To Overcome the Global Crisis

 

(Towards Sustainable Development Policy and ECONOMY)

 

 

Presentation on anti-crisis conclusions

by Sustainable Development Information Society Forum – Poland

 

 

To UN and G20 Leaders

 

The world is confronted by crisis; its dimension is global, its character is inexperienced. This crisis is the result of obsoleteness of social-Darwinist rules of politics and global economic order. They have very high ecosocial costs and they are shortsighted.

Today we can choose one out of three different ways and different responses to present challenges:

 

o      The first way leads finally to global military confrontation and war for access to deficit resources and clean environment.

o      The second way would be the "soft" continuation of social-Darwinist, “zero growth”[1] social relations, by global Orwellian totalitarian order.

o      The third way means the “three pillars” sustainable development of the world society. For this end we have to integrate social development with economic development and environment protection, and base the policy on the world society common interest axiology principle. This third way means ecohumanistic transformation[2] as partnership-based co-operation for the  common good of all people (rich and poor, highly developed societies and underdeveloped countries), cooperation which protects natural environment, supported by science and high technology, including information culture[3].

 

The essence of the third way’s transformation includes creation of the new sustainable development economy, with possibility to account complex costs and effects - with social and environmental components. It would allow stimulating creative (cognitive and innovative) activity, directed on common good/common interest, guided by ecosocial justice.

In our opinion only the third way - oriented towards sustainable development of the world society - is reasonable. As the only realistic way of reversing present trends and avoiding the global catastrophe.

We noticed with hope some new proposals of European politicians, presenting new ideas which could  lead us to sustainable development era. We support Angela Merkel protest against continuation of “zero growth” policy[4];  also Nicolas Sarkozy’s call for creation of entrepreneurial capitalism[5] is very important. It was later amplified by Angela Merkel call for sustainable economic activity and - for this end - creation of the United Nations Economic Council[6]. These recommendations are complementary with Gordon Brown’s proposal to create global early warning system[7].

We call for a creative, productive, ecosocially useful capitalism - i.e. ecosocial market economy. For this end we need world comprehensive information system for sustainable development policy and economy[8]. Thus, global warning system building – as Gordon Brown proposed - ought to be only the first stage of creation of information bases for sustainable development policy and economy[9]. We need quite new economy – with complex accounting of costs and benefits, that includes social and environmental aspects in its components. Such new economy combines access to wealth with ecosocial usefulness of economic activity, especially cognitive and innovative one, directed on common good.

Future political and economic actions of the United Nations and whole UN system, must  be supported by the World Sustainable Development Strategy Center and the United Nations Information Center[10].

Global early warnings and other relevant information, that are necessary for implementation of sustainable development economy, ought to be collected by and elaborated in the UN Information Center or under its guidance. On the basis of these warnings and its forecast, the Strategy Center would prepare the recommendations for UN Economic Council and other partners responsible for implementation of development strategy, including all member states and international financial institutions.

 

To support our proposals, we would like to remind some important statements from the past:

 

o      “information is the key to (sustainability) transformation. When information flows are changed, any system will behave differently”[11].

o      “in the new world of infinite information resources, one country's creation of wealth based on information can be shared by all. The value of information increases, the more it is shared”[12].

 

Unbiased and reliable information is the key issue and precondition to triumph over global crisis. Since - without creation of new, sustainable development economy that is conditioned upon world sustainable development information system including global warning possibility - we are condemned to a global catastrophe.

 

Without an effective information system, the introduction and implementation of any anti-crisis proposal will not be achieved. These include implementation or introduction of:

 

o  Millennium Development Goals,

o  "Three pillars" of sustainable development of the world society,

o  New patterns of production and consumption,

o  Fair globalization,

o  Sustained economic growth.

 

Two important world anti-crisis events will be held in the 2009 year: G20 World Summit (London, April 2nd) and UN General Assembly. We strongly recommend inclusion of the following proposals into agenda of both events:

 

[1]        Creation of the UN Economic Council, together with the World Sustainable Development Strategy Center, including United Nations Information Center.

[2]        Introducing THE WORLD INFORMATION SYSTEM FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT POLICY AND ECONOMY, including GLOBAL EARLY WARNING, as the new UN Program.

           

It is impossible to overthrow speculative capitalism - the main source of current global crisis - without accepting these proposals.

 

 

 

Contact: Leslaw Michnowski, kte@psl.org.pl , www.psl.org.pl/kte

 

 

 

 

 


[1] Forrester, Jay. W., 1995, Counterintuitive Behavior of Social Systems, fig. 8  -

http://sysdyn.clexchange.org/sdep/Roadmaps/RM1/D-4468-2.pdf .

[2] Michnowski, L., Ecohumanism as a Developmental Crossing, [in:] Sri Sadguru Sainathaya Namah, Transformative Pathways Attainable Utopias, (editor: Sangeeta Sharma), Jaipur, India, 2008.

Michnowski, L., Eco-Humanism and Popular System Dynamics as Preconditions for Sustainable Development, The Vol. 3, No. 11, November 2007 issue of the Solidarity, Sustainability, and Non-Violence (SSNV) Research Newsletter, editor Luis Guterriez –

http://pelicanweb.org/solisustv03n11michnowski.html .

[3] Compare: (…) the world faces not a preordained future, but a choice. The choice is between different mental models, which lead logically to different scenarios. One mental model says that this world for all practical purposes has no limits. Choosing that mental model will encourage extractive business as usual and take the human economy even farther beyond the limits. The result will be collapse.

Another mental model says that the limits are real and close, and that there is not enough time, and that people cannot be moderate or responsible or compassionate. At least not in time. That model is self-fulfilling. If the world's people choose to believe it, they will be proven right. The result will be collapse.

A third mental model says that the limits are real and close and in some cases below our current levels of throughput. But there is just enough time, with no time to waste. There is just enough energy enough material, enough money, enough environmental resilience, and enough human virtue to bring about a planned reduction in the ecological footprint of humankind: a sustainability revolution to a much better world for the vast majority. (…) Tools for the Transition to Sustainability (…) Visioning (…) Networking (…) Truth-Telling (…) Learning (…) Loving (…). See: Meadows, Donella H.. Randers, Jørgen., Meadows, Dennis L.,  Limits to Growth, The 30-Year Update, Chelsea Green Publishing Company, Vermount, 2004.

[4] (…) zero growth can and will not be the answer. Rather, the answer is greater innovation, particu­larly in environmental technologies. Zero growth would ultimately result in the preservation of the status quo, an absolutely unacceptable idea for emerging economies and developing countries. See: Merkel, Angela, Speech in the name of UE and G8 Presidency, WEF Davos 2007.

[5] Sarkozy said the aim of the international conference would be to construct "the foundation of an entrepreneurial capitalism instead of a speculative capitalism. We want to build the beginning of new financial world as they did in Bretton Woods.".

See: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3690651,00.html .

[6] To overcome the global crisis A. Merkel propose: (…) social market economy (…) international financial architecture (…) capable of shouldering global responsibility (…) an open global economy (…) international coordination (…) the sustainable use of natural resources (…) the global fight against poverty (…) a charter for sustainable economic governance. (…) a world economic council at the United Nations (…).See: Angela Merkel, Speech, WEF Davos 2009.

[7] (…) reform of our international financial institutions and the creation of an international early warning system. See: Gordon Brown, The special relationship is going global, “Times on Line”, March 1, 2009.

Compare:

Union must work with its international partners on (…) reform of the international financial system (…) to avoid conflicts of interest and to create an early warning system (…). See:

http://www.consilium.europa.eu/ueDocs/cms_Data/docs/pressData/en/ec/103441.pdf ..

[9] It ought to be world GRID information system, see inter alia:

Utsumi, Takeshi, Globally Collaborative Environmental Peace Gaming (A Personal Recollection on Its Inception and Development), GLObal Systems Analysis and Simulation Association in the U.S.A. (GLOSAS/USA), [in:] Global Peace Through The Global University System 2003 Ed. by T. Varis, T. Utsumi, and W. R. Klemm University of Tampere, Hameenlinna, Finland 2003 -

http://tinyurl.com/k2c7a

Utsumi, Takeshi, Global University System for Global Peace, The Global Systems Analysis and Simulation Association in the U.S.A., Inc, 2006 - http://www.friends-partners.org/GLOSAS,.

Sjursen, Harold P., Utsumi, Takeshi, Quantitative Policy Analysis of Global Socio-Economic-Energy-Environment Development (GSEEED) Project
http://tinyurl.com/3k2fk9 .

See also: http://www.psl.org.pl/kte/artlm.htm .

[10] Recommendations of amendment (for WSIS documents) proposed by

POLISH COUNCIL FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, see:

http://www.itu.int/wsis/docs/pcip/misc/polish_council.pdf .

[11] Meadows et. al., Limits to Growth, The 30 -Year Update, 2004.

[12] Utsumi, Yoshio, Secretary General of International Telecommunication Union Statement, WSIS, Tunis 2005 –

http://www.itu.int/wsis/tunis/statements/docs/io-itu-opening/1.html .