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economic justice – resisting neoliberalism strategy meeting

In March 2007, representatives from FoE groups from 15 countries came together in Uruguay to consolidate our international campaigning on international financial institutions, trade, and corporations into a new Economic Justice program that focuses on the drivers of neoliberal globalization. At this meeting, we explored the activities that FoE groups conduct at the local and national level in the themes of mobilization, resistance, and transformation. We identified international areas of work that can support local and national work and that can address the international drivers that impede local solutions for sustainable livelihoods and environmental protection.

 

economic justiceWhile we will continue our international campaigns on international financial institutions, trade, and corporations, we agreed to enhance this important work by identifying linkages between the campaigns that demonstrate systemic issues in addition to winning concrete victories regarding harmful projects or policies. The new Economic Justice – Resisting Neoliberalism program is addressing the role of the EU in light of the new Global Europe policy, corporate influence over public institutions, and developing alliances with social movements so as to strengthen our systemic approach to building people's power for economic justice and sustainable livelihoods.

We took the opportunity that groups were gathered from around the world to convene a capacity-building workshop on state-investor conflict resolution mechanisms as once example of the links between trade and investment agreements, corporate misbehaviour, and international financial institutions. The International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) is a body based in the World Bank which acts as a tribunal for disputes between states and corporations; and many trade and investment agreements have a clause that oblige states to use this body if there is a dispute. ICSID has systematically ruled in favor of corporations over states: of the 232 arbitration cases that have been presented, 230 have been brought by TNCs against States; of the total disputes taken on (those concluded and still process) as of February 2007 (109), 74% of the defendants are developing countries, that is poor nations. Thirty-six percent of the cases taken up by ICSID resulted in favorable decisions towards private investors an 34% of cases were resolved outside of the court, but with compensation for the investor. In the few cases won by States, they did not receive compensation.

We brought experts from Bolivia, Argentina, and Costa Rica to share with us their experiences and train our campaigners about dispute settlement mechanisms and options for more democratic, transparent, and just systems.  The workshop concluded with a public conference and many Friends of the Earth groups have now taken up the issue. The results of the workshop were published in an Uruguay newspaper (La Diaria) and has since been expanded into a book that was co-produced by Friends of the Earth International, REDES/FoE Uruguay, Uruguay Sustentable, and Fundacion Solon. It is available in Spanish: Soberania de los pueblos o intereses empresariales! Los mecanismos de arreglos de diferencias inversor-estado y sus impactos sobre los derechos humanos y el ambiente. (Peoples' sovereignty or corporate interests! State-investor dispute settlement mechanisms and their impacts on human rights and the environment.)

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