Now it’s the time to renew global governance
In September 2024, the United Nations will convene a Summit of the Future, designed to address the crisis of multilateralism by modernizing outdated institutions of global governance. Member states will be asked to endorse a Pact for the Future, a blueprint for international cooperation in the twenty-first century. The initial draft was released in late January 2024 and was developed through a collaborative process involving inputs from Member States, civil society, and other stakeholders. It outlines commitments across several key areas: sustainable development and financing, international peace and security, science, technology and innovation, youth and future generations, and transforming global governance. In particular, on global governance, the draft calls for:
- More equitable and effective global economic governance, including through reform of the international financial architecture. This involves addressing the weaknesses and inequities of the global financial system, broadening and strengthening the voice and participation of developing countries in international economic decision-making.
- The development of a framework to improve the international response to complex global shocks, such as the establishment of an Emergency Platform to coordinate a coherent, multidimensional response to crises that impact multiple regions of the world.
- The development of measures of progress on sustainable development that complement and go beyond gross domestic product (GDP), incorporating measures of vulnerability into the assessment of country needs and access to concessional development finance.
Pact for the Future Zero Draft
From: United Nations
A more nuanced view of global governance
In this paper, Stiglitz and Rodrik call for a pragmatic approach to global governance that respects national differences, aims for fairness, and is adaptable to the political realities of a world dominated by powerful nation-states and interests. They propose a framework for a minimal global governance architecture based on four general principles:
- Non-Interference in Domestic Policies: International rules should allow countries to pursue their policies unless they engage in beggar-thy-neighbor actions or impose significant costs on poorer countries. This principle challenges the binding effects of international agreements on small and powerless countries.
- Acknowledgment of Variations Among Countries: Any international agreement must consider the differences in national preferences, historical trajectories, and economic conditions. This principle supports the idea that countries differ in their public goods provision ideals, necessitating tailored international agreements.
- Consistency with Global Efficiency and Fairness: Global agreements should aim not only for global efficiency but also for fairness, ensuring that poorer nations are not disproportionately burdened, especially in addressing global challenges like climate change and global health.
- Consideration of Social and Political Consequences: Economic arrangements have broad social and political implications, including redistributive effects and impacts on national policy autonomy. The principle emphasizes the need to consider these consequences in global governance.
It may be possible that we are at a moment that we can do more: competition among blocs of countries, between say the US and its allies and China and its, may result in a kind of competition for the hearts and minds of those in the developing world that will circumscribe the worst, the most special interest driven, behavior that one could imagine. […] The stronger the competition for the hearts and minds of those in the rest of the world, and the stronger movements of social and economic justice within the powerful countries, the greater the possibilities for moving beyond the minimalist architecture that we have described here.
Rethinking Global Governance: Cooperation in a World of Power
Authors: Joseph E. Stiglitz, Dani Rodrik
From: Columbia University, Harvard University
