New Global Human Order and the France summit

Jul 04, 2023 Letters

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Dear Editor,

The President of France Manuel Macron, recently played host to a Summit for a New Global Financing Pact. The summit was held on June 22-23, 2023 in Paris.

In just about one week after the summit, disturbances erupted across France following the shooting to death by a police rank of a 17-year-old boy of Algerian descent. Major public events in France were cancelled because of the disturbances. Had the fatal shooting occurred a week before the summit, it is reasonable to conclude that the event would have been one of the many events cancelled for the safety of the foreign guests.

According to news reports, the summit brought together some 40 Heads of State and government, over 120 NGOs and NGO coalitions, more than 40 international organizations and over 70 partners from the private and philanthropic sectors. President Ali did not attend the summit.

The summit was co-organised by France, Barbados and India with the objective of setting the foundations for a new global financing architecture beyond the Bretton Woods system to address climate change, biodiversity crisis and development challenges.

On the eve of the summit, President Emmanuel Macron, declared that; “The summit is aimed at taking stock on all the means and ways of increasing financial solidarity with the South. And French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna was quoted saying “The summit will aim to build a new contract between the North and the South in order to facilitate access by vulnerable countries to the financing they need to address their climate obligations and to develop in a harmonious and democratic manner.”

The background to and conclusions of the summit bear a striking resemblance to the call for a New Global Human Order (NGHO)made 27 years ago by the late President Cheddi Jagan. Central to the call for a NGHO ‘was the question of interdependence, particularly between the North and the South but with human development as the unifying factor.’

Emphasis was placed on ‘The availability of new financial resources critical for human development while a totally new approach which would address the debt question and the need to find new and innovative ways of mobilizing fresh resources to overcome underdevelopment was deemed necessary so as to enable developing countries in partnership with the developed countries to play a more positive and meaningful role in the global market place …’

So irrespective of how he was branded ideologically and regardless of how his critics criticized his call as a ‘pipedream,’ ‘irrelevant’ and ‘old hat fit for another era,’ it is clear that Dr. Jagan was far ahead of his time and to those who now echo his call albeit under new conditions and under a different rubric.

A debate over the relevance of ‘how would the summit fit into an international context marked by the cascading consequences of concurring climate, energy, health and economic crises, particularly in the most vulnerable countries emerged.

Questions were asked whether future reforms would pave the way towards a more balanced financial partnership between the North and South setting the stage for new agreements to enable more countries to access the financing they need to invest in sustainable development.

These questions are not new. Time and again, the international community was requested to address these major global issues that today, closely resemble those raised at the time when Jagan campaigned for a NGHO.

It is only fitting therefore, that in the light of the background in which the summit was held in France, that Guyanese be reminded of Cheddi Jagan’s call and the fact that it remains relevant in a present-day context.

Prime Minister Mottley of Barbados must be commended for her stirring pleas at what she described as the ‘’How dare you summit to upset the old order.’’

The co-host of the summit declared that; “What is needed now is not simply to mark a score card for progress, but the complete transformation of securing the sources of capital as unpopular as it might be to voice it.”

Outspoken as she usually is, PM Motley called for the; “bolstering of political ambition that is required, must secure transformation not reform.”

The Barbadian leader told the gathering; “We cannot continue in the shadow of an old imperial order that does not see nor feel for countries or worst yet, see nor feel or hear people.”

Amongst calls made at the summit were;

• stakeholders to create a new Bretton Woods movement;
• in-depth reform of the international financial institutions to improve the repartition of decision-making power in these bodies and, ultimately, the distribution of resources.

• creation of a new Marshall Plan to finance climate action, notably through a new allocation of Special Drawing Rights to a new fund dedicated to tackling the climate crisis.

• reform of the international financial architecture to rethink policies in favor of climate and the planet, digital technologies, and women’s empowerment.

At the conclusion of the summit a document described as ‘The Final Avenues for Action,’ was presented to;

• Accelerate the emergence and diffusion of the technologies indispensable to the transition and the production of public goods (including climate and health) through appropriate incentives and policies.
• Improve the information architecture through which “green” investments and financial flows are defined and earmarked in order to achieve a more efficient allocation of capital.
• Reform the IFIs, DFIs, and MDBs such that they deliver effectively for everyone, especially to needs of the developing countries.

A number of concrete advances were also announced during the two-day Summit: these include:

• commitment to redistribute the equivalent of $100 billion in Special Drawing Rights. The $100 billion total includes a pledge of $21 billion from the United States, which has yet to be approved by the US Congress.
• an increase in the capacity of the Resilience and Sustainability Trust to $60 billion, which would raise the total amount that could be reallocated through the IMF to 80% of the total pledge.

• new clauses suspending debt repayment in the event of natural disasters will gradually be included in World Bank loan contracts. A ‘coalition of countries’ pledged to implement these clauses by COP28.

• Support for the adoption of the principle of a tax on greenhouse gas emissions from the international shipping sector.

• rescheduling of $6.3 billion of Zambia’s debt with several creditor countries, including China.

In order to ensure that the commitments made are kept on the international agenda, a roadmap characterized by summitry as its centerpiece was presented detailing major international events of 2023 and 2024. The roadmap includes:

• September 4-6, 2023: African Climate Action Summit – Nairobi, Kenya
• September 4-6, 2023: Finance in Common Summit – Cartagena, Colombia
• September 9-10, 2023: G20 Summit – New Delhi, India
• September 18-19, 2023: SDG Summit – New York, United States
• October 13-15, 2023: World Bank and IMF Annual Meetings – Marrakech, Morocco
• November 10-11, 2023: 6th Paris Peace Forum – Paris, France
• November 30-December 12, 2023: COP28 – Dubai, United Arab Emirates
• February 14-15, 2024: International Energy Agency 50th Anniversary Ministerial Meeting
• April 19-21, 2024: World Bank and IMF Spring Meetings
• April 2024: United Nations Forum on Financing for Development
• July 12-14, 2024: G20 Summit – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• September 22-23, 2024: Summit for the Future

This is a weighty roadmap for any developing country. It provides a peek into what President Ali disclosed as part of a hectic international agenda for Guyana including the invitations for state visits from fifty countries including China.

Yours faithfully,

Clement J. Rohee

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• France, Manuel Macron, New Global Financing Pact, President, Summit

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