CIDSE Advocacy Newsletter - Issue N°43 - November 2009
Editorial: The future of food governance
Food, Agriculture and Sustainable Trade
- The EU and global policy on food security
Climate Change
- Creating a climate for success in Copenhagen
Global Governance
- 'Strong, Sustainable, and Balanced Growth' for whom?
Resources for Development
- Taxation of financial transactions – financial sector to pay the bill of the crisis
- UN High-level Dialogue on Financing for Development
EU Development Policy
- Lisbon Treaty and the place of development in EU institutional reform
Business & Human Rights
- Operationalizing the “Protect, Respect, and Remedy” Framework
In Brief
- CIDSE Palestine/Israel Working Group
- CIDSE News
- Secretariat contact numbers
Editorial
The Future of Food Governance
With the number of hungry people in the world surpassing the 1bn mark in 2009 the future of food governance has remained high on the political agenda for the past eleven months. From the High Level meeting in Madrid in January to the Committee on World Food Security meetings in mid-October, the debate about a global partnership for food security and the reform of the UN Rome-based institutions gathered increasing momentum. Despite initial scepticism by many developed countries, including the US and the EU in particular, the reform of the Committee on Food Security (CFS) was pushed forward by developing countries and many civil society actors, resulting in an impassioned meeting at the FAO in Rome on 17 October where the reform of the CFS was agreed on by all States.
The reformed CFS will play a central role in the new global food governance architecture, and is considered to represent the political pillar of the Global Partnership for Agriculture, Food Security and Nutrition promoted by EU and G8 countries. Its new mandate includes global, national and regional coordination, the pursuit of policy convergence, and the provision of support and advice to countries and regions. Elaboration of a global strategy for food security and promotion of accountability are key elements of a second phase in the Committee’s agenda.
Important and welcome elements of the reform of the CFS include that it will be a multi-stakeholder forum in which governments, UN agencies, international institutions, civil society and the private sector will participate, although governments only will retain the right to vote given their ultimate responsibility for food security. Furthermore, the Committee will be supported in its work by a High Level Panel of Experts (HLPE) who will contribute to more science-based decision making at the global level on food issues.
The next step in the construction of the new architecture will be the World Summit on Food Security from 16 to 18 November in Rome, where decisions taken on the CFS are set to be endorsed, and new policy orientations agreed. Indications are that support to small-scale farmers will feature prominently in the outcome Declaration. However, CIDSE is concerned that this support must take the form of appropriate, diversified and sustainable development of small-scale agriculture, and not the promotion of one size fits all modernisation techniques and high dependency on external inputs. There are also a number of other open questions, including (importantly) how increased support to agriculture and rural development will be financed.
CIDSE, jointly with its sister network, APRODEV, has developed a Briefing Paper with recommendations to the EU for the Summit. A CIDSE delegation will participate in the civil society forum taking place in Rome from 13 to 17 November and in the official Summit, to promote its recommendations and monitor the debates.
Civil society must maintain pressure on governments to ensure the Summit launches a genuine new era of food governance that will harness the potential of small scale farming for global food security and poverty reduction. The reform of the CFS marked an important step; civil society must now work with all stakeholders to maintain the current political focus and increasing global partnership on food issues, including by pushing them to invest in the CFS to ensure its relevance and influence in the coming years.
► Secretariat contact person: Cliona Sharkey
Food, Agriculture and Sustainable Trade
The EU and global policy on food security
With the EU currently formulating its positions for the World Summit on Food Security in Rome (16-18 November), CIDSE and APRODEV joined forces in October to push the EU to go to Rome with a strong and coherent position. To promote their joint Briefing Paper and recommendations, CIDSE and APRODEV organised a panel discussion in the European Parliament on 6 October. The event was sponsored by MEPs Thijs Berman (S&D) a member of the Development Committee, substitute to the EU-ACP Joint Assembly, José Bové (Greens), and Albert Deß (EPP), member of the Agriculture and Rural Development Committee, and importantly, featured panellists from the Commission, the Swedish Presidency, and African civil society.
The discussion was entitled, ‘The EU and Global Policy on Food Security – Getting the Right(s) Recipe’, emphasising the need for the EU to use the Right to Food as the basis for policy formulation, and as the reference for ensuring EU policy coherence.
“We produce what we do not eat, and we eat what we do not produce. As highly indebted countries it is not a good idea to base our food security solely on food imports and export revenue” said Rev. Tolbert Thomas Jallah, Secretary General of FECCIWA, the Fellowship of Christian Councils & Churches in West African who was one of the speakers in the panel discussion.
“Small scale farmers and agro-ecological methods provide the way forward to avert the current food crisis” – was the message brought by Cathy Rutivi from the Consumers´ International, African Office. Cathy Rutivi was also a Member in the Board of the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD), which advocates for a change in agricultural policies.
Beyond the global decisions to be taken at the World Summit on Food Security this November, European civil society will be challenged to bring about the changes needed to ensure greater coherency across EU policies for development, food security and the Right to Food. In the next legislative period, the new Commission and Parliament, as well as governments in the Council, will face renewed WTO negotiations and the ongoing EPA saga, as well as the next multi-annual framework of the EU and the related debate on reform of the CAP. Changes promised by the Lisbon Treaty will mean the Parliament will have increased power over agricultural policies as well as free trade agreements.
The Spanish Presidency, set to take office in January 2010, will feature food amongst its priorities. CIDSE will seek to maintain the momentum built throughout 2009 and will continue to push the EU to be an effective and legitimate advocate for food security and the Right to Food both at home and within the new global food governance architecture.
Key dates
- 13-17 Nov: Civil Society Parallel Forum - We the people demand: Food Sovereignty now!, Rome
- 16-18 Nov: World Summit on Food Security, Rome
- 30 Nov-2 Dec: WTO Ministerial Conference 7th Session: “The WTO, the Multilateral Trading System and the Current Global Economic Environment”, Geneva
- 7-18 Dec: UNFCCC Conference of Parties 15, Copenhagen Climate Conference
► Secretariat contact person: Cliona Sharkey
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Climate Change
Creating a climate for success in Copenhagen
At time of writing, governments are meeting in Barcelona at the last official negotiation session before the UN Climate Summit in December. Despite the flurry of negotiations in the latter half of 2009, numerous political initiatives and high level meetings, positions remain far apart on key issues, increasingly undermining chances of securing the effective and equitable deal needed in Copenhagen.
The past few months have seen statements over and back between key governments, some provocative and grandstanding, others constructive and conciliatory.
A Call for Climate Justice from the European Development Days 2009 |
Read more... or watch CIDSE video report on the EDD 09 on our YouToube channel. |
However, despite these pushes for political and public momentum, the reality remains that currently on the table are mitigation targets for 2020 which have virtually no chance of ensuring that global surface temperatures will remain below a further 2°C rise, and proposals on financing which place an excessive burden on developing countries; in other words - a recipe for failure.
The EU continues to emphasise that its commitment to 30% reductions by 2020 is dependent on comparative efforts for other Parties. Even recent declarations by Japan and Norway to increase their commitments to 25 and 40% respectively have not been enough to secure early EU commitment to the upper end of its range, despite the fact that even this 30% commitment is far below the more than 40% needed to avoid overshooting 2°C. The mitigation debate appears relatively deadlocked in the weeks before Copenhagen, with US Cap and Trade legislation trapped in the Senate, hindering the Obama administration from committing to any short term targets.
On financing, developed country governments continue to promote the role of the private sector with insufficient emphasis on the need for significant public funding. Conservative civil society estimates indicate that at least 110bn € in public funding will be needed annually, far above the 22-50bn € range proposed by the European Council in October. Developed countries also promote the notion of universal contribution, and the option of using existing ODA commitments to pay for climate financing.
In both the financing and the mitigation debate – the key sticking points in current negotiations – developed countries are manifestly failing to recognise their historical and moral responsibilities for climate action, as the countries who have done most to contribute to the climate change we are currently experiencing, and as the countries with the greatest capacity to pay for the actions needed. The science dictates that an effective new climate agreement requires all countries – including advanced developing countries – to enhance their mitigation efforts. However, developing countries with vast swathes of their population still living in poverty, cannot be expected to agree on taking additional climate actions until it is clear that developed countries are ready to take on adequate binding mitigation and financing commitments as their fair and equitable share of a new regime.
In the face of these apparent impasses, recent statements by politicians have begun to play down the Copenhagen meeting and its likely outcome. However, lowering ambitions is clearly not the answer. The urgency of climate change is unequivocal and experts have made clear that early action will save more lives and be more cost effective, therefore there is simply no acceptable economic or political argument for delay. CIDSE and Caritas Internationalis have been working with Church leaders, Southern partners and supporters in recent weeks to show politicians the human face of climate change, and to urge them to fulfil their moral duty to achieve an effective, equitable and binding outcome in Copenhagen.
In the key weeks left before the Copenhagen Summit opens on 7 December States will meet in the G20 and in important bilateral meetings. EU leaders may also come together again to finalise the EU position before the Summit. These present key final opportunities to make clear to leaders that although Copenhagen will not be the last step, it must be a crucial first effective step to set the international community on a credible path to avoid climate chaos. Politics is referred to as the art of the possible; rather than lowering their ambitions, politicians must rise above current impasse and take the bold decisions needed and come to a binding agreement in Copenhagen. They will only do so if they believe their electorate are behind them.
Key dates
- 15 Nov: Major Economies Forum
- 16-17 Nov: Greenland Dialogue
- 16 Nov: (tbc) EU-India Summit, New Delhi
- 18 Nov: (tbc) EU-Russia Summit, Stockholm
- 30 Nov: (tbc) EU-China Summit, Beijing
- 7 Dec: EU GAERC
- 7-18 Dec: UNFCCC COP 15, Copenhagen
- 10-11 Dec: European Council (If necessary, to adjust EU positions in view COP 15)
► Secretariat contact persons: Cliona Sharkey (Climate Change Policy) and Astrid Schwietering (Campaign)
Global Governance
'Strong, Sustainable, and Balanced Growth' for whom?
At their recent Summit in Pittsburgh (24/25 September 2009), the G20 countries solidified their self-proclaimed position as the centre of global economic and financial governance by designating the G20 as the “premier forum” for their international economic cooperation. CIDSE, while welcoming the apparent end of the G7/8 as such a forum, believes that real and democratic reform of the international economic and financial system requires global political representation and not another club of strong countries.
Ensuring that any small group is representative of and accountable to the interests and policy objectives of developing countries, which constitute a large portion of the 172 countries left out of the G20 forum, is not only a matter of global justice but also the only way to achieve sustainable and balanced growth on a worldwide scale. The UN System is the only setting with the legitimacy, broad-based expertise and political inclusiveness to design the international economic architecture.
Pro-poor measures and support for vulnerable countries
While recognising the disastrous impact that the global crisis has had on the ability of low-income countries to cover social costs and strategic investment, the G20 leaders have once again postponed commitment to action against poverty and exclusion. They “recognise the need for accelerated and additional concessional financial support to Low Income Countries (LICs) to cushion the impact of the crisis on the poorest” but do not take into account the fact that, under the current resource crunch, even concessional lending is likely to only exacerbate the dire situation of many poor countries standing on the brink of renewed debt crisis. On the contrary, most funding support announced in the G20 statement would entail greater indebtedness, rather than more suitable channels such as grant financing and debt relief.
The G20 communiqué welcomes the issuance of USD 250 billion of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) that, after having been agreed at the G20 London Summit in April, was swiftly implemented over the summer. But there is no pretence to amend the flaws in the mechanism for the SDR issuance and allocation. CIDSE believes that SDRs should not be allocated according to quota, but to countries in need of liquidity and development finance. In addition, poor countries pay an interest charge for using the SDRs – unless they keep them in storage as reserves. A mechanism should be devised for subsidizing such interest charges, at least for poor countries.
Reform of global institutions
In Pittsburgh, G20 countries agreed that modernization of the international financial institutions is essential for global financial stability and development. However, commitment to urgently needed profound reforms has been limited, especially with respect to promoting more inclusive and accountable governance of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
The G20 committed to a slight shift of voting rights in the two institutions from over-represented to under-represented countries. However, there is no big change in the criteria for assigning votes, which continue to be largely based on weights of members in the world economy. Therefore the announced expansion of developing and emerging countries’ voice can be seen, in this light, as a minimal step prompted by the necessity to court funding by emerging economic giants, like China and India, rather than a real step towards more equitable representation and inclusiveness.
Taxation: measures against capital flight and non-cooperative jurisdictions
In their final summit’s statement G20 leaders claim to have achieved “impressive results” with respect to the fight against non-cooperative jurisdictions. CIDSE disagrees with this overstated self-assessment. The mere fact that the OECD list of uncooperative jurisdictions (including tax havens) has emptied since the London G20 Summit of last April is still not a substantive progress indicator since the conditions countries need to meet in order to exit the blacklist are not particularly difficult to implement.
Therefore, in the run-up to the G20 Finance Ministers’ meeting on 7-8 November in Scotland, CIDSE, together with like-minded international CSOs such as Eurodad, Latindadd, Oxfam International and others, has lobbied key finance ministers to act on their previous commitment to “develop proposals by end 2009 to make it easier for developing countries to secure the benefits of a new cooperative tax environment.” In a joint letter, the organizations called for a multilateral agreement enforcing mandatory and automatic exchange of tax information to limit opaque financial flows to tax havens. Moreover, the letter recommended the introduction of an international accounting standard requiring multinational corporations to report profits on a country-by-country basis in order to eliminate detrimental transfer mispricing practices leading to tax avoidance on a massive scale.
In addition, at the Pittsburgh Summit G20 leaders have committed to “use countermeasures against tax havens from March 2010.” CIDSE welcomes this decision but criticizes the fact that the design of such countermeasures as well as decisions of which countries they should be implemented against are monopolized by a few rich and emerging countries. As a matter of justice and to avoid arbitrariness, this task should be assigned to a legitimate and representative body, such as an international tax authority.
Key dates
- 7-8 Nov: G20 Finance ministers meeting, Scotland
► Secretariat contact person: Fanny Liesegang
Resources for Development
Taxation of financial transactions – financial sector to pay the bill of the crisis
While the banking and financial sectors of industrialized countries continue to benefit from preferential treatment in terms of governments’ rescue packages and stimulus money, many ordinary citizens, especially those in poor countries, struggle to make ends meet. In political debate momentum is growing to involve the global financial sector, which has been largely responsible for the current economic havoc, in paying the costs of the crisis. In the communiqué of the Pittsburgh Summit G20 leaders have commissioned the IMF with exploring how the financial sector “could make a fair and substantial contribution” to global burden-sharing.
In CIDSE’s view, one of the most relevant instruments in this regard is the international introduction of a financial transaction tax – FTT (together with a more specific currency transaction tax – CTT – that CIDSE has been promoting since the 1990s). Such a tax, implemented on a very broad range of financial transactions, would serve multiple purposes: it would, at the same time, have a regulatory effect on the global financial system by reducing destabilising short-term transactions and generate additional financial resources that can be used for fair distribution to those sections of the global society which were worst hit by the crisis.
CIDSE will be closely following the IMF study, results of which are to be publicized at the next G20 Summit in June 2010 in Canada, and will continue to lobby G20 leaders and the IMF itself to explore in detail the implications of FTT or CTT introduction.
In addition, in late October the Leading Group on Innovative Financing for Development launched a High-Level Taskforce on International Financial Transactions for Development charged with assessing “the technical and legal feasibility of a financial transaction levy and voluntary contributions based on international financial transactions and explore all options in this regard.” The Taskforce is expected to present its report in May 2010.
As CIDSE is convinced that the introduction of taxes on currency or broader financial transactions should not be taken off the political agenda of the world’s decision makers, it is actively engaging in strategic CSO coalitions promoting these instruments which bear the potential to make a substantial contribution towards more equitable redistribution of wealth in the global economic system. While political discussions currently preview the use of future revenues of the FTT for fiscal consolidation in developed countries to reduce indebtedness and the strain on these countries’ budgets, CIDSE advocates for the utilization of FTT-generated resources for development purposes.
UN High-level Dialogue on Financing for Development
The United Nations General Assembly will hold its fourth High-level Dialogue on Financing for Development on 23-24 November 2009 in New York City. The overall theme of this year’s Dialogue will be “The Monterrey Consensus and Doha Declaration on Financing for Development: status of implementation and tasks ahead”. UN Member States and all relevant stakeholders will review the measures that have been taken since the Follow-up International Conference on Financing for Development to Review the Implementation of the Monterrey Consensus (Doha, Qatar, 29 November - 2 December 2008) and commit to further steps that should be implemented. In the context of its past work on international financing for development, CIDSE will be closely monitoring the Dialogue.
Key dates
- 23-24 Nov.: HL dialogue on FfD, New York
- 9 Dec.: ENOFAD workshop on FTT, Cologne
► Secretariat contact person: Fanny Liesegang
EU Development Policy
Lisbon Treaty and the place of development in EU institutional reform
The 29-30 October European Council saw important discussions by EU leaders on the shape of the EU institutions following ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. The main issue for development is the role of the new EU Foreign Affairs Minister and External Action Service, whose overall mandate is to be determined at the EU summit. The new European Commission will likely continue to include a Commissioner for Development, and a Directorate-General responsible for Development Policy. However, there may no longer be one unified structure and line of authority on development policy.
Strategic decisions on development programming may move under the responsibility of the Foreign Affairs Minister, or, as in the current Swedish Presidency proposal, under the dual responsibility of the Foreign Affairs Minister and the Development Commissioner. As the External Action Service is foreseen to absorb the Commission’s DG External Relations (and also include civil servants from Member States and the Council) and should contain political desks for each country, several Member States, such as France and Spain, see this as the occasion to integrate more closely foreign and development policies. These countries are in favour of a “hierarchical” approach to the External Action Service, whereby other policies would serve the interests of foreign policy.
CIDSE and other CONCORD members believe, on the other hand, that it is essential for development to remain a unified entity within the Commission, with a single Commissioner and Directorate General responsible for development policy making, programming, implementation, and the budget. This is all the more crucial if the Development Commissioner is to weigh in on the increasingly important issue of coherence of other EU policies with development objectives (such as climate, finance, agriculture), and advocate for changes in policies which undermine development.
Proponents of a closer integration between foreign and development policies believe that this is the only way for development to be seen as a political, rather than technical, matter, and therefore not be marginalized in the EU’s increasingly common foreign policy. However, the risk of closer integration is that those responsible for foreign policy will be tempted to use development programmes in the EU’s own interests, rather than in the interests of poverty eradication and the well-being of populations in developing countries.
This debate has of course also played out in each Member State in the determination of their various Foreign Affairs and Development Ministries / Departments set-ups. However, it is paradoxical that at EU level, the Commission is seeking to retain full control over trade, humanitarian aid, and enlargement policy, making an exception only for development policy. This undermines the argument cited in support of greater integration, whereby the External Action Service should be the place to ensure coherence of all EU policies. Development policy must remain on an equal footing with other EU external policies, as outlined in the Lisbon Treaty, and the EU treaty obligation of coherence of those policies with development objectives must be better respected.
Key dates
- 11 Dec: European Council
- January-June 2010: Spanish EU Presidency
► Secretariat contact persons: Denise Auclair/Fanny Liesegang
Business & Human Rights
Operationalizing the “Protect, Respect, and Remedy” Framework
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In its written submission to the 5-6 October UN OHCHR consultation on the Operationalization of the UN Special Representative for Business & Human Rights’ “Protect, Respect, and Remedy” Framework, CIDSE recommends that greater attention be given to extraterritorial legislation, and to addressing imbalances in power between companies and individuals / communities who experience corporate abuse. Further regional meetings between the Special Representative and Southern civil society are requested, to test his recommendations and see how they would deliver tangible change. A CIDSE delegation also travelled to Geneva to take part in the consultation with partners from Colombia and the Philippines who highlighted the experiences of affected communities.
Key dates
- 10 Nov.: Protect, Respect, Remedy – a Conference on Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR by the Swedish EU Presidency, Stockholm
► Secretariat contact persons: Denise Auclair/Fanny Liesegang
In Brief
CIDSE Palestine-Israel Working Group
Middle East Peace Process: Call for a More Consistent EU Approach
In September, an alliance of fifteen European and International humanitarian, development, human rights and peace organizations, including CIDSE, launched a new paper on the EU diplomatic role in the Gaza region. The report identifies nine key inconsistencies that reduce the EU’s standing as a truthful broker in the Middle East Peace process and puts forward concrete recommendations in order to correct these inconsistencies in future Council Conclusions, starting with the EU Council meeting on 27/28 October. For further information, see the report: “EU's Position on the Middle East Peace Process: Key Inconsistencies” and the related public letter sent to EU Foreign Affairs ministers.
Gaza, Dignity under Siege – Voices from behind the blockade
Good news from the Gaza Strip is rare. The media talk of dire poverty, violent conflict and growing radicalisation. As development organisations working with local partners in the field, we are privileged to know another, for many hidden, side of Gaza. Despite the fact that it has been progressively isolated from the outside world for almost two decades, Gaza is a surprisingly welcoming and vibrant place. Most Gazans refuse to give in to despair and fight hard to preserve their dignity in increasingly difficult circumstances. By collecting 10 Palestinian voices from Gaza – as well as some Israeli and international voices – CIDSE wants to convey the diversity that exists in Gazan society.
In letting our partners and ordinary people speak about their experiences, fears and hopes, we hope to correct some of the most negative stereotypes and misconceptions. This booklet was prepared by the CIDSE working group on Palestine/Israel, which is composed of Broederlijk Delen, CAFOD, CCFD, Cordaid, Misereor and Trócaire.
► Contact person: Koen De Groof (koen.degroof[AT]broederlijkdelen.be).
CIDSE News
The Secretariat warmly welcomes back two former colleagues: Cayetana Carrión and Steffi Rosenbusch. Cayetana is the new Programme Cooperation Officer and worked previously for CIDSE (1999-2003) coordinating Asia and Latin America programme work. Steffi will work as European Co-financing Policy Officer until May 2010; her main task will be to organize the next CIDSE-Caritas Europa co-financing forum scheduled in March 2010.
Gráinne Delaney joined the Secretariat team on 1st September to replace Edurne Portillo as programme and advocacy assistant also on maternity leave through March 2010. Mid-November she will take up the position of advocacy and campaign assistant in replacement of Leah Campagna who is leaving CIDSE for new challenges. The Secretariat extends a warm welcome to Gráinne and thanks Leah for her contribution to CIDSE work for the past year and a half.
