Dear Colleague:
On behalf of the Millennium Project of the American Council for the United Nations University, Central European Node, we have the honor to invite you to participate on a questionnaire panel that will address the means for achieving Sustainable Development, particularly in poorer countries.
Seven years ago vice-president Albert Gore proposed the idea of a new, global "Marshall Plan" in his book "Earth in Balance" (1992). In 1998, the Millennium Project studied global opportunities and the global "Marshall Plan" was mentioned again as one of the opportunities for development. Several respondents considered it an interesting and inspiring proposal. One respondent suggested calling this idea "Partnership for Sustainable Development".
During the Millennium Project Planning Committee Meeting in Washington, D.C., 28 – 29 July 1999 the Central European Node of the Millennium Project proposed to study this idea further and to develop the idea of "Partnership for Sustainable Development" through two questionnaire rounds. The Planning Committee accepted this suggestion.
In this work we intend to explore potentially effective policies and means of implementation through interviews with decision makers, representatives of NGOs, corporations, universities and international organizations.
The results of this study will be published in the State of the Future report. Those who respond to this questionnaire will receive a complimentary copy and will be listed in the report, but no attributions will be made.
You can type your answers and send them to us in the form of e-mail, fax or letter. Please do not include hand written responses that may be difficult to read. You can download the questionnaire fill it out on your computer and then send it back by email. Whichever way you choose, please send your responses so that they can be received by 25 April 2000 to:
Based on the results of this questionnaire, a second round will include the most relevant ideas for your further comments.
We look forward to your responses.
Sincerely Yours,
Jerome C. Glenn and Theodore J. Gordon, co-directors, Millennium
Project
Pavel Novacek, chair, Central European Node of the Millennium
Project
We use the following definition:
Name of the Project
We consider that "Partnership for Sustainable Development" (PSD) is
a better title than "Global Marshall Plan" (GMP), as the current economic
and political situation is very different of the post WW II. Because of
the technological and cultural differences between different geographical
and social areas, the PSD may require more than a quick injection of money
and technology. Hence, a title involving the concept of a partnership between
the rich and poor is more likely.
1. What do you think are the motivations for PSD?
This question asks your views on the importance of such a program now. Listed below are several examples; we ask you to assess each and add to the list, using the following scale:
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| Improve the environment for the benefit of mankind | |
| Improve development alternatives for developing countries | |
| Human solidarity | |
| Danger of North becoming "a ghetto of the rich" (surrounded by the sea of frustration and anger, immigration waves, etc.) | |
| Correct historical "wrongs" (colonization, cheap labor, import of energy and raw materials) to avoid the phase of primitive and environmentally dangerous industrialization | |
| Provide a feeling of self-confidence, self-respect and dignity (those who trust themselves are broad minded and tolerant towards others) | |
2. If the money is easily available, what could, in your opinion, be the long-term most appropriate goals of the project?
Clearly the overall strategic goal is progress towards a sustainable and compassionate society. Please review the following list of goals that might be associated with the project and provide your views on how important it is to include the goal in a final statement of the objectives of such a project. Please use the following scale:
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| Eradicate the extreme poverty and most dangerous diseases | |
| Remove the obstacles which prevent economic development | |
| Revive the infrastructure | |
| Establish mutually beneficial terms of trade | |
| Concentrate on global and acute regional ecoproblems | |
| Mitigate tensions between developed and developing countries | |
| Employ people (the most valuable resource of a country) | |
| Create middle class (stabilizing element of society) | |
| Enhance research and development capacities in developing countries | |
| Provide better access to efficient and environmentally friendly technologies | |
| Save the global environment | |
| Stabilize the world’s population | |
| Encourage ecologically economical technologies | |
| Induce a change of economic norms for evaluation of ecological impact | |
| Create a new generation of international agreements | |
| Establish a world program for ecological education | |
3. If the goals in Question 2 were set, which would be the role of different groups of countries for the Project?
Various regions of the world could be involved in this project in various ways: as financial donors, as donors of information and on-site assistance, as sites for testing of program prototypes, as recipients, etc. Consider the following types of countries and provide your judgments about the contributions they might make:
A. Highly developed countries such as the US, Japan, and Canada
B. Emerging donor countries such as the Czech Republic, Poland, and South Korea
C. Countries in deep economic trouble such as the Sub Saharan countries
D. Countries with massive populations such as China and India
E. Resource rich countries such as Saudi Arabia
F. Countries that are not concerned about the world interests
Please rate each suggestion with respect to each country type using the following scale, and add to the list.
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| 1. Direct financial grants | ||||||
| 2. Technical assistance programs | ||||||
| 3. Site for program experiments | ||||||
| 4. Recipients of large scale financial aid | ||||||
4. Potential projects for recipient countries/regions and their importance
There are many types of projects that are potentially beneficial to recipient countries. Please add to the list and provide your judgments about the importance of the projects:
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| Immunization programs | |
| Jobs beneficial to the public (planting and maintenance of trees,…) | |
| Adoption at a distance (Children International) | |
| Disaster relief programs and insurance of developing countries with international insurance companies | |
| Triangles of cooperation (donor country provides financial support, emerging donor country provides cheaper labour and lower costs of the project and recipient country is the reciever of assistance) | |
| Create (via UNEP, WTO, other IOs) international teams to define terms, standards and measurements necessary for commonly applied environmental policies (tax incentives, labels, etc.) | |
| Create taxes or fees for the most environmentally damaging activities with revenues collected to be used to subsidize the acquisition of environmentally safe technologies | |
| Include environmental costs in the pricing of natural resources and products | |
| Establish an international technology bank, funded by country pledges, that could acquire the rights to innovate „green" technologies so as to make them more easily available to environmentally less advantaged countries | |
| Create tradable pollution permits that regulate global emmission limits for countries or industrial sectors | |
| Develop and support ecologically based agriculture to reduce large consumption of water, energy, and other material inputs in agriculture | |
| Continue to support and promote all modes of family planning by subsidizing and distributing contraceptives and by promoting programs to improve health care, diminish infant mortality, improve literacy, and involve women in the monetary economy | |
| Create institutions for increased global environment protection (for example the International Court of Environmental Arbitration and Conciliation | |
| Increase national and international efforts to build communities that provide models of sustainable economic development | |
| Pursue policies to minimize the need for travel, such as local production and telecommuting | |
Comments:
Thank you for your participation.
Please send your response to:
Pavel Novacek
Central European Node of the Millennium Project
Center for Interdisciplinary Studies, Palacky University
Krizkovskeho 8, 771 47 Olomouc, Czech Republic
email:
nov@risc.upol.cz
fax: +420 68 523 2035
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