executive summary
meena raman, friends of the earth
international chair, malaysia
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These are critical times for
environmental and social movements
around the world.
Current and proposed trading
arrangements are facilitating
daylight robbery, with millions of
already impoverished people losing
their livelihoods and natural
resources in order to enrich the
wealthy. Those on the losing end
include farmers, fisherfolk, women,
indigenous peoples and literally
millions of others around the world
who depend on environmental resources
in order to survive. Those on the
winning end include corporations and
those governments that profit from
the drive to liberalize markets and
privatize natural resources.
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This publication exposes the danger that
current trade negotiations pose to people
and their environments around the world.
The privatization of forests, traditional
knowledge, seeds and medicines undermines
indigenous and community rights, as shown
by case studies from Central America and
Indonesia (see pages
12
and
13
). The 40 million
small-scale fishers who depend on the
ocean's resources to feed their families
could be outcompeted if the WTO cuts
tariffs in fisheries as proposed, enabling
commercial trawlers to further deplete
marine resources, as examples from the
Seychelles , the Philippines Islands and
Indonesia make clear (see pages
15
and
17
).
Small farmers, particularly in
developing countries, are being hurt by
inequitable trade rules that allow the
dumping of products from rich nations,
undercutting the value of their local
crops. They areoften forced from their land
when it is converted to plantations or
planted with crops for export. The pig
industry in Denmark , for example, is
responsible for the damaging spread of soy
plantations in Latin America , and poverty
levels in fertile Colombia have skyrocketed
with the opening of markets and tariff
liberalization (see pages
19
and
23
).
Trade agreements are also being used to
pry open water and energy markets, which
could well decrease people's access to
these essential resources, as exemplified
by the privatization of water and energy
supplies in Togo (see page
26
) and Colombia (see page
34
). The negative
consequences of the liberalization of the
mining industry are being felt by
indigenous peoples and communities in the
Philippines and Ghana , among many other
places. The effects of climate change and
desertification, two of the most serious
environmental threats to the planet, will
continue to manifest themselves and impact
the world's most marginalized people as
more trade agreements are cemented.
Today, the World Trade Organization and
regional trade agreements are on shaky
ground, thanks to the massive outrage that
their policies continue to invoke around
the world. The people of Uruguay , voted in
2004, for example, to establish water as a
basic human right and to put a stop to the
privatization of the country's water
resources (see page
27
). Many clear alternatives
to trade liberalization exist, including
small-scale fisheries like the one in the
Canadian Atlantic (see page
16
), and support for local
farmers and markets, as can be seen in
Uruguay 's Santa Rosa mill (see page
22
).
Friends of the Earth International
believes that the days of unfettered free
trade – and the environmental and social
devastation left in its wake – are drawing
to a close. We are proud to be part of
local and global movements working to
develop fair and sustainable economies.
