29 mins - James Quilligan (2007)

Convention on the Global Commons: Seeking International Economic Consensus

An unprecedented move to create global consensus on reforming the international economy was announced at an August press conference in San Francisco. James B. Quilligan, managing director of the Centre for Global Negotiations, detailed steps toward worldwide participation in the creation of a global action plan, called ‘Convention on the Global Commons’.

Organizers plan to launch a multi-stakeholder consultation process in 2008-2009. This will involve an interactive website – www.global-commons.org – enabling the global public to contribute to a plan that proposes ways of reforming the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund – even the United Nations – to more effectively address world poverty and the global environmental crisis.

Members of thousands of civil society organizations are expected to add their voices to the final product, along with members of business and government, the scientific and religious communities and the media. Organizers expect the plan to be ratified at a major conference of international representatives in early 2010. The Convention on the Global Commons will then be executed through coordinated worldwide activities, in accordance with agreed upon implementation and communication strategies.

The Global Marshall Plan Initiative, a consortium of civic groups in Europe, will serve as Secretariat of the Convention on the Global Commons. The Centre for Global Negotiations, based in the United States and Canada, will assist in providing technical support. Many other international organizations are also involved in the project. One aim of the Convention on the Global Commons is to create a tax on international transactions that will fund sustainable development.

Another aim is to reform the rules and institutions of the international economy so that developing countries can share more equally in the benefits of globalization. The central concern of the initiative is to create a more just and sustainable economic system by curbing the adverse aspects of globalization that arise from the unregulated activities of market forces. By joining together an engaged partnership for sustainable development with an equitable multilateral policy framework, the Convention on the Global Commons is also expected to overcome conflicts in international political relations that occur through bilateral government policies.