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Put People’s Freedom First!

The following petition is being distributed by the Sustainable Development Network for presentation at the Johannesberg summit at the end of August.   Four Nobel prize winners have already signed it and iGreens strongly support it.  We could not have put it better ourselves.  We hope you will agree and sign it too.

We the undersigned call on world leaders and others gathered at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa, in August 2002, to recognise that true sustainable development can only occur when people are free, both economically and politically.

For this to occur, the following fundamental human rights must be respected in all nations:

In addition, governments must decentralise ownership and control of natural resources and other assets. Decentralised ownership, when combined with respect for private property and the rule of law, will encourage entrepreneurship and environmental protection. The result will be sustained economic growth and environmental improvement. As economies grow, people will be able to afford better technologies, clean water, superior energy sources, better healthcare, and insurance. The result will be sustainable development.

There is a risk, however, that sustainable development could be undermined by green imperialism. International environmental treaties, especially those predicated on the precautionary principle, such as the Stockholm Convention, the Kyoto Protocol and the Biosafety Protocol, are supposed to improve human health and the natural environment. In reality, these treaties pander to vested interests in the rich world. If they were to enter into force, they would act as restraints on open, rules-based trade, and keep poor people poor.

We call on you to reject any attempt to ratify these and other international treaties that are predicated on the precautionary principle, which is antiscientific and blocks vital new technologies that can improve the lives of billions of people.

We also implore leaders to end other forms of neo-imperialism, especially those promoted by the World Bank, the IMF and bilateral aid agencies. For far too long these agencies have implemented inappropriate and unworkable policies at great cost to taxpayers around the world, and have supported and sustained governments that abuse basic human rights.

We urge you to recognise that true prosperity can only be achieved when individual freedoms are guaranteed. Environmental treaties and global agencies that undermine these freedoms in favour of neo imperialism and centralised power will only perpetuate poverty and environmental destruction.

To sign this petition, please go to http://www.sdnetwork.net/petition.htm. Please forward widely!     

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Last modified: September 20, 2006