 September 2015
Thank you Co-chairs and world leaders.
I speak today in behalf IBON International and organizations behind the Campaign for Peoples Goals for Sustainable Development.
Fifteen years ago, at the dawn of the new millennium, in these same halls, world leaders pledged to spare no effort to free our peoples from the scourge of war, to free humanity from extreme poverty, to spare our children and grandchildren from the threat of living on a planet irredeemably spoilt by human activities, to respect fully and uphold human rights for all.
Today we live in a world where our governments are burning millions of dollars every hour on war and weaponry while cutting spending on basic life saving services; where global elites and their corporations are allowed to siphon away billions every year from developing countries in unpaid taxes, through unfair trade rules and oppressive debts; where
giant corporations wield ever greater powers to set the rules while peoples rights are everyday cast aside and eroded; and where governments are persistent in propping up industries that despoil the planet while feeble in tackling the causes and consequences of the ecological crises that now threaten all life as we know it.
Forgive us then if many of us welcome this new declaration with less enthusiasm than is hoped for by the corporate marketing experts hired and licensed by the UN. But do not mistake our cautionary stance for cynicism and despair. No one wants to transform the world more than the millions of people who are not simply left behind but pushed back. Pushed back by what Pope Francis describes as "this system which tends to devour everything that stands in the way of increased profits."
So if we are to truly transform our world, we can begin by transforming this economic system.
First, we need to democratize the ownership of resources and economic gains not just through progressive taxation and expanding public spending on public goods and essential services but also by progressively expanding the share of the economy under public, cooperative, and solidarity-based forms of ownership and management.
Second, by democratizing decision-making in the economy through participatory social planning and cooperation; decentralization based on principle of subsidiarity; and workplace democracy.
Third} we need to reorient the economy towards promoting the wellbeing of the people and the planet instead of growth in profits. This means ensuring that economic actors and their activities are bound by human rights norms and principles; by adopting an ecosystems framework for social planning; and by fostering the values and culture of caring and solidarity for people and nature.
We need not wait for another 15 years for another reckoning. The time for transformation must begin now.
Thank you.