by Simon
•Simon is a young Bahamian with things on his mind
who wishes to remain anonymous. His column 'Front Porch' is published
every Tuesday in the Nassau Guardian. He can be reached at
frontporchguardian@gmail.com.
The G20, which actually has more than 20 standing participants, is a mix of individual countries, regional groupings, international organizations and the European Union.
Its rapid “evolution” is a harbinger of things to come and a swan-song for an old world order -- on life support.
Growing out of the G8, the new club is becoming economically, politically and culturally more diverse. Yet, as it evolves, its principles, structures and decisions must be agreed by a broader international consensus and greater transparency.
Not only did Europe already have six national seats at the G20 table, partially to soothe various European rivalries and jealousies, it also landed chairs for fraternal twins, namely, the European Commission and the European Council.
Forget the G2 of China and the US. In London, Europe boasted its own G8. Additionally, let’s not forget three other Europeans at the table: the chiefs of the IMF, the WTO and the Financial Stability Forum.
In the interest of fairness, a representative of the OECD should also have been a principal. Then again, why should that organization waste money on travel expenses when its policy agenda already sat prominently on a conference table around which its de facto representatives sat in overwhelming numbers.
As the G20 expands, it is essential to ask: “Who’s missing from the table, amidst the promises of accountability, shared responsibility, and in the words of British PM Gordon Brown: global economic rules based on common values?”
Since Mr. Brown made this moral argument at a revered London cathedral, and will presumably press his concerns during the G20’s summit later this year in New York, set to coincide with the opening of the UN General Assembly, it might be useful to recall the moral advice he received by Pope Benedict XVI and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon in the run-up to London.
FRAMEWORK
Pope Benedict pressed: “The London Summit, just like the one in Washington in 2008, for practical and pressing reasons is limited to the convocation of those States who represent 90% of the world’s gross production and 80% of world trade. In this framework, sub-Saharan Africa is represented by just one State and some regional organizations.
“This situation must prompt a profound reflection among the Summit participants, since those whose voice has least force in the political scene are precisely the ones who suffer most from the harmful effects of a crisis for which they do not bear responsibility. Furthermore, in the long run, it is they who have the most potential to contribute to the progress of everyone.
“It is necessary, therefore, to turn to the multilateral mechanisms and structures which form part of the United Nations and its associated organizations, in order to hear the voices of all countries and to ensure that measures and steps taken at G20 meetings are supported by all.”
The G20 public relations programme, in an effort to demonstrate how representative it is becoming, also boasted that the gathering represented 90% of global GNP and 80% of world trade. If Europe wants to play by those statistical games and rules it should have reduced its seats at the table and handed them over to the US and China in order to better represent each country’s share of global GNP.
HYPOCRITICAL
Moreover, those percentages represent the world as it is rigged, not what it needs to become and might become if the global economic order were freer of the hypocritical and often self-serving protectionist trade policies on goods and services still promoted by key members of the G20, WTO et al.
Perhaps Benedict XVI might invoke a master parable prior to the next G20 summit: The developing world does not want the crumbs from the table, often represented by rigged and unfair trading regimes and aid programmes which appear generous, but are often mostly in the self-interest of donors.
It wants to share fairly from the banquet table of the world’s resources, in light of the fact that without its supply of an extensive variety of these resources the world would grind to a halt. A huge amount of the G20’s GNP and global trade numbers are derived from its “add on value” to commodities from the developing world.
By reminding the G20 that most of the world was not represented at the G20 meetings, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon subtly suggested that GNP and world trade statistics are not the only measures of who should be at the table when global decisions are made.
HURT WORST
“We must stop the slide. The recession hurts everyone, but those hurt worst are the poor -- people with no homes or savings to lose, who in some countries spend as much as 80 per cent of their income on food, and often lack the basics of health care, water and sanitation. They are the majority of the world's people -- and they have no safety net.
“In good times, economic and social development comes slowly. In bad times, things fall apart alarmingly fast. It is a short step from hunger to starvation, from disease to death, from peace and stability to conflict and wars that spill across borders and affect us all, near and far.
“The poorer countries have had no part in the making of this crisis and yet they are in danger of suffering the most. That is why those countries that made a commitment to raising aid at Gleneagles in 2005 should reaffirm that promise, and also allocate more to poorer countries. This would amount to at least $US300 billion.
“The London summit is an opportunity for the world's most powerful nations to act together and show solidarity with their less fortunate neighbours on our small and increasingly vulnerable planet. Across the globe we face massive job losses.
“Many of the unemployed will be young and angry. Many work in foreign lands, sending money home for food, medicines and school fees. These remittances make up large percentages of some nations' GDP.”
As The Bahamas and other offshore financial centres know, most of the new global regulations imposed on such centres are hypocritical and self-serving for those who have imposed these regulations yet quite often fail to live up to their own standards and rules regarding bank supervision, protectionism and even providing the level of development assistance they promise every time they meet.
“Do as I say, not as I do!” is the cry of the G8/G20. Unfortunately, getting a lecture from the G20 on restraint is like getting a temperance lecture from the town drunk.
The world community not represented at the G20 summits are not school children in need of condescending lectures and patronizing regulations from those who have brought the world to a near depression.
Instead, the former are global partners who should be at the table to protect their interests and help the broader community to solve the challenges which require a truly global response, not just the ideas of those who are more economically developed, but morally are still underdeveloped in significant ways.
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