Ideas to save the planet - April 2008
Mike Brady | 08.04.2008 11:57 | Climate Chaos | Globalisation | Social Struggles
SP Policy Update – April 2008
In this edition you will find the following:
New policy suggestions.
Other policy suggestions.
How to gather support for ideas you like.
Policy Committee membership
New policy suggestions
Title: Beyond GDP: Complement Gross Domestic Product as a money-based index of national wealth with a basket of indicators that prioritise health, social and environmental criteria.
Discussion board:
http://www.simpol.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=30.0
Proposer: Brian Wills
Contact:
brian.wills@wanadoo.fr
Seconders: Diana Trimble, Brendan Maher, Graham Edwards, Doug Everingham, Peter Challen, Brian Jenkins, Hugh Steadman, Richard Lawson, Mark Braund..
Summary: In the knowledge that health, social and environmental statistics are as important as economic ones in the comparative measurement of each nation's wealth, governments should agree to complement GDP with a basket of indicators that prioritise these additional criteria, presented in a document for implementation through the UN or another appropriate international organisation or treaty.
---
Title: World Transnational Corporation Regulatory Authority
Proposer: Mike Brady
Discussion board:
http://www.simpol.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=31.0
Email: mikebrady@simpol.org.uk
Seconders: John Bunzl, Peter Challen, Bill Clarke, Graham Edwards, Doug Everingham, Gerard O’Donovan, Morgan Gallagher, Linda Gamlin, Brian Jenkins, Dawn Johnson, Chaitanya Kalevar, Brendan Maher, Caroline Mitchinson Lawther, Ruth Moss, Jill Phillips, Jilna Shah, Shilpa Shah, Jonathan Ward, Brian Wills, Valerie Yule.
Summary: This new body will be responsible for ensuring that transnational corporations abide by existing human rights, environmental, labour and other relevant agreements. It will accept reports of breaches from appropriate authorities or public petition and, if it finds there is a case to answer, will bring a prosecution before the International Criminal Court. The Court will be empowered to levy fines based on annual turnover on the corporation and to award governments the right to levy punitive tariffs on the home government of the corporation for seeking an unfair competitive advantage by failing to enforce the agreements. Corporations with a turnover and geographic coverage above set minimums will be required to register as 'globally incorporated companies' and submit annual independently-audited reports of their performance against standards already agreed to in the UN Global Compact for assessment.
---
Other policy suggestions
Titles are given here with the level of support in the last annual round of voting (October 2007). For full details and to comment, follow the link to the discussion board for the policy.
Annual votes are used to give an indication of the priorities of Adopters and to remove policies that are not gaining support. Policies can be resubmitted, with or without modification, at any time. Those not yet involved in the campaign still have the right to a vote and the actual policies to be implemented will be finalised in voting closer to the time of implementation.
Do participate in the discussion, both on the discussion boards provided by Simpol and everywhere else you can think of. This will help to improve the policies and bring more people to the campaign. SP provides a way to introduce the policies that are necessary to save the planet and achieve global justice, so wherever you meet people concerned about these issues tell them to join the discussion and sign up as SP Adopters so their voices are heard.
Contraction and Convergence: 80%
http://www.simpol.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=16.0
The Oil Depletion Protocol: 69%
http://www.simpol.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=4.0
International Clearing Union: 63%
http://www.simpol.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=5.0
Remodelling Companies to Become Stakeholder-Governed Organisations: 61%
http://www.simpol.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=6.0
Nuclear Disarmament: 61%
http://www.simpol.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=20.0
The Tobin Tax: 59%
http://www.simpol.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=14.0
Weapons spending excluded from GDP calculations: 57%
http://www.simpol.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=8.0
A Defensive Defence Policy: 54%
http://www.simpol.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=18.0
Monetary Reform: 52%
http://www.simpol.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=7.0
ETI (Environmental Tax on Imports) - Submitted since last vote
http://www.simpol.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=28.0
---
How to gather support for ideas you like
SP provides a democratic space for discussing, developing and ultimately deciding the policies to address global problems.
The policy package is to be implemented when all, or sufficient, governments have pledged to implement SP alongside other governments. Simultaneous implementation removes the genuine fear that governments have that acting alone will put their country at a disadvantage and cost investment and jobs. An increasing number of politicians have signed the pledge. Each signature moves us closer to implementation, so do encourage your elected representatives to sign up. See the Simpol website http://www.simpol.org/ for more information. SP Adopters, undertake to vote for candidates at elections, within reason, who have signed the pledge or, if they have a party preference, to encourage their preferred party to support SP as official policy.
So SP is intended for policies that governments fear implementing unilaterally. It is also for problems that are global in their nature, and so need a coordinated approach.
If you have a proposal to put forward, you are welcome to do so. It does not have to be your own creation. It could be a proposal you have seen elsewhere.
As a first step discuss the idea with other Adopters through the simpolicies-general@yahoogroups.com discussion group. If you are not a member of the group you can join at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/simpolicies-general/
You can discuss ideas with your local SP Adopters’ Group. Find details of groups – or how to set one up – on the Simpol website.
Also discuss the idea with others who are not yet involved with SP, on the internet and elsewhere, explaining that SP provides a way to make the policy a reality.
If you wish, a discussion board can also be set up on the Simpol-UK website for the policy as a work in progress. Contact policy@simpol.org.uk
When you are ready and have support from at least 9 other people who are Adopters, or willing to sign up as Adopters, then you can submit your suggestion using the form on the Simpol website. It will be processed by the Policy Committee, added to the website and published in the newsletter.
To submit the policy you need a clear title, an explanation as to why it cannot be implemented by a government acting alone and so needs the SP approach, a summary (ideally no more than 100 words) and as much additional information as you wish to provide (which will be included on the website).
Submitting the policy is not the end of the process. It will be included in the next voting round, so continue to promote it so people will vote for it. When doing so, encourage people to sign up as Adopters. This will bring more people into the campaign. For this democratic process to work, there needs to be as many people involved as possible.
If you require further information or wish to discuss anything further, email policy@simpol.org.uk
There will be an article on policy development in the next issue of the It’s Simpol ! newsletter.
---
Policy Committee membership
There will be elections for the Committee later in the year. The next It’s Simpol ! newsletter will include an appeal for Adopters to stand in the election. If you are interested in knowing more about the work of the Committee email policy@simpol.org.uk
There will be more information in a future update.
Mike Brady
Chair
Simpol-UK Policy Committee
In this edition you will find the following:
New policy suggestions.
Other policy suggestions.
How to gather support for ideas you like.
Policy Committee membership
New policy suggestions
Title: Beyond GDP: Complement Gross Domestic Product as a money-based index of national wealth with a basket of indicators that prioritise health, social and environmental criteria.
Discussion board:
http://www.simpol.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=30.0 Proposer: Brian Wills
Contact:
brian.wills@wanadoo.fr Seconders: Diana Trimble, Brendan Maher, Graham Edwards, Doug Everingham, Peter Challen, Brian Jenkins, Hugh Steadman, Richard Lawson, Mark Braund..
Summary: In the knowledge that health, social and environmental statistics are as important as economic ones in the comparative measurement of each nation's wealth, governments should agree to complement GDP with a basket of indicators that prioritise these additional criteria, presented in a document for implementation through the UN or another appropriate international organisation or treaty.
---
Title: World Transnational Corporation Regulatory Authority
Proposer: Mike Brady
Discussion board:
http://www.simpol.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=31.0 Email:
mikebrady@simpol.org.uk Seconders: John Bunzl, Peter Challen, Bill Clarke, Graham Edwards, Doug Everingham, Gerard O’Donovan, Morgan Gallagher, Linda Gamlin, Brian Jenkins, Dawn Johnson, Chaitanya Kalevar, Brendan Maher, Caroline Mitchinson Lawther, Ruth Moss, Jill Phillips, Jilna Shah, Shilpa Shah, Jonathan Ward, Brian Wills, Valerie Yule.
Summary: This new body will be responsible for ensuring that transnational corporations abide by existing human rights, environmental, labour and other relevant agreements. It will accept reports of breaches from appropriate authorities or public petition and, if it finds there is a case to answer, will bring a prosecution before the International Criminal Court. The Court will be empowered to levy fines based on annual turnover on the corporation and to award governments the right to levy punitive tariffs on the home government of the corporation for seeking an unfair competitive advantage by failing to enforce the agreements. Corporations with a turnover and geographic coverage above set minimums will be required to register as 'globally incorporated companies' and submit annual independently-audited reports of their performance against standards already agreed to in the UN Global Compact for assessment.
---
Other policy suggestions
Titles are given here with the level of support in the last annual round of voting (October 2007). For full details and to comment, follow the link to the discussion board for the policy.
Annual votes are used to give an indication of the priorities of Adopters and to remove policies that are not gaining support. Policies can be resubmitted, with or without modification, at any time. Those not yet involved in the campaign still have the right to a vote and the actual policies to be implemented will be finalised in voting closer to the time of implementation.
Do participate in the discussion, both on the discussion boards provided by Simpol and everywhere else you can think of. This will help to improve the policies and bring more people to the campaign. SP provides a way to introduce the policies that are necessary to save the planet and achieve global justice, so wherever you meet people concerned about these issues tell them to join the discussion and sign up as SP Adopters so their voices are heard.
Contraction and Convergence: 80%
http://www.simpol.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=16.0 The Oil Depletion Protocol: 69%
http://www.simpol.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=4.0 International Clearing Union: 63%
http://www.simpol.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=5.0 Remodelling Companies to Become Stakeholder-Governed Organisations: 61%
http://www.simpol.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=6.0 Nuclear Disarmament: 61%
http://www.simpol.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=20.0 The Tobin Tax: 59%
http://www.simpol.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=14.0 Weapons spending excluded from GDP calculations: 57%
http://www.simpol.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=8.0 A Defensive Defence Policy: 54%
http://www.simpol.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=18.0 Monetary Reform: 52%
http://www.simpol.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=7.0 ETI (Environmental Tax on Imports) - Submitted since last vote
http://www.simpol.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=28.0 ---
How to gather support for ideas you like
SP provides a democratic space for discussing, developing and ultimately deciding the policies to address global problems.
The policy package is to be implemented when all, or sufficient, governments have pledged to implement SP alongside other governments. Simultaneous implementation removes the genuine fear that governments have that acting alone will put their country at a disadvantage and cost investment and jobs. An increasing number of politicians have signed the pledge. Each signature moves us closer to implementation, so do encourage your elected representatives to sign up. See the Simpol website
http://www.simpol.org/ for more information. SP Adopters, undertake to vote for candidates at elections, within reason, who have signed the pledge or, if they have a party preference, to encourage their preferred party to support SP as official policy. So SP is intended for policies that governments fear implementing unilaterally. It is also for problems that are global in their nature, and so need a coordinated approach.
If you have a proposal to put forward, you are welcome to do so. It does not have to be your own creation. It could be a proposal you have seen elsewhere.
As a first step discuss the idea with other Adopters through the
simpolicies-general@yahoogroups.com discussion group. If you are not a member of the group you can join at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/simpolicies-general/ You can discuss ideas with your local SP Adopters’ Group. Find details of groups – or how to set one up – on the Simpol website.
Also discuss the idea with others who are not yet involved with SP, on the internet and elsewhere, explaining that SP provides a way to make the policy a reality.
If you wish, a discussion board can also be set up on the Simpol-UK website for the policy as a work in progress. Contact
policy@simpol.org.uk When you are ready and have support from at least 9 other people who are Adopters, or willing to sign up as Adopters, then you can submit your suggestion using the form on the Simpol website. It will be processed by the Policy Committee, added to the website and published in the newsletter.
To submit the policy you need a clear title, an explanation as to why it cannot be implemented by a government acting alone and so needs the SP approach, a summary (ideally no more than 100 words) and as much additional information as you wish to provide (which will be included on the website).
Submitting the policy is not the end of the process. It will be included in the next voting round, so continue to promote it so people will vote for it. When doing so, encourage people to sign up as Adopters. This will bring more people into the campaign. For this democratic process to work, there needs to be as many people involved as possible.
If you require further information or wish to discuss anything further, email
policy@simpol.org.uk There will be an article on policy development in the next issue of the It’s Simpol ! newsletter.
---
Policy Committee membership
There will be elections for the Committee later in the year. The next It’s Simpol ! newsletter will include an appeal for Adopters to stand in the election. If you are interested in knowing more about the work of the Committee email
policy@simpol.org.uk There will be more information in a future update.
Mike Brady
Chair
Simpol-UK Policy Committee
Mike Brady
e-mail:
mikebrady@simpol.org.uk
Homepage:
http://www.simpol.org.uk/