Global Perspectives – Whither G8 and G5?

First published on the Euforic Blog

The July issue of Global Perspectives sums up the results of the G8 summit in L’Aquila and looks at the future of the global governance summit architecture.

According to some authors the G8 has still a potential as a political and security forum. Nonetheless it should seek to reform the international organizations to bring them in-line with the changed global power balance. According to the German Chancellor Merkel, quoted in a contribution, the G8 should be a body for discussion, consensus building and statements while the new G20 format should make decisions.

The Joint Political Declaration of the G8 stated that the Heiligendamm Process which aimed for structured dialogue between the G8 and the G5 (Brazil, South Africa, China, India, Mexico) should be re-phrased Heiligendamm-L’Aquila Process (HAP). It should continue substantive dialogue among the major economies and provide careful reflections on long-term questions regarding the G8-G20 constellation.

Possible themes for the HAP agenda could be freedom of investment to mutual benefit; the role of innovation and technology in the process of sustainable and socio-economic development; a strategic approach to development and its social dimension; assistance to vulnerable states; food security and reform of relevant organizations; and energy.

Also in this issue an opinion article by Thalif Deen who attacks the hypocrisy of the Western nations who compare their financial efforts to fight the global financial crisis with their aid commitments in order to reach the MDG targets.

Global Perspectives is a bi-lingual (English/German) joint production by IPS Inter Press Service Europe and the Global Cooperation Council, published by Globalom Media. The monthly editions on various themes of international cooperation and development are downloadable for free.

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The Heiligendamm Process and the reform of global governance

First published on the Euforic Blog

Considering the challenges the world is facing today, including the financial, energy and climate crises, there is an urgent need for an inclusive global governance structure with a high-level body fully representing the world population.

A new discussion paper by the German Development Institute looks at the ‘Heiligendamm Process’ as the starting point for further discussions on global governance reform. Further it offers different models for a future global governance architecture.

The Heiligendamm Process, which emerged from Germany’s G8 Presidency in 2007, was an attempt to intensify dialogue with the new emerging actors, namely Mexico, China, India, South Africa and Brazil (referred to as G5). However it was seen as open process and not as a step towards enlargement, which was rejected especially by the USA and Japan.

According to the author the global economic crisis brought the enlargement-option back on the agenda:

“While this high-level dialogue [the Heiligendamm Process] was geared to an informal exchange of views and experiences as well as to confidence-building, the global financial crisis now calls for rapid action and hard-and-fast arrangements.”

The Process is seen as success in terms of trust-building. It also helped to form a confident and pro-active G5, which even came up with concrete policy proposals during the recent G20 Summit in London. After the first phase of the Heiligendamm Process participants now need to decide where this governance model should be going to.

The author proposes a new out-ward looking process which includes other global governance structures and at the same time urges the G8 to explicitly deal with the enlargement issue. This discussion should also consider the role of the G20 which proved to be effective during the recent crisis.

by Martin Behrens

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Global Perspectives on the G20: Trillions for Whom?

First published on the Euforic Blog

The cover story of the latest issue of the magazine ‘Global Perspectives‘ looks at the commitments of the London G20 summit to overcome the economic and financial crisis.

Andrew F Cooper (Waterloo University) underlines the symbolic function of the G20 meeting sending out the message that the seriousness of the financial and economic breakdown is recognized by important leaders across the North-South divide. Nonetheless he reminds us that the group is still criticized for its imbalanced composition with too many European members and only one African participant. Furthermore the new G20 questions the leading role of the G8. The next G8 summit will take place in July hosted by Italy. During this meeting also the so called G5 (China, Brazil, India, South Africa, Mexico) will meet a whole day with G8 countries. It remains to be seen which model will be more effective to solve the global policy challenges ahead.

During the G20 meeting 1.1 trillion dollars were promised to tackle the economic and financial crisis. Sanjay Suri (IPS London) doubts that this will actually help to improve the current economic situation. According to him financial stimuli provided in the US or the UK had no effect at all on market figures or for confidence building. Sanjay Suri claims that the main problem is that governments themselves lost credibility meaning that their promises are trusted no more. The Financial Times Index showed even a slightly negative reaction after more than a trillion US dollar was promised at the summit. Keeping in mind that much lower commitments during the 2005 Geneagles summit to help developing countries where not met, there can be serious doubts about the reliability of the new promises.

Furthermore in this issue a report from the Climate negotiations which took place in Bonn to prepare for the upcoming Copenhagen summit in December 2009.

Global Perspectives is a bi-lingual (English/German) joint production by IPS Inter Press Service Europe and the Global Cooperation Council, published by Globalom Media. The monthly editions on various themes of international cooperation and development are dowloadable for free.

See also the Euforic newsfeeds on IPS Europe and on the financial crisis

 

Global perspectives on global development summits

First published on the Euforic Blog

The July 2008 issue of the magazine ‘Global Perspectives‘ focuses on the recent G8 summit in Japan.

Ramesh Jaura (IPS) looks back to the 1981 Cancun Summit on international cooperation and development which brought together many state representatives from North and South. The summit provided an impulse for future discussions on agriculture, energy, raw materials, trade, development and financial policy.

During the recent G8 summit in Japan, climate was added to this list. According to Mr. Jaura, the summit was correctly criticized for not taking concrete decisions. But documents emerging from the summit, including the Interim Report on the Heiligendamm Process, give hope for more cooperative North-South relations.

In an opinion article, Thomas Hammarberg, Commissioner of Human Rights at the Council of Europe, calls for revisions to international policy on terrorism. The author stresses the importance of human rights protection and recommends a report by the Committee on the Administration of Justice which looks on lessons learned in Northern Ireland’s fight against terrorism.

Thalif Deen (IPS New York) presents new numbers on the telecommunication market in Africa. With a rise from 16 Million to 250 Million mobile phone users from 2000 to 2007, Africa has the highest growth rates of the world. Less inspiring is the number of internet users, with 4 out of 100 Africans connected, and less than 1% with broadband connections.

Also in this issue is an interview Jon Lidén (GTZ) who speaks about the future challenges for the ‘Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria’ and the new engagement of the German government , and an interview with Simon Maxwell (ODI) on European aid targets and the MDG agenda.

Global Perspectives is a bi-lingual (English/German) publication by IPS Europe. It releases monthly editions on various themes of international cooperation and development and is available for free download.

See also Euforic newsfeed on IPS Europe.

by Martin Behrens