A new paper released by the Earth Charter International Secretariat (ECI) addresses how the international community can make public goods that are central to sustainable development more secure and widely shared.
18 August 2011: The Earth Charter International Secretariat (ECI) has released a paper titled “Enabling a Flourishing Earth,” addressing how the international community can make public goods that are central to sustainable development more secure and widely shared. The paper is written by Klaus Bosselman, Peter Brown, Brendan Mackey.
The paper highlights that the green economy agenda is an attempt to correct market failures that create perverse outcomes for the environment and people. At the same time, it notes, sustainable development must be underpinned by an ethical framework of shared values and principles that goes beyond reliance on the economic system.
The authors suggest that the global scope of the challenges and the need for common goods require a new world organisation. Such an organization would have a trusteeship function over global public goals and common goods, by overseeing markets to ensure that they are protective of non-market common goods, and ensuring impartiality between all interests.
The paper is part of ECI’s effort to engage in the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20) process. [Publication: Rio 2012: Enabling a Flourishing Earth][ECI Plan for UNCSD]