MOVE TOWARDS A WORLD ENVIRONMENTAL ORGANISATION
Debating the Jo'burg Memo
Date: September 2
Time: 18h30-19h00 (theatre) and 19h00-20h00
(debate)
Venue: Boell Forum at the Global People's Forum +
[ where is it ]
With Chee Yoke Ling, Third World Network;
NN, UNEP; Pekka Haavisto, European Federation of Green Parties,
Memorandum Author*
"At present, environmental
governance is weak, fragmented and generally ineffective. Admittedly,
the rather chaotic, bottom-up process which has so far characterized
environmental governance tends to be flexible and less controllable
by a superior authority, but time might now be ripe to develop clearer
structures that would deepen commitment, focus efforts, and enjoy
parity with both UN and Bretton Wood institutions. Only a balance
between a plurality of institutions will guarantee a balance between
a plurality of objectives, be they social, environmental or economic
ones. No system of checks and balances can be installed unless organizations
like the ILO, the WHO, and the WTO are joined by an environmental
organization of equal standing." (The Jo'burg
Memo, pp. 65).
There has been a lot of talk about the reform of Global Sustainable
Development Governance in the run-up to the summit. The Jo'burg
Memo advocates a bolder step: the creation of a World Environment
Organization. In our last Memo debate, we will discuss this controversial
proposal with our eminent guests. Chee Yoke Ling is a legal
advisor to Third World Network, an international research and advocacy
organization with its secretariat in Penang, Malaysia. Pekka
Haavisto is currently chairing UNEP's Afghanistan Task Force
and Co-chairman of the European Greens. He was Minister of the Environment
and Development Cooperation in Finland 1995-99.
The debate starts at 19h00. It will be preceded from 18h15 to
18h45 by "Fair Wealth?", a theatre play inspired
by the Jo'burg Memo, by the Sibikwa
Community Theatre Group.
*tbc
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