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Blair speech at earth summit
2 September 2002
Friends of the Earth today welcomed Tony Blair’s call for all nations to ratify the Kyoto Protocol and the clear statement on the desperate need for further cuts in dangerous greenhouse gases. This is the kind of political leadership the world needs.
But by restating the worn-out solution of opening up world trade to help the world’s poor, Friends of the Earth said Blair was blindly applying more of the same “quack-medicine” which has led to the huge divide between rich and poor in our globalised world. There are good arguments to reform the EU’s common agriculture policy for example, but just giving developing countries more access to rich markets in the North will not deliver the kind of justice to which Tony Blair aspires.
Free trade does not guarantee justice or fairness, in fact it can make things worse. More importantly, Friends of the Earth’s partners in the South say what they need is:
- Ability to produce food for themselves and local markets
- Cancellation of debt and increases in aid
- Freedom from outmoded ideas and controls of IMF and World Bank
- Global rules for multinational corporations and rights for people
- Halt to pressure for new powers and agreements in the WTO
Friends of the Earth also criticized Blair’s speech for failing to mention the crucial summit issue of corporate accountability. The Prime Minister did not even go as far as some business leaders and failed to mention how the growing power of business can be regulated in the “inter-dependent” world.
Liana Stupples, Campaigns Director at Friends of the Earth, said:
“Bush must not ignore Blair’s strong message on climate. All nations need to ratify and go beyond the Kyoto Protocol. But the global justice the Prime Minister craves for the poorest in the world cannot be delivered by old-fashioned free trade policies. These benefit business at the expense of the environment and the poorest communities. Big business needs to be made more accountable through global regulations.”
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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust
Last modified: Jun 2008
