WUNRN
Rio + 20 United Nations Conference
on Sustainable Development
DAWN - Development Alternatives for
a New Era
APPEAL
TO RESTORE HUMAN RIGHTS OVER CORPORATE INTERESTS IN DEVELOPMENT FOR EQUALITY,
INTERGENERATIONAL JUSTICE, GENDER
Appeal formulated by the members of the Reflection Group on Global Development
Perspectives:
The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development - Rio 2012,
must change the dominant mindset by:
Restoring public rights over corporate privileges after thirty years of
strengthening the power of investors and big corporations through deregulation,
trade and financial liberalization, tax cuts and exemptions, and weakening the
role of the state; and after the market-driven financial meltdown.
The principles and values of the Rio Declaration and the UN
Millennium Declaration, adopted by heads of states and governments, are
threatened and urgently need to be re-established. They include Human Rights,
Freedom, Equality, Solidarity, Diversity, Respect for Nature, and Common but
Differentiated Responsibilities. Corporate interests do not uphold these
principles and values.
Taking equity seriously after thirty years of policies that
further widened the gap between rich and poor and have exacerbated inequities
and inequalities, not least regarding access to resources.
Unbridled market forces have favored the strong, thereby
widening the economic divide. This requires the state to redress the imbalance,
eliminate discrimination, and ensure sustainable livelihoods, decent work and
social inclusion. Intergenerational justice requires restraint and
responsibility of the present generation. It is urgent to establish more
equitable per capita rights towards the global commons and to the emission of
greenhouse gases, taking fully into account historical responsibility.
Rescuing nature after more than sixty years of global
warming, loss of biodiversity, desertification, depletion of marine life and of
forests, a spiraling water crisis and many other ecological catastrophes.
The environmental crisis is hitting the poor much more than
the affluent. Knowledge-intensive solutions including technologies are
available to restore natural systems, and dramatically reduce pressures on
climate and the environment while improving human well-being. A “green economy”
is attainable but must be embedded in a holistic concept of sustainability.
What we need is a change of lifestyles.
The Rio 1992 Summit adopted legally-binding instruments and
embraced Civil Society. The Johannesburg Summit 2002 celebrated partnerships
relying on a self-regulated Private Sector. The Rio 2012 Summit must re-affirm
the State as the indispensable actor setting the legal frame, enforcing
standards of equity and human rights, and fostering long-term ecological
thinking, based on democratic legitimacy.
This appeal was formulated by the following members of the
Reflection Group on Global Development Perspectives: Albert Recknagel, terre
des hommes Germany; Alejandro Chanona, National Autonomous University of
México; Barbara Adams, Global Policy Forum; Beryl d'Almeida, Abandoned Babies
Committee Zimbabwe; Chee Yoke Ling, Third World Network; Ernst Ulrich von
Weizsäcker, International Resource Panel; Filomeno Sta. Ana III, Action for
Economic Reform; George Chira, terre des hommes India; Gigi Francisco,
Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era; Henning Melber, Dag
Hammarskjöld Foundation; Hubert Schillinger, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung; Jens
Martens, Global Policy Forum Europe; Jorge Ishizawa, Proyecto Andino de
Tecnologias Campesinas; Roberto Bissio, Social Watch; Vicky Tauli-Corpuz,
Tebtebba Foundation; Yao Graham, Third World Network Africa