"Soon" is a relative term.
Summary
ŤGlobalization is not likely to be economically sustainable if it proceeds as it has. In fact, it could come to a sudden and catastrophic stop unless properly governed. Thus, a more effective system of global economic governance needs to be built, through an intrinsically political process, involving the adjustment of the boundaries between national sovereignty and global mechanisms.
ŤExisting mechanisms for global economic governance were designed to a large extent to respond to the global realities being faced more than 60 years ago. Since then, the world has changed beyond recognition, but the multilateral institutions for economic governance have changed little or have adapted slowly. To respond to today’s challenges, major reforms will be needed. For one thing, democratic deficits as regards voice and voting power need to be redressed in recognition of the growing weight of developing countries in the global economy. But the actual functions of the major institutions also need to be reformed. The principle of common-but-differentiated responsibilities should be a major guide throughout the reform process which is crucial for a fairer and sustainable globalization.
ŤThe food, financial and climate change crises have highlighted fundamental weaknesses which require not only a retooling of the multilateral trading regime and a deep-reaching reform of the international financial architecture, but also the closing of present gaps so as to eliminate inconsistencies in the existing mechanisms of global economic governance. This may necessitate the creation of new mechanisms for dealing with some of the deficiencies, such as specialized multilateral frameworks through which to govern international migration and labour mobility, international financial regulation and sovereign debt workouts. Most importantly, what is needed is a strong mechanism for global economic coordination which establishes coherence across all areas of global economic governance.
http://www.un.org/esa/analysis/wess/...s/chapter6.pdf
What is to be done?
The risks associated with the deeper interdependence of national economies exposed by the crisis can foster a drastic retreat from globalization. There are, however, feasible approaches to initiating more sustainable globalization processes. The previous chapters have examined various approaches to retooling the existing aid, trade and financial architectures with a view to filling such gaps and eliminating such traps in the international system as undermine development efforts. Overcoming institutional weaknesses in the key international organizations, such as IMF and the World Bank, and eliminating inequities in respect of the access to participation, particularly at the World Trade Organization, are also important. There are glaring inadequacies in the global coordination of economic decision-making, including conflicting agendas and conflicting rules in the areas of trade, aid and debt.
The previous chapters have identified a number of challenging directions for reform, including:
• Providing sufficient policy space for developing countries so as to allow them to deploy a broader range of development policies
• Reforming the technology regime, particularly in the light of the climate
change challenge, so as to ensure greater access for developing countries
• Reforming the global regime overseeing international labour flows
• Establishing and resourcing coordinated counter-cyclical mechanisms among economies
• Coordinating international financial regulation and controlling regulatory
and tax competition among countries
• Averting climate change
Retooling the rules of the game for a fair and sustainable global development is necessary, but not sufficient. Retooling is also about the players. Providing developing countries having weaker initial conditions with more of the time, resources and policy space needed for them to become full participants is to be regarded not as an act of charity or goodwill on the part of the powerful but as an imperative for realizing the shared goal of expanding international commerce. The principle of common-but-differentiated rights and obligations which are to be defined as a function of level of development will need to be applied in practice and embedded within a system of clear-cut rules.
Climate Change:
Foreword
The science has become more irrevocable than ever: Climate change is happening. The evidence is all around us. And unless we act, we will see catastrophic consequences including rising sea levels, droughts and famine, and the loss of up to a third of the world’s plant and animal species.
We need a new global agreement to tackle climate change, and this must be based on the soundest, most robust and up-to-date science available.
Through its overview of the latest definitive science, this Climate Change Science Compendium reaffirms the strong evidence outlined in the IPCC’s 4th Assessment Report that climate change is continuing apace. In fact, this report shows that climate change is accelerating at a much faster pace than was previously thought by scientists. New scientific evidence suggests important tipping points, leading to irreversible changes in major Earth Systems and ecosystems, may already have been reached or even overtaken.
Climate change, more than any other challenge facing the world today, is a planetary crisis that will require strong, focused global action.
As pressures build for an internationally agreed response, we now have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to come together and address climate change through a newly invigorated multilateralism. This will be our chance to put in place a climate change agreement that all nations can embrace – an agreement that is equitable, balanced and comprehensive.
This Climate Change Science Compendium is a wake-up call. The time for hesitation is over. We need the world to realize, once and for all, that the time to act is now and we must work together to address this monumental challenge. This is the moral challenge of our generation.
Ban Ki-moon
Secretary-General of the United Nations
United Nations Headquarters, New York
September 2009
http://www.unep.org/pdf/ccScienceCom...highres_en.pdf
While many will argue man has not caused global warming, they overlook the fact that reducing our carbon footprint benefits all. Not surprisingly many will will heed Socrates: "Enjoy yourself. It's later than you think."