Youth Major Group Statement on Governance, Globalization, Finance and Trade To be delivered 30 August 2002 By Linabel Segovia-Sarlat, President of the Mexican youth council of Yucatan for Sustainable Development The commitments made at Rio were a first step towards sustainability. Ten years later, we must build upon our successes and learn from our failures. Agenda 21 was a contract between governments and their people. We, the youth, feel this contract has been broken. It is the duty of this Summit to address this failure and to establish a concrete plan of action which must be fulfilled. We voice our concern that the commitments made here will be even weaker than the ones made in 1992. This is unacceptable. Our previous failures must not be an excuse to lower our expectations. We recognize that social and environmental challenges, such as the immediate threats of poverty, global warming, and desertification, are matters of global concern that cannot be dealt with solely on a national scale. We call upon our governments to look at these issues in an international context, and to prove that they are willing and able to address these vital concerns. We demand the following changes regarding global governance: 1. Overall · The current network of global institutions must evolve from the current system. We demand an efficient, cohesive system of global governance, which can fulfill a mandate for sustainable development. · We recommend the Earth Charter as a valid ethical framework for this new system of global governance, and demand respect for both cultural and biological diversity. We demand the fulfillment of all provisions within the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and that all governments ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child. · The rights of all peoples, including Indigenous Peoples to participation, self-determination and informed consent must be reaffirmed. 2. Poverty eradication · With the aim of establishing global equality, the national debts of developing countries must be cancelled and economies in transition must be financially enabled to change world economic order. · Developed countries shall implement their obligation to provide 0.7% of their GNP as official development aid, and increase the volume of aid, in order to correct regional inequities in the past. · The ecological footprint of human society must be in accordance with the carrying capacity of the planet. We demand that the consumption levels in developed countries change to reflect this. · National sovereignty in the sustainable management of natural resources and biodiversity must be recognized 3. International Environmental Agreements and Corporatate accountability · We demand adherence to the Rio principles and assessments of impact upon the environment, society, and human rights. · We demand a UN binding convention on corporate accountability to regulate the behavior of transnational corporations and to promote transparency. We recommend the creation of an international court with jurisdiction over the activities of transnational corporations. · We demand the implementation and cohesion of all existing multilateral environmental agreements, particularly those arising from the Earth Summit in 1992. The provisions of MEAs must take precedence over international trade agreements and the rulings of international financial and trade organizations. The MEAs should be enforced through a creation of a World Environment Organization to monitor the multilateral environmental agreements. · Climate change cannot be further ignored by certain developed countries. We call for the urgent entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol and the implementation of obligations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by developed countries. All countries, especially the United States and Australia, must ratify the Kyoto Protocol and exceed its emission reduction targets in accordance with the recommendations of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. · Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) present a possible unknown danger for biodiversity and human beings. All countries shall have the right to resist the import and production of GMOs. 4. Trade and Financial institutions · Global markets must be fundamentally changed in order to redress the inequities between the North and the South. An even playing field between developing and developed countries – must be ensured in all trade endeavours. Today certain developed countries preach free trade but practise close markets. Youth call for fair trade for the benefit of all countries. · We call for an end to government subsidisation of agricultural production in developed countries, particularly the United States and the European Union, that directly disadvantages the agricultural production of the farmers from developed countries. · The IMF, the World Bank, the WTO and export credit agencies have not met an ethical obligation for achieving sustainable development and eradicating poverty. The international financial organisations must be democratised and restructured to ensure participation of developing countries and must not interfere in the national sovereignty of any country. · We demand International financial institutions, certain northern governments, and multinational corporations to end economic and political intervention, and the impositions of unsustainable economic, political and cultural models in developing countries The future of society and this planet lies in youth. The Youth Caucus of the World Summit on Sustainable Development feels obliged by the failure of the current world leaders to start the planing a Johannesburg + 10. We are the future leaders and as such we feel responsible to address our discontent with WSSD negotiations and results. We demand the full implementation of Agenda 21, Chapter 25 on an international level. This includes but is not limited to democratically selected youth representation in all United Nations processes, full and informed participation in all relevant decision-making, the promotion of dialogue between youth organizations and international institutions, and financial and organizational support for youth programs, projects, networks, and organizations.