DOHA,
Qatar-The organizers of the 4th World Trade
Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference
need not fear a repeat of their last ministerial
meeting in Seattle in 1999. At the Conference,
that started November 9 and ends on the 13th
in the Middle Eastern city of Doha, Qatar,
few anarchists and rabble-rousers will be
willing to travel to the Middle Eastern city
of Doha, Qatar, where the conference is being
held from November 9-13 to protest globalization.
Also, the authorities in Qatar are not expected
to be extremely good-natured about violent
protests. But the conference is not a capitalist
love-fest. The dissenting voices are from
civil society advocates committed to making
international trade contribute not only to
commercial interests, but also to broader
goals of social equity and environmental protection.
The WTO has come a long way since Seattle.
It has become more transparent in its operations,
with more public meetings and sharing of information.
It has taken some faltering steps to become
more inclusive, with mechanisms for participation
in discussions, but not decisions, by non-governmental
organisations (NGOs). But make no mistake;
the WTO has not miraculously become a poster
child for global governance.
The
WTO still concentrates almost solely on traders despite
the reality that trade affects everyone-from the subsistence
farmer to the factory worker to the eco-tour operator.
The positive and negative effects of globalization
touch a broad diversity of stakeholders, yet the WTO
fundamentally remains unilateral in its outlook.
But all is not bleak. An emerging innovative model
for global governance-the Global Reporting Initiative
(GRI)-warrants the attention of the WTO leadership
and the nations that support it. The GRI, with
the more limited but no less complex objective
of standardizing corporate social and environmental
reporting, has adopted all of the operating principles
that the WTO has short-changed-transparency, inclusiveness,
and balance.
Launched in 1997,
the GRI mission is to elevate environmental,
social and economic reporting to
a level equivalent to financial reporting in terms
of consistency, comparability and verification.
If, in the words of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan,
we want global markets to function with "stability
and inclusiveness", we must build an information
infrastructure commensurate with the reach and
interdependencies of the 21st century global economy.
To ensure broad political acceptability of this
voluntary endeavor, GRI:
o Brings hundreds of unlikely collaborators to
the table - corporate executives and investors,
environmental and human rights activists, labour
and government representatives, accountants and
UN officials. All are welcome.
o Conducts meetings in the open, which results
in rich discussions and constructive debate.
o Ensures meaningful developing nation participation
by sponsoring the attendance at working group meetings
and symposia of dozens of NGOs from such countries.
In its short existence it has held briefings in
Argentina, Brazil, India, and Taiwan, with plans
for South Africa and Malaysia.
o Posts all documents-many which will go on to
become international standards for corporate reporting-on
the GRI web site for public review and improvement.
Inclusiveness and transparency, while messy, costly,
and complicated to create and sustain, have been
well worth the effort.
The GRI is currently a project of the US-based
Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies.
During its transition to an independent and permanent
status in 2002, considerable time has been spent
deliberating how to govern the organisation in
a way that avoids the mistakes of other international
organisations while ensuring long-term efficacy.
GRI essentially will be an organisation of organisations.
A Stakeholder Council, the most innovative element
of its governance, will be the policy forum comprising
a balance of stakeholder groups. A Technical Advisory
Council will be the guide to ensuring GRI's access
to the best available technical expertise, whether
that resides in business, academia, civil society
groups, accountancy organisations or government.
It is not too late to transform the WTO into an
organisation compatible with the realities of the
21st century-where business-government-civil society
partnerships identify and solve problems more effectively
than any one sector can achieve alone. Dr. Allen
L. White is the Director, Global Reporting in Initiative
Boston, USA.
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