1.
Introduction
Today’s
‘... world of shared risks
and common opportunities, grounded in the realities of mutual dependence and
growing interconnection,’[1] has
given rise to the concept of global public goods, which truly characterizes and
defines it; and whose importance is as vital as global dependence and interconnectedness
are.
To my mind, global
public goods are interstate structural belongings available to the whole world
or a significant portion of it. In economists’ jargon, they technically share
two qualities – non-excludability and non-rivalry;[2]
meaning respectively, ‘... that when provided to one party, the public good is
available to all, and consumption of the public good by one party does not
reduce the amount available to the others to consume.’[3]
They can be regional[4]
or global.[5]
There
are six types of priority global public goods:[6]
(a)
Strengthening the international trading system;
(b)
Tackling climate change;
(c)
Enhancing international financial stability;
(d)
Preventing the emergence and spread of infectious disease;
(e)
Achieving peace and security; and
(f)
Generating knowledge.
This essay discusses
the first five public goods in the main and in conclusion, tackles generating
knowledge, as a cross-cutting issue.
2.
The Good
in Global Public Goods
The
good in global public goods lies in their intrinsic value to humanity. But some
players in the global arena look at these goods as just immediate, but not
important, demands – mere overbearing imperatives.[7]
This is wrong. Rather, they should be acknowledged as important and immediate
needs, necessary for producing long term and sustainable benefits.[8] The latter perspective,
adopted below, helps us in terms of better analysis and better solutions to
global challenges.
A.
Strengthening the International Trading System
Trade increases productivity through more efficient
resource allocation, greater competition and technology transfer.[9]
Its progressive
liberalization has been a chief engine of global economic growth for well over
half a century.[10] Estimates show that abolishing all barriers to
trade in goods and services could increase global income by $2.8 trillion and lift 320 million people out of
poverty.[11]
The international trading
system is a global public good, mainly by virtue of the
principles of most-favoured-nation treatment and national
treatment – enshrined respectively in Articles I and III of the General Agreement
on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) – because formally, the system’s availability to
any one GATT member is not at the expense of
any other member and the end result of the system – preventing or reducing
protectionism – benefits, potentially, all of its members.[12]
As noted by the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, ‘... an open and equitable trading system can be a powerful driver of economic growth and poverty reduction.’[13]
B.
Tackling Climate Change
The UN Secretary-General
warned that, ‘One of the greatest environmental and development
challenges in the twenty-first century will be that of controlling and coping with
climate change.’[14]
Mitigating climate
change and adapting to its impacts are global public goods, most efficiently
achievable by effective use of carbon taxes to generate a double dividend: first,
help reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, the most important greenhouse gas; and
second, provide substantial tax revenue to national
governments – money that could be used to finance more global public goods – if
the rate were set at a level that would lead to an optimal reduction in carbon emissions.[15]
C.
Enhancing International Financial Stability
Financial crises can have serious impacts on
poverty
levels,[16]
and engender international instability.[17]
International
cooperation by governments and multilateral organizations to
organize and coordinate efforts to prevent and resolve financial
crises is a global public good, because the world’s common interest is that
countries do not pursue policies that provoke financial instability.[18]
D.
Preventing the Emergence and Spread of Infectious
Disease
Infectious diseases pose grave dangers to both social and economic
stability,[19]
threatening the health of every person and the prosperity of every nation.[20]
Prevention is better than cure. Controlling infectious
diseases requires: first, improving the global preparedness-to-response
chain; second, strengthening the capacity of public
health systems to prevent and treat infectious diseases; and third, increasing
knowledge for vaccines and treatment.[21]
This would reduce
over time the number of infectious diseases confronting global health systems
and the deaths they would cause, to the benefit of all states and populations.[22]
E.
Achieving International Peace and Security
Preserving
international peace and security underlies and is essential to all the other
public goods.[23] No wonder, by 2006, 22 out of the 34 countries
farthest from reaching the Millennium Development Goals, were in or emerging
from a conflict.[24]
There are three major
global public goods objectives in achieving international peace and security: combating
international terrorism; ensuring nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament;
and agreement on legitimate use of military force,[25]
which pose new security realities of common threats and shared vulnerability,
necessitating a much more cooperative global approach to solve them.[26]
Progress has been made in this regard and it should
be consolidated.[27]
3.
Conclusion
Global public goods
are undoubtedly relevant in solving special problems, posed by global issues. They
should be given serious attention by governments and peoples of all states.
Quite notably, the
nature and intensity of global issues and the problems they pose, are
constantly evolving. Hence, in order for us to keep trends with changes in the
global environment, there is need for more investment of resources in generating
knowledge, which is a cross-cutting issue. Any strategy to provide global public goods requires a special global
effort to build scientific and technological capacities everywhere, including in
developing countries, to help drive economic development.[28]
That knowledge must be
capable of being diffused and assimilated by all people, once generated,[29]
for it to be relevant in better analysis of global challenges and presenting
better solutions to them. Only then shall we ably and fully ‘... look at the
importance of these public goods and ... contribute everyday to a better
governance of them [to] make this world a better place.’[30]
Notes and References
[1] International Task
Force on Global Public Goods, Meeting
Global Challenges: International Cooperation in the National Interest
(2006), at 3. The Task Force observes that, ‘International cooperation has many uses. It is a
tool for altruistic purposes, importantly so, and it serves a host of
geo-political interests, certainly. But it is also a tool for states to align
their long-term, enlightened national interests to achieve common goals. Some
of these goals are “global public
goods”.’ See, ibid., at 13.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid. The Task Force gives traditional examples of national public
goods as including ‘... traffic
control systems and national security – goods that benefit all citizens and
national private actors but that none could afford to supply on their own
initiative.’
[4] These benefit countries belonging to a specific geographic territory e.g. the
East African Community (EAC).
[5] These benefit all countries and therefore, all persons.
[6] See, International Task Force on Global Public Goods, supra note 1, at 31. According to the
Task Force, ‘These are priorities
because the threats posed by global ills are rapidly mounting. Because the
issues are interlocking, each adding to the other, none are able to be
adequately addressed in isolation (as in the vital relationship between trade
and security or infectious disease and trade). Because the benefits of
supplying them are substantial. Because failing to supply them would have
significant and in some cases irreversible consequences. And because they are
important to a range of public and private constituencies whose engagement is necessary
for progress.’ See, ibid.
[7] This explains why, as
Javier Solana
says, in his Week 9 lecture on ‘Global Governance,’ in the Global Civics
lecture series, of the Global Civics Academy, ‘Many developing countries
are suspicious that the climate change drive is a move to prevent them from
developing industrially,’ in spite of the fact that climate change is a
scientifically proven reality. They feel unnecessarily pushed or even
blackmailed by their developed counterparts.
[8] For example, enhancing
development. The International Task Force on Global
Public Goods, supra note 1, at 15, stated
that there is a relationship between global public goods and development. The
Task Force gave three dimensions to this relationship: first, transcending traditional
development divisions between donor states
with advanced financial capacities and recipient states with limited resources; second, global
public goods can propel development. For example, improvements in international
financial regulation systems are critical to achieving broader economic
development; and third, development is fundamental to the supply of many
important global public goods, whose provision is hindered by limited state
capacity to avail them. This means that if provision of global public goods propels
development, then development sustains the provision of global public goods. This
is a hallmark of the symbiotic relationship between them.
[9] International Task Force on Global Public Goods, supra note 1, at 16.
[10] Ibid.,
at 49. Further, the benefits of strengthening the international trading system may be seen in light of its subtle
promotion of international peace and stability. The 19th
century French Liberal economist, Frederic Bastiat, so forcefully made
the case that free trade was perhaps the surest route to peace as well as
prosperity. He is often credited with having said
that ‘If goods don’t cross borders, soldiers will.’ See, Thomas J.
DiLorenzo, ‘Biography of Frederic Bastiat (1801-1850).’ Available at http://mises.org/page/1447/Biography-of-Frederic-Bastiat-18011850
(Accessed on 23-10-2014, at 00:56 hrs).
[11] Ibid.,
at 16.
[12] Ibid.,
at 49. Also underlying the international trading system have been, ‘... the ideal of universality and the principles
of reciprocity and non-discrimination
that have been present since its origins,’ (see, ibid., at 50) which have contributed to its remarkable evolution
and ability to empower people world over. These are global public goods in themselves.
[13] Report of the Secretary-General, In Larger Freedom: Towards Development,
Security and Human Rights for All (2005), at 18. Unfortunately however, the
international trading system is not open or equitable enough. The
Secretary-General pointed out, ibid.,
that, ‘At present, developing countries are often denied a
level playing field to compete in global trade because rich countries use a
variety of tariffs, quotas and subsidies to restrict access to their own markets and shelter their own producers.’ The
International Task Force on Global Public Goods, supra note 1, at 50, also noted that, ‘... as the system has grown, over time it has
accommodated rules that ... allow for discriminatory treatment of products and
trading partners.’ These contradictions in the system negate its goodness and
intrinsic value to the people it is meant to serve.
[14] Ibid., at 19.
[15] International Task Force on Global Public Goods, supra note 1, at 41.
[16] Ibid.,
at 16.
[17] Ibid.,
at 45.
[18] Ibid. The Task Force notes that policy makers are broadly agreed on the causes of financial
instability: unsustainable macroeconomic policies, fragile financial systems,
institutional weaknesses and structural flaws in international
financial markets.
See, ibid., at 46.
[19] Ibid.,
at 16.
[20] Ibid., at 33. Thanks to enhanced and improved travel means, infectious
diseases are not effectively deterred by national borders, hence the need for collective
action by states, together with other international actors. Thus, the Report of
the Secretary-General, supra note 13,
at 20, emphasizes that, ‘Many infectious diseases that ravage developing
countries today, notably HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, pose severe risks for the
entire world, particularly in the light of emerging drug resistance. Both
familiar and new
infectious diseases require a concerted
international response.’
[21] Ibid., at 34.
[22] Ibid., at 37.
[23] Ibid., at 55. The Task Force argues that, ‘In the absence of an effective collective security
system, not only will the levels of war, terrorism and other forms of strife
increase, but international prosperity will be at risk or even reversed. War,
conflict and terrorism will erode international confidence, weakening financial
markets. And isolationism and distrust between peoples will infect trade
regimes, bringing protectionism and economic reversal. International public
health and efforts to
combat climate change
will suffer in an atmosphere of eroding security.’ See, ibid. Conflicts cost millions of lives and impose corollary health,
environmental and economic costs to neighbouring states and the global community. Preserving
international peace and security is therefore, a precondition for sustainable
development and poverty reduction.
[24] Ibid.,
at 16. The Millennium Development Goals are a series of
time-bound targets, cutting across development areas of interest to the United
Nations – ranging from halving extreme poverty, to putting all children into
primary school. They were agreed upon at the Millennium Summit in the year 2000,
with a deadline of 2015.
[25] Ibid., at 55.
[26] Ibid.
The Report
of the High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, A More Secure World: Our Shared
Responsibility (2004), at 31-55, identified six clusters of interconnected
security threats, which require a new security consensus and concerted national
and international action. These are: war between states; internal conflict;
terrorism; organized crime; the use and spread of nuclear, biological and
chemical weapons; and poverty, infectious disease and severe environmental
degradation.
The Report of the Secretary-General, supra note 13, at 25, also identifies the same threats, plus poverty. It stresses that, ‘In our globalized world, the threats we face are interconnected. The
rich are vulnerable to the threats that attack the poor and the strong are
vulnerable to the weak, as well as vice versa. A nuclear terrorist attack on
the United States or Europe would have devastating effects on the whole world.
But so would the appearance of a new virulent pandemic disease in a poor country
with no effective health-care system.’ The Secretary-General therefore, suggested
that, ‘On this interconnectedness of threats we must found a new security
consensus, the first article of which must be that all are entitled to freedom
from fear, and that whatever threatens one threatens all. Once we understand
this, we have no choice but to tackle the whole range of threats. We must
respond to HIV/AIDS as robustly as we do to terrorism and to poverty as
effectively as we do to proliferation. We must strive just as hard to eliminate
the threat of small arms and light weapons as we do to eliminate the threat of
weapons of mass destruction. Moreover, we must address all these threats
preventively, acting at a sufficiently early stage with the full range of available instruments.’ See, ibid.
[27] The Report of the
Secretary-General, supra note 13, commented and offered guidance on these matters. On combating international terrorism, the
Secretary-General said that, ‘Our strategy against terrorism must be comprehensive
and should be based on five pillars: it must aim at dissuading people from
resorting to terrorism or supporting it; it must deny terrorists access to
funds and materials; it must deter States from sponsoring terrorism; it must
develop State capacity to defeat terrorism; and it must defend human rights.’ See, ibid., at 26.
On ensuring nuclear
non-proliferation and disarmament, the Secretary-General said that, ‘The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons ... has proved
indispensable: it has not only diminished nuclear peril but has also
demonstrated the value of multilateral agreements in safeguarding international peace and
security. ... Progress in both disarmament and non-proliferation is essential
and neither should be held hostage to the other.’ See, ibid., at 28. On legitimate use of military force, the Secretary-General said that, ‘When considering whether to authorize or endorse the use of military
force, the [Security] Council should come to a common view on how to weigh the
seriousness of the threat; the proper purpose of the proposed military action;
whether means short of the use of force might plausibly succeed in stopping the
threat; whether the military option is proportional to the threat at hand; and
whether there is a reasonable chance of success. By undertaking to make the
case for military action in this way, the Council would add transparency to its
deliberations and make its decisions more likely to be respected, by both
Governments and world public opinion.’ See, ibid.,
at 33.
[28] Ibid., at 21.
[29] International Task
Force on Global Public Goods, supra
note 1,
at 69.
Plato said
that knowledge is power. But Napoleon Hill, Think
and Grow Rich (New Edition) (1960), at 56, noted that this is a false
belief. To him, ‘It is nothing of the sort! Knowledge is only potential power. It becomes power only
when, and if, it is organized into definite plans of action and directed to a
definite end.’ (Emphasis in original.) Mr. Hill advocated for specialized
knowledge that is organized and used ‘through practical plans of action.’ See, ibid. I request the international
community to devise practical plans of action aimed at ensuring that all people
especially, those living in the marginalized parts of the world like
Sub-Saharan Africa, are enabled to participate in generating and using
knowledge of global public goods and their relevance in better analyzing and
solving global challenges.
On this
note, I must thank the Global Civics Academy for giving me (and I believe many
others) the opportunity to undertake this wonderful course absolutely free of
charge. I have had the opportunity to learn a lot and even generate more
knowledge through research and writing.
[30] Javier Solana, supra note 7.
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