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Community services for the poor
We need to ensure that environmental policies look at community pollution as well as general health conditions. This in turn requires a significant expansion in the public sector in order to provide infrastructure to the poor. Experience worldwide demonstrates that private providers will not provide adequate quality services for those who cannot pay. The result is waste and poor quality. In KwaZulu Natal, charges for piped water led directly to a cholera outbreak.
Just transition
Environmental policies must incorporate the principle of “just transition” – that is, the costs of new measures to improve the environment must be borne by those who can best afford it. This can be achieved in part by establishing open and consultative processes, ensuring that labour and poor communities have a voice in decision making. It also requires the development of regulations to protect workers’ interests in these situations. Industrialised countries must contribute to the development of less polluting forms of production.
Strong environmental policies must be linked to coherent and effective measures to address unemployment. Otherwise communities and workers may feel they have no choice but to protect any jobs they can get.
International Trade regime
The WTO, World Bank and IMF must integrate their work with the effort to advance sustainable development. This should not involve a few segregated programmes, but rather ensure that their activities support environmental, economic and social sustainability. To achieve this end, they must set clear targets, timeframes and policies that align with the aims of sustainable development.
In this context, we require fair access for the South to markets of the North, adequate instruments for countries in the South to manage adjustments costs of trade reform, measures to stabilise international financial flows, encourage longer term investment in LDC, provide debt relief where necessary to bring about sustainable development, improvements in the quality and quantity of ODA, and programmes to ensure that the North to not shift their polluting industries to the South.
Access to information and formation of partnerships, cooperate accountability
Workers and communities must have access to the information they need to make informed judgements about the trade offs around pollution. Forums between government, international agencies and stakeholders in civil society must be established to develop policies on sustainable programme, including economic, social and environmental policy.
ILO core conventions
Conventions against forced labour, convention against child labour, convention on freedom of association and convention against forced labour must be globally ratified that as a protection against globalisation
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