For Peter Koster, the beginning of 2005 merits more than one glass of Champagne. As millions of fellow Europeans celebrate just another New Year's Eve, the chief executive and founder of the European Climate Exchange will quietly drink to what he calls the dawn of a "new era for European business."

Starting on the first day of 2005, 12,000 industrial installations across the European Union will find that the days of pumping unlimited amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere are over, as EU-wide regulations spawned by the Kyoto Climate Protocol come into effect.

In February, Koster's exchange, which is the world's largest, and its first mandatory, greenhouse-gas trading market, will go live, formalizing a system aimed at fighting global warming...

If the world is serious about combating climate change, both China and the United States need to be part of an agreement, said Ruffing, the OECD economist.

"Let's not forget that the aim of this exercise is to preserve a global public good: the climate," Ruffing said. "The least-cost solution to this problem is multilateralism."

International Herald Tribune
"A New Era in Battling Pollution"
Katrin Bennhold
December 31, 2004

Available at:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2004/12/30/business/wbkyoto.html

In a research study, Pakistani-American academic and Internet expert Imran Chaudhry of George Mason University notes that several private organisations currently run the web, including the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). The role of these three organisations is now under global review, under the auspices of the United Nations, to determine what steps may be deemed appropriate to oversee, regulate or govern the Internet. The real issue is whether Internet decision-making should be taken away from largely private management and entrusted to the United Nations. At the two-day ‰Global Forum on Internet Governance­ hosted by the United Nations, more than 200 representatives from government, the private sector and civil society debated issues such as regulation and transparency, and how to balance those with innovation in expanding the uses of the Internet. The findings and recommendations of this forum will be presented at the World Summit on the Information Society in Tunis in 2005.

The writer points out that many developing countries want governments to play a larger role in what appears on the Internet through the International Telecommunications Union, a UN agency. The world's richer nations want to preserve the status quo. Some in the private sector fear increased government involvement could slow innovation and lead to more red tape. The US opposes new, international controls for the Internet. Washington and other developed countries feel it is imperative that web governance remains under the ambit of the private sector and is not transferred to the United Nations as proposed by countries such as China and Brazil. Calls for "international rules" overseen by the UN to govern the web must cover technical questions, such as the attribution of web addresses and management of domain names, as well as the protection of intellectual property...

According to Chaudhry, "Cyberspace currently resembles the ocean; it is a vast, open space that nobody really controls. Like the ocean, it is a resource that provides private individuals and corporations of all nations, access to information, and local, regional and global markets. What we are going through right now is a natural evolution in determining how this resource can be best utilised by all. There are competing views and opposing players or blocs of players. The best (and perhaps only practical) solution may be a middle of the road or multi-factoral approach."

He writes, "I feel that with checks and balances, the Internet governance issue may be amicably resolved. If more invasive attempts are made, the amorphous nature of the Internet will resist such changes with the overall result that nothing will be achieved in terms of the global public good. After all, if we are all to gain benefit from the Internet, we all have to be involved in its future development."

Daily Times
"Developing Nations Will Have to Fight for Internet Rights: Study"
Khalid Hasan
December 22, 2004

Available at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_22-12-2004_pg7_43

Can GM technology improve food security in developing countries? This is a topic that has been the subject of much debate and controversy. In order to explore this issue, we discuss some examples where GM technology is being used to improve food production in developing countries. Recognizing that GM technology is not a cure-all, but only one tool to aid in improving food production, we have also asked our contributors to describe the challenges, be they technical, economic, or social in applying biotechnology towards this goal...

The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) is a strategic alliance of countries, international and regional organizations, and private foundations that support 15 international agricultural Centers. The alliance mobilizes agricultural science to reduce poverty, foster human well being, promote agricultural growth and protect the environment.

The CGIAR generates global public goods that are available to all. Two CGIAR centers are represented in this issue. One of the organizations, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), is currently conducting field trials on GM drought tolerant wheat in Mexico. These crops are discussed in detail by Dr. Alessandro Pellegrineschi with CIMMYT. Dr. Emile Frison, Director General of CGIAR's International Plant Genetic Resources Institute and his colleagues, discuss the application of biotechnology to bananas and plantains, both major staple foods in developing countries.

AgBioView Newsletter
"Biotechnology and Developing Countries: The Potential and the Challenge"
December 10, 2004

Available at:
http://truthabouttrade.org/article.asp?id=3077

The World Bank says it is seeking to increase support for middle-income countries (MICs), where more than 70 percent of the developing world's poor people live.

According to the Bank, MICs have a crucial role in global public goods such as trade integration, financial stability, environmental protection, and fighting communicable diseases. MICs may be diverse, but they all need to be helped to bring about institutional reform, infrastructure investment embracing both the public and the private sectors and improved social service delivery. A recent British government report said that 2.6 billion people live in 76 middle income countries, half of them in China.

Daily Times
"World Bank to Step up Help for Middle Income States"
Khalid Hasan
November 23, 2004

Available at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_23-11-2004_pg7_56

Representatives from English-speaking African countries have converged in Windhoek to familiarise themselves with eligibility activities of the Global Environment Facility, (GEF) which would enable them to get funding for sustainable land management projects.

The GEF made land degradation its focal point to enable people to take care of their immediate needs before they can care for the environment. The 10-year-old facility has noted that people could not care for the environment when they struggle in their day-to-day lives.

Andrea Kutter, an environmental specialist with GEF, said yesterday in the facility's deals with global public goods such as water, climate, biodiversity and ecosystem integrity, land is a major concern because people are engaged in practices that harm the ecosystem. "The ecosystem is out of balance," she said.

AllAfrica.Com
"Workshop Focuses On Land Degradation"
Wezi Tjaronda
November 2, 2004

Available at:
http://allafrica.com/stories/200411020316.html

Professor Wangari Maathai's awarding of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize is recognition of the worldwide struggle of indigenous people to own the forests that they manage and conserve for the rest of humanity. The volume under review reveals the processes whereby first nations in China, India and Nepal are subjected to steady "resource exclusion". It proposes changes in the terms on which they interact with lowland people and global markets.

First nation peoples are pivotal suppliers of environmental (ecosystem) services like climate control, biodiversity, soil nutrition and clean water. Yet they are uncompensated for producing these regional and global public goods. Their cultural products and knowledge are extracted free of charge by bio-pirates. International environmental conventions and state policies are restricting them from accessing their livelihood opportunities and displacing them from land ownership. Globalization "increases further marginalization, disempowerment and desperation" (p 16) among hill-forest dwellers.

Asian Times
"Book Review: First nation tragedies- Globalization and Indigenous Peoples in Asia, by Pierre Walter, Dev Nathan and Govind Kelkar (ed)"
Chanakya Sen
October 23, 2004

Available at:
http://atimes.com/atimes/global_economy/fj23dj01.html

An international partnership needs to be created to share the benefits of genomics research and apply them to the needs of developing countries, according to a report launched yesterday (7 October) at the 4th World Conference of Science Journalists.

The proposed Global Genomic Initiative (GGI) is described in a report called Genomics and Global Health written by Peter Singer and colleagues from the Canadian Programme on Genetics and Global Health at the University of Toronto.

Such an initiative, they suggest, could help the emergence of a 'health genomics divide' between rich and poor nations.

The researchers conclude that genomics and related biotechnologies have a role to play in achieving five out of the eight Millennium Development Goals, the set of targets agreed by UN member states in 2000, for addressing the problems faced by poor countries by 2015.

More broadly, it describes how genomics - the study of organisms' entire genetic sequence - can help address global health problems. Genetically-engineered vaccines, drug delivery systems that avoid the use of needles, and rapid diagnostic tests for diseases such as malaria are, for example, among the 'top ten' applications of genomics to human health detailed in the report.

The report outlines the researchers' vision of the global approach - the GGI - needed to realise the potential health benefits of genomics research. They suggest that genomics knowledge should be considered as a global public good, similar to the status given to biodiversity or the ozone layer.

The proposed GGI would provide a system of global governance, while boosting the biotechnology capacity of poor countries, and leading the development of ethics policies.

SciDev.Net
"Global Partnership Needed to Avoid "Genomics Divide""
Mike Shanahan
October 8, 2004

Available at:
http://www.scidev.net/news/index.cfm?fuseaction=readnews&itemid=1654&language=1

Fresh challenges and opportunities for EU development policy will be explored at... a conference in The Hague organised by the (SID), a Rome-based international non-governmental association of individuals and organisations with members and activities in 125 countries...

Sven Grimm, research fellow for the London-based International Economic Development Group (IEDG) and co-author of a briefing paper prepared for the SID conference says "definite progress" has been made in development policy but that "new and diverse" issues are emerging.

"The most important issues are the role of development vis-à-vis foreign policy objectives, enlargement and its implications, the future of the EU-ACP relationship and the architecture of EU development cooperation," he told IPS. The IEDG engages in economic analysis of development issues and also advises governments and international institutions.

Grimm adds that underlying these questions are "debates in the wider development community" such as the new security context, poorly performing countries, financing for development, global public goods, global governance institutions, trade liberalisation and development, and achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)."

IPS-Inter Press Service International Association
"New Bridge to the South Offered"
Stefania Bianchi
September 23, 2004

Available at:
http://www.ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=25582

Fifty years ago, Dr. John Enders, along with his associates, Dr. Frederick Robbins and Dr. Thomas Weller, were awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine for their work that lead to eradicating one of the world's deadliest diseases at the time -- poliomyelitis. The three doctors grew the viruses that cause polio in tissue cell cultureÄWe should celebrate the anniversary of this marvelous discovery, yet realize that we must continue to work toward the total elimination of polio and be ever on guard for its re-emergence.

As the World Health Organization has stated, "Once polio is eradicated, the world can celebrate not only the eradication of a disease but the delivery of a global public good -- something from which every person, regardless of race, sex, ethnicity, economic status or religious belief, can benefit for all time, no matter where they live."

Daily News Tribune
"Conquering Polio: Still on Guard after 50 Years"
Leonard J. Morse
September 21, 2004

Available at:
http://www.dailynewstribune.com/health/view.bg?articleid=41191

Dr. Morenike Ukpong of Department of Preventive Dentistry, (OAU), Ile-Ife is a member of the Nigerian HIV/AIDS Vaccine and Microbicide Development Advocacy Group, an NGO campaigning against microbicides and prevention options for womenÄ She appealed that "like other global public goods, microbicides will only become a reality if governments and donors step in to provide leadership where the market has failed. Another area of concern is its acceptability based on the high level of literacy. There is need for public education so as not to record similar reaction as in the case of polio vaccine.

This Day
"Why Women are More Vulnerable to HIV/AIDS- Experts"
Tessy Ochem
August 26, 2004

Available at:
http://www.thisdayonline.com/features/20040827hea01.html

Biodiversity makes up the structure of the ecosystems and habitats that support essential living resources, including wildlife, fisheries and forests. It helps provide for basic human needs such as food, shelter, and medicine. It composes ecosystems that maintain oxygen in the air, enrich the soil, purify the water, protect against flood and storm damage and regulate climate. Biodiversity also has recreational, cultural, spiritual and aesthetic values. Maintaining biodiversity and access to it, while obviously a planetary public good, is crucial for the poor. The World Health Organisation has estimated that 80% of the world's population depends on traditional medicine derived from local plant varieties for their primary health needs. Wild plants, in field and forest, make a significant contribution to the diet of many poor communities. In many developing countries, poor communities are able to draw at least half their food from forest products.

The New Nation
"Biodiversity, Trade and Development Linkages"
Atiq Rahman and DL Mallick
July 3, 2004

Available at:
http://nation.ittefaq.com/artman/publish/article_10464.shtml

A global broadcaster that relied on short wave today would be as obsolete as the nuclear arsenals of the Cold War. Without investment in FM and new media, it is estimated that the World Service alone could haemorrhage over 50m listeners by 2008.

But through sustained investment in interactive services it has the potential to be the catalyst for a truly global conversation. Fully interactive forums in a growing range of languages will open up the debate to millions more people. The technology of interactivity will encompass a growing range of digital media, including internet-enabled mobile phones and other hand-held devices.

Technology alone does not guarantee success. Investing in it is no guarantee that the information the audience receives will be entirely accurate or impartial. The world is awash with information, but relatively little is reliable or unbiased. Holding true to the values audiences admire in the BBC, and ensuring that they infuse new media, as well as the old, can be an unbeatable combination, and an undeniable source of global public good in the years ahead.

Financial Times
"It's Good to Talk"
Nigel Chapman
June 21, 2004

Available at:
http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/
FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1087373144585&p=1018260769690

The Holy See called for mechanisms to guarantee the redistribution of global resources, given the inequalities caused by the process of economic liberalization.

Monsignor Ettore Balestrero, an official of the Vatican Secretariat of State, made that appeal when addressing the Economic Forum of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The forum ends Friday.

"Liberalization and technological change have not benefited all the participating states equally, thus contributing, in some cases, to deepening economic disparities between and also within our countries," the papal representative said.

"The future of developing countries is in their hands: in the effectiveness of their fight against corruption, for the rule of law and for transparency, in their capacity of enacting clear and adequate legislation with some tax incentives, in the national treatment for foreign investors and in modern infrastructures," he added. "No single condition can guarantee the success, but a single condition missing guarantees failure."

"Thus a fundamental requirement for building up an institutional capacity for economic development consists in creating adequate instruments for the redistribution of global resources," Monsignor Balestrero said.

"A greater supply of global public goods, those indispensable goods related to basic health conditions, environment protection, agricultural research and information technologies, must be guaranteed," the priest added.

"This however is often beyond the possibilities of a single government. It requires a concerted effort and economic and financial investments," he said. "These goods need to be transferred without barriers to different countries since they are not just to the advantage of a single state but must be considered of interest to the international community as such."

ZENIT
"Holy See Calls for Better Distribution of Global Resources to Lessen Economic Disparities Caused by Liberalization and Technological Change"
June 2, 2004

Available at:
http://www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=54658

The need to declare the 'Cyberspace as a shared resource' for the global public good, was the consensus of about 1,250 respondents to a survey released at the weekend.

The survey which lasted for one month, between April 10 to May 10, 2004, was organized by the International Telecommuication Union (ITU), an organ of the United Nations (UN)...

According to the survey, overwhelming support was given on the belief that if the Information Society (IS) is to be one in which all citizens throughout the world could equally access and use information resources for sustainable economic and social development, "Cyberspace should be declared a resource to be shared by all for the global public good".

This opinion was held by more than 94 per cent respondents of survey with 5.78 per cent indifferent.

Daily Champion
"Declare Cyber Space as a Shared Resource – Survey"
May 27, 2004

Available at:
http://allafrica.com/stories/200405270618.html

The Copenhagen Consensus is a project of Bjorn Lomborg, the "sceptical environmentalist" who used cost-benefit analysis to undermine the rationale for the Kyoto carbon emissions treaty. The Copenhagen exercise extends that approach to a range of global problems. Given the limited resources available - $50bn or so a year of development aid - it asks a panel of economists to choose between 10 bids from experts, each quantifying the return from spending more money in their field. Is hunger and malnutrition the most deserving cause? Infectious diseases, anyone? Or perhaps clean water? ...

These days, the more progressive aid donors … decide which countries are likely to use the money well, let them fix priorities and then either fund their budgets or provide technical assistance. States, almost by definition, have many dimensions. Honest states that function well, govern under the rule of law, refrain from fighting their neighbours, provide or encourage health and education services and integrate their country into the global economy will tend to be rewarded with growth that reduces poverty, pays for clean water and prevents mass emigration. Such an approach can address all the Copenhagen aims - except, perhaps, climate change, which, as a global public good, is rather different from the rest.

Financial Times
"Too Complex for Simple Solutions"
Beattie, Alan.
May 14, 2004.

Consider the biggest obstacle to a more even spread of global prosperity and the provision of essential global public goods: not global economic integration or transnational companies, as critics allege, but the multiplicity of independent sovereigns. It is not just the failure of states, but their existence, that creates the problems we now confront...

The multiplicity of countries, their divergent historical experiences and the differences in the quality of the regimes they live under do not merely help perpetuate mass poverty and global inequality. They also make it almost impossible to ensure the provision of global public goods. The underlying constraint here is free-riding. While everybody should be better off if countries combined to provide global public goods, it is normally in the interests of individual countries to let others bear the cost.

Financial Times
"We need more Globalization"
Martin Wolf
May 9, 2004

Available at:
http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/
StoryFT/FullStory&cid=1083180366329&p=1016652197036

As one of the activities in support of the theme of 'ICTs: Leading the way to sustainable development' we are conducting a survey to obtain views on the perceived importance of the targets for improving connectivity and access in the use of ICTs as determined by the World Summit on the Information Society. The survey will remain open for responses until 10 May 2004. The results of the survey will be posted in the newsroom of the ITU website as of 17 May 2004.

[Question 1]
The objectives of the Plan of Action of the World Summit on the Information Society are to build an inclusive Information Society that will put the potential of information and communication technologies (ICTs) at the service of development and to promote the use of information and knowledge for the achievement of internationally agreed development goals, including those contained in the Millennium Declaration.

If the information society is to be one in which all citizens throughout the world can equally access and use information resources for sustainable economic and social development, do you think that cyberspace should be declared a resource to be shared by all for the global public good? Yes or No?

World Telecommunication Day 2004: Survey
May 2004

Available at:
http://www.itu.int/newsroom/wtd/2004/survey/

"Information Society (IS) is one in which all citizens of the world can access and use Information resources for sustainable economic and social development.

In this kind of society, Cyberspace becomes the centre of attraction, and is seen as a resource to be shared by all for the global public good. Therefore, enthronement or advancement in the process of making information available to all the citizens, not only in their immediate countries but globally has become a vital one, especially in this era of globalization.

Hence, information and its availability is used to quantify the extent of global liberalization or otherwise of a given state, be it under-developed, developing and developed."

Daily Champion
"Information Society and Nigeria's Foi"
Remmy Nweke
April 29, 2004

Available at:
http://allafrica.com/stories/200404290523.html

The Commission for HIV/Aids and Governance in Africa holds its second commissioners' meeting Tuesday in the Mozambican capital, Maputo. Commission Chairman, K.Y. Amoako, argues that the pandemic is changing Africa fundamentally and forever and that we need to take notice... Funding the fight against HIV/AIDS is not an altruistic act, but an investment in a global public good. As should by now be clear, this challenge of HIV is not just one more African problem; it will transform and irreversibly damage the continent, with dangerous consequences for the wider world, if allowed to continue on the present path.

Allafrica.com
"AIDS in Africa: Planning for a Long War"
March 22, 2004

Available at:
http://allafrica.com/stories/200403220589.html

In a speech Tuesday at the UN Commission on Human Rights, Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham told delegates that "if we disregard human rights, we will only be creating new sources of injustice, thus sowing the seeds of future violence."... In an interview with The Canadian Press before his speech... warning of a possible new arms race in space, Graham called for negotiations for a treaty to ban space-based weapons. "Surely it is in the interests of all countries to recognize the importance of a weapons-free outer space for our collective security." He noted the many benefits that would come from guaranteeing peaceful uses of outer space. "The growing global public goods provided by communication, navigation and remote-sensing satellite are now central to all our economies."

The Canadian Press
"Graham urges Countries to balance Security and Respect for Human Rights"
Lisa Schlein
16 March 2004

Available at:
http://www.canada.com/national/story.html?id=3b88b4e5-9e84-4435-a752-3e98af1c9cbe

Scientists and government representatives have called for democratising biotechnology and ensuring that its benefits also reach poor countries, but they agreed during a meeting in Chile that, as always, there is a great divide between good intentions and reality...

Carlos Magarièos, UNIDO director general, said that "a global society needs global public goods."

Based on that premise, and with the aim of achieving effective democratisation of biotechnology, these "public goods" to be shared and developed are knowledge, information and efficient markets, said the UN official.

IPS
"Biotech for the Poor, Too - Forum"
Gustavo Gonzölez
9 March 2004

Available at:
http://www.ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=22768

In practice the use of the SDR scheme has remained tiny, relative to total international aid and loans. But the financier George Soros proposed in his 2002 book "Soros on Globalization" the expansion of SDRs as the centerpiece of a raft of proposals to improve the world economy. He concentrates on how rich countries could use newly created SDRs to raise the supply of "global public goods."

International Herald Tribune
"Here's a Good Way Solve the Dollar Problem"
Robert Hunter Wade
12 February 2004

Available at:
http://www.iht.com/articles/129143.htm

Nanotechnology is the building of working devices, systems and materials molecule by molecule by manipulating matter measured in billionths of a meter. The research seeks to exploit the unique and powerful electrical, physical and chemical properties found at an infinitesimally small scale...The authors call for a new international network to assess emerging technologies for development, identify the potential risks and benefits of NT incorporating developed and developing world perspectives, and explore the effects of a potential 'nano-divide'. Such a global network would serve as a focal point to commission and collect research results, promote awareness of the potential applications of NT for development, create new regulatory regimes (or build upon existing ones) for managing NT's risks and promoting global public goods, and provide a forum for all stakeholders - government, industry, academe and citizens groups - not just in developed but also developing countries, whose interests to date have been largely ignored.

Space Daily
"Can Nanotech Help End The Great Human Divide?"
5 February 2004

Available at:
http://www.spacedaily.com./news/nanotech-04c.html

Some 17% of all South African medical practitioners and 5.4% of the country's nurses were working abroad. Despite its reservations about the effectiveness of the UK code, the OECD hailed it as a rare example of an effort to address the problem. The first steps towards the definition of a code of practice for international recruitment of health workers represent a decisive move towards better regulation of the international market for health professionals," said the report. "Such a move is all the more necessary, given the imperfections of the market in question, and the nature of health as a global public good."

The Scotsman
"Third World Still Suffering Healthcare 'Brain Drain'- Report"
Andrew Woodcock
21 January 2004

Available at:
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2437137

Nobel laureate in Economics Joseph Stiglitz, today [at the World Social Forum 2004] advocated formation of parallel regional monetary funds against the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to contain concentration of decision making and US domination on the financial institution... Calling for creation of corpus for global public goods for the benefit of the larger international community, he said that it could be funded through revenues from management of global natural resources such as fisheries and sea beds.

The Hindu
"Stiglitz Favours Regional Monetary Funds to Contain IMF"
19 January 2004

Available at:
http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/holnus/00119213060.htm

The Head of the Institute for Statistical Social and Economic Research (ISSER) Prof. George Aryeetey has called on the government of Ghana to state its position on a new proposed form of financing development in Africa by the international community.

"Speaking on the topic "Innovative ways of financing African Development: The Potential use of Special Drawing Rights," Prof. Aryeetey said the traditional order of going to the IMF and World Bank for additional aid to balance the country's budget every year could be replaced with the issuance of the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) which will benefit donors and recipient countries as well...Also rich countries may be asked to donate their SDR into a global fund known as global public goods to be used for provision of health services such as HIV/AIDS treatment, malaria research, global fund for water, infrastructure among others.

Public Agenda
"ISSER Boss Advocates for New Development Fund"
Isabella Gyau Orhin
13 November 2003

Available at:
http://allafrica.com/stories/200311170270.html

The NEPAD in the second part of the document prides itself with a declaration that Africa's place in the global community is "defined" by its rich resource base "that has served humanity for so many centuries." The document lists these resources as being:

The rich complex of mineral, oil and gas deposits, the flora and fauna, and the wide "unspoiled natural habitat, which provide the basis for mining, agriculture, tourism and industrial development."

The ecological lung provided by the continent's rainforest and the minimal presence of emissions and effluents that are harmful to the environment-a global public good that benefits all mankind. The paleontological and archaeological sites containing evidence of the origins of the earth, life and the human race, and the natural habitats containing a wide variety of flora and fauna, unique animal species and the open uninhabited spaces that are a feature of the continent.

African Perspective
"Towards a New Model of Production: An Alternative to NEPAD"
Professor Dani W. Nabudere
Autumn 2003

Available at:
http://sis.gov.eg/public/africanmag/issue15/html/rep01.htm

Nigeria and six other countries have been urged to accelerate efforts to wipe out the disease even as Heads of state from 57 countries have adopted the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) decision to step up effort to eradicate polio in those countries. The renewed commitment from the OIC comes at a critical time for the eradication campaign when six out of the world's seven remaining countries that are still infected with polio are OIC Member States. These countries include Nigeria, Pakistan, Egypt, Afghanistan, Niger and Somalia…The resolution which was presented by the Government of Malaysia and other OIC Members, on the last day of the 10th Session of the Islamic Summit in Putrajaya requested international community, including OIC Member States and philanthropic organizations in the Islamic world, to come up with the necessary funds to stop transmission completely by 2005…Experts warn that the risk to the successful completion of polio eradication is magnified by a global funding gap of US$ 210 million, needed for eradication activities through 2005. These funds are more urgently needed than ever to deal with the threat of imported virus. If the Global Polio Eradication Initiative is successful, polio will be the first disease to be eradicated in the 21st century, and will represent the attainment of a unique global public good and equity in health for all countries.

Vanguard
"Seven Countries Urged to Step Up Efforts On Polio Eradication."
Chioma Obinna
21 October 2003

Available at:
http://allafrica.com/stories/200310210816.html

Japan and Europe should recognize their common interests and work toward providing global leadership -- not counter to the United States but as partners with the U.S. and others in shaping a peaceful, prosperous post-Cold War international system, a noted French economist told a recent symposium in Tokyo. Pierre Jacquet, executive director and chief economist of the French Development Agency … mentioned an increasing rift between industrialized and developing countries over objectives, results, processes and methods of liberalization. In trade liberalization, he said, industrialized nations want market access in developing countries for services and manufacturers but are reluctant to open their own markets in "sensitive sectors" like farm products.

While rich countries insist on protection of intellectual property rights, developing nations seek affordable access to innovation that is currently concentrated in the industrialized world, he noted.

The two sides also differ on the issues of advancement of social rights vs. industrial competitiveness, as well as sharing of burdens in producing "global public goods" such as environmental protection and prevention of global warming, he pointed out.

The Japan Times
"Japan, Europe must join to engage U.S.
Economist calls for multilateral leadership to bolster global system"
10 October 2003

Available at:
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20031010d1.htm

"Health failures in one country can compromise global security," says former director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland said…The ability to contain infectious disease threats depends on early detection and rapid intervention, but national surveillance systems around the world suffer from "a long history of underfunding," Dr. Brundtland said.

Policy-makers around the world are starting to recognize the importance of health beyond the health sector, and that it plays a role in development—but it is only a beginning.
Poor countries need to increase their investment in health; industrialized nations need to boost their development assistance and "earmark a real portion toward health," and the research agenda has to expand its focus on diseases of the poor, she said.

"We need a shift in the awareness toward the idea of building global public good that can help us reap the huge potential benefits of globalization, while at the same time containing the risk and vulnerabilities that come with it.

"It can be done. Never have we had so much knowledge, never have we had so much evidence on what works and what doesn't work. But to make progress we need the voices, talents and dedication of all, including all of you present here today."

The Medical Post
"ICAAC: Public Health Needs Global Strategy"
Terry Murray
7 October 2003

Available at:
http://www.medicalpost.com/mpcontent/article.jsp;?content=20031007_143701_2324

The scientific perspective must be included when the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) defines ways to bridge the "digital divide" between rich and poor in access to these technologies, and when it establishes a model for an information society. Participating in the preparatory process for the WSIS and drawing up these plans are government representatives of U.N. member states, delegates from the private sector and from civil society, including labour unions, community media, educators, and indigenous groups. The final two-week preparatory session ends here Friday.

But there was nobody specifically representing the scientific community in this process. With great perseverance, however, scientists have convinced the government delegates to incorporate their concerns into the draft texts to be debated at the summit in December. For example, the documents now include the term "global public good", noted Walther Lichem, head of international organisation affairs at Austria's foreign ministry.

"In fact, knowledge is a classic example of a global public good," not the Internet itself, but knowledge produced by groups like CERN, he said.

The draft texts state that there should be universal and equal access to scientific knowledge, and equal opportunities for all in the creation, dissemination and use of information.

Inter Press Service News Agency
"Science Has the Word in WSIS Run-Up"
24 September 2003

Available at:
http://www.ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=20307

The notion that a stable international structure, including the maintenance of an open and stable world economy, requires an effective hegemonic power that oversees the whole show has been recognised as an axiom among political economists of the 'realist' school. In particular, the 'realists' have assumed that a successful hegemon is also a benevolent power, that it is willing occasionally to sacrifice its own self-interest in order to help provide the world with global public goods, such as security, free trade, and order.

And these analysts have pointed to Britain in the 19th century and to the United States in the post-World War II era, as examples of 'benevolent hegemons' whose willingness to supply liquidity to the global financial system, to overinvest and transfer technology abroad and promote economic competitors, to maintain trade deficits, and to provide military protection to 'free riders' helped create a system of free trade and secure the balance of power worldwide.

The Business Times
"Unilateralist Chickens Come Home to Roost"
Leon Hadar
19 September 2003

Available at:
http://business-times.asia1.com.sg/story/0,4567,94391,00.html?

Free and fair trade is a global public good, and is often associated with increased economic growth, reduced poverty, increased access to new technology and foreign investment. Its benefits can and must accrue to all who engage in it.

The credibility of multilateral institutions like the WTO hinges largely on the extent to which they can ensure the fair and equitable distribution of global public goods like free trade. It remains to be seen whether Cancun will (as it must) do that by extending the benefits of free and fair trade to developing countries.

Business Day
"Cancun is Acid Test for Globalisation"
Kuseni Dlamini
9 September 2003

Available at:
http://www.businessday.co.za/bday/content/direct/1,3523,1427914-6096-0,00.html

An international partnership has announced that it is about to start the largest malaria vaccine trial carried out in Africa to date. The trial, which will start on Monday in Mozambique, will test the efficacy and safety of the potential vaccine, known as RTS,S/AS02A, among 2,000 children.

"We are excited about the progress this clinical trial represents for the entire malaria vaccine field," says Melinda Moree, director of the Malaria Vaccine Initiative,.., "It will give us critical information about the impact of a promising candidate vaccine for children and is a good example of the non-profit and public sectors partnering with industry for the global public good."

SciDev.Net
"Mozambique starts malaria vaccine trial "
Katie Mantell
8 July 2003

Available at:
http://www.scidev.net/news/index.cfm?fuseaction=readnews&itemid=899&language=1

... Training the Next Generation," National Academy of Sciences president Bruce Alberts identified three threats to expanding science as a global public good ...

The Scientist.com
"Ethics and war challenge biologists"
Eugene Russo
25 March 2003

Available at:
http://www.biomedcentral.com/news/20030325/03

On globalisation, Mr Cotis is constructive, seeing it "not as an end in itself. Rather, the objective is well-being, and the better management of global public goods like health and education

OECD Observer, France
"New OECD Chief Economist"
January 28, 2003

Available at:
http://www.oecdobserver.org/news/categoryfront.php/id/4/News.html

Dans le sillage de Porto Alegre, on monte des campagnes transcontinentales ; on multiplie les lobbies pour infléchir des politiques ; on se fait consulter par ceux qu'on combat sur des sujets clés de la mondialisation. Ça finit par porter de maigres fruits, mais des fruits quand même (lire page 3). ´ONG et associations sont devenues incontournables, au même titre que les firmes ou les syndicatsª, concède un proche de Pascal Lamy, commissaire européen au Commerce. Bien sûr, gouvernements, entreprises ou institutions se paient de mots. Mais ´les mots sont un prélude à l'actionª, souligne Rubens Ricupero, directeur de la Conférence des nations unies sur le commerce et le développement.Surtout quand les mots sont de plus en plus partagés. Porto Alegre esquisse les premiers contours d'une contre-expertise accessible à tous. Sur les biens publics mondiaux comme l'eau, l'air, la santé, l'éducation... La critique de ´l'accaparement des richessesª se double aussi d'un espace pour des pistes d'une ´autre gestion des richessesª. Certes, le Forum social mondial n'apporte pas LA solution clé en main. Mais il draine des élus locaux, nationaux, européens, car il veut réhabiliter le politique comme l'ordonnateur de la régulation économique et sociale. N'en déplaise à ceux qui ne veulent voir dans Davos et Porto Alegre que des machins stériles, ce sont des incubateurs d'idées...

Liberation, France
"Les sommets de Porto Alegre et de Davos débutent aujourd'hui. Deux forums pour faire un monde. Après trois ans d'existence, le rendez-vous brésilien a pris le pas sur le symposium suisse"
Vittorio de Fillippis et Christian Losson
23 January 2003

Available at:
http://www.liberation.fr/page.php?Article=83027

Examining the role of agriculture and land in the provision of global public goods, the report says that agriculture, fisheries and forestry have an importance beyond that of providing the world with food and raw materials necessary for our survival and well-being and ensuring the livelihoods of farmers, fishermen and foresters worldwide. People employed in these sectors of the economy play a role in managing resources that benefit the world at large. 'Through proper management of these resources, farmers, fishermen and foresters provide a range of benefits to others, such as landscape conservation, watershed protection, biodiversity conservation, ecosystem stability and maintenance of fish stocks.'

While these public goods are widely recognized as benefiting large numbers of people, they cannot be expected to be provided for free, the report says. Some public goods are global in nature, benefiting all humanity, like biodiversity conservation and carbon sequestration provided by forests and agriculture through the adoption of more sustainable land-use practices. Because so many people benefit from these public goods without paying, the report concludes that "mechanisms for compensating the providers are necessary to ensure that socially desirable levels of the good will be provided.

Press Release. Food and Agriculture Organization. Rome
"State of Food and Agriculture 2002 examines carbon sequestration and agriculture's role in providing global public goods"

17 September 2002.

Click here to read in:

Arabic http://www.fao.org/arabic/newsroom/news/2002/9040-ar.html

French http://www.fao.org/spanish/newsroom/news/2002/9040-es.html

Spanish http://www.fao.org/spanish/newsroom/news/2002/9040-es.html

A défaut d'engagements à la hauteur des enjeux, Johannesburg a été un symbole très politique. Pointant, même entre les lignes, les dérives d'un capitalisme sans régulation, sans cadre, sans frein. On n'a pas encore vu naître une nouvelle gouvernance, mais elle semble s'esquisser en pointillé. L'affaire Enron ou la crise argentine n'ont pas éclipsé le besoin de réguler ce qu'on appelle les biens publics mondiaux : climat, biodiversité, eau, santé.

Liberation, France
"Fin du Sommet de la Terre aujourd'hui. Au moins une prise de conscience. Consensus sur la nécessité d'un développement durable"
Vittorio de Filippis et Christian Losson

4 September 2002

Available at:
http://www.liberation.fr/imprimer.php?Article=50891

The report [Harnessing Technologies for Sustainable Development, to be released by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) to coincide with the World Summit on Sustainable Development] states that achieving sustainable development will require the production of regional and global public goods services or resources whose benefits are shared among countries in a region or more broadly. These regional and global public goods include the knowledge, regimes, standards and rules required to address cross-border problem such as infectious disease control and use of GM crops; the institution that monitor and enforce the rules and regimes; and the benefits that arise and are shared indiscriminately among countries. To ensure the provision of these goods in sufficient quantity, international collective action will be critical, because no individual country has an incentive to pay for such things as the prevention of contagious diseases, the preservation of biodiversity, or research to develop new crops, vaccines, or drugs to treat tropical diseases. The provision of these goods stresses the report, will require new and innovative financing at the regional level. Since development assistance remains anchored in country-based projects and programmes, greater flexibility will be needed to finance regional programmes for providing regional public goods. Around $16 billion is allocated annually to international resource transfer for global public goods in health, environment, and knowledge creation, states the Report. Roughly $11 billion of this goes to support national infrastructure for public goods provision - such as basic health care systems and environmental management - leaving only a small share for regional and global public goods. Thus much more needs to be done at the regional level.

The Independent (Banjul)
"Emerging Technologies Can Work in Africa Only if the Climate is Right"
30 August 2002

http://allafrica.com/stories/200209030007.html

Pourtant, il y a bien une prise de conscience qu'il existe des biens communs à tous qui se jouent des espaces nationaux et des frontières : des biens publics mondiaux (BPM). Ils sont une sorte de plus petit dénominateur commun de droits dont aucun humain ne devrait, en principe, être privé. Leur définition peut être restrictive : accès à l'eau potable, à un air pur, à une Terre préservée. Ou plus large : santé publique, éducation, sécurité alimentaire. ´A l'instar du respect de l'environnement, la lutte contre le sida montre à quel point les intérêts communs apparaissentª, explique l'économiste Philippe Hugon. Le combat contre les inégalités peut aussi être un objectif : ´Parce que les retombées liées à la pauvreté touchent tous les pays, que ce soit par le biais des migrations ou par celui de la santéª, rappelle Katelle Le Goulven, du Programme des Nations unies pour le dévelop- pement (Pnud), une des avocats de la notion de BPM.

Liberation, France
"Le temps des biens publics et mondiaux"
Christian Losson and Vittorio de Fillipis,
26 August 2002

Available at:
http://www.liberation.com/page.php?Article=49077

As for the environmental pillar, sub-Saharan Africa contains some of the world's richest biodiversity -- and, until fairly recently, a good reputation for looking after it. But the thin edge of the wedge is chipping away at this pillar: drought, population growth, logging, agriculture, bushmeat and illegal trade. "If we look at the South frankly, since 1992 we have made some impressive gains. Even if we just look at Southern Africa and the commitment to protected areas," says Yemi Katerere, regional director of IUCN-The World Conservation Union. "Protected areas are a global public good, they benefit not just the Southern African region.

Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg)
"Show Us the Money"
Fiona Macleod
23 August 2002

http://allafrica.com/stories/200208220526.html

Expand the thinking of international financial institutions and client nations to include "global public goods." These are achievements that no one nation can make by itself, such as combating malaria, AIDS, etc. Leadership and money from the international financial institutions are vital.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Editorial: Helping the world's poor, ideology aside"
Clarke Thomas
21 July 2002

As the poor world clearly cannot afford to pay for all this, the rich world must help- partly for altruistic reasons, partly with the selfish aim of discovering in good time whether any global environmental calamities are in the making. A number of multilateral agencies now say they are willing to invest in this area as a "neglected global public good"- neglected especially by those agencies themselves. Even President Bush's administration has recently indicated that it will give environmental satellite date free to poor countries.

The Economist
"Flying Blind"
4 July 2002

Bringing greenery to the grass roots is good, but on its own it will not avert perceived threats to global "public goods" such as the climate or biodiversity. Paul Portney of Resources for the Future explains: "Brazilian villages may think very carefully and unselfishly about their future descendants, but there's no reason for them to care about and protect species or habitats that no future generations of Brazilian will care about." That is why rich countries must do more than make pious noises about global threats to the environment. If they believe that scientific evidence suggests a credible threat, they must be willing to pay poor countries to protect such things as their tropical forests. Rather than thinking of this as charity, they should see it as payment for environmental services (say, for carbon storage) or as a form of insurance.

The Economist
"Local Difficulties"
4 July 2002

As many as 20% of Africans are affected by violent conflict. Refugee problems are significant. and impose additional burdens on impoverished African countries. A fair distribution of the refugee burden worldwide is required. Rich countries should be required to accept more refugees. The right to the basic necessities of life should be made a global public good. Countries need to stand shoulder to shoulder to ensure its equitable and fair distribution internationally. It also makes sense as most western countries would require an inflow of immigrants within the next 50 years to sustain current levels of economic growth. The international community must assume more responsibility to find solutions to African problems. Human security is a global public good. The security of Africans is as important as that of the thousands of innocent civilians who were killed at the World Trade Centre and in Kosovo.

Business Day (Johannesburg)
"Why Africa's Future is in its Own Hands"
Kuseni Dlamini
18 June 2002

Available at:
http://allafrica.com/stories/200206180267.html

La muerte cada ano de ocho millones de personas por causas evitables exige fondos internacionales para prevencion y tratamiento de enfermedades, aire limpio y agua potable, reclamaron esta semana participantes de la Conferencia sobre Financiacion del Desarrollo.

"La salud interactua con el desarrollo economico mundial", arguyo el economista Jeffrey Sachs, asesor especial del secretario general de la Organizacion de las Naciones Unidas (ONU), Kofi Annan.

Sachs propuso una financiacion especial para la salud como "bien publico mundial" en la conferencia que se realizo hasta el viernes en la nororiental ciudad mexicana de Monterrey, bajo los auspicios de la ONU.

InterPress Service. Monterrey. Mexico
"DESARROLLO: La salud como bien publico mundial"
23 March 2002

Available at:
http://listas.rcp.net.pe/pipermail/salud/2002-March/000261.html

The Monterrey conference has led also to a renewed interest in an old, bad idea that will never fly in this country: An international tax in some form or another to help fund Third World development. "Monterrey," wrote onference host and Mexican President Vicente Fox in an op-ed piece Outlook, March 21), "should allow us to move closer to new and more far-reaching goals, including some proposals that didn't make the radar screen this time. For example, global taxes such as the one proposed on carbon emissions could be used to finance global public goods. This is based on a simple premise: fairness. The industrialized countries that generate a disproportionate share of carbon emissions into the atmosphere should pay accordingly, providing money for development and also a more efficient use of scarce resources."

The Houston Chronicle
"AID POLICY: Renewed efforts in Monterrey must recognize reality".
22 March 2002

Mardi soir, la France avec le Programme des Nations unies pour le développement (PNUD) et la Suède a organisé un événement parallèle à la conférence officielle sur les biens publics mondiaux. Deux des trois tables rondes successives ont porté sur les besoins de santé, sur l'accès à l'eau potable, deux exemples de biens publics mondiaux. La dernière table ronde a porté sur l'avenir du concept de bien public mondial. Cet événement a montré combien des besoins sociaux importants à l'échelle de la planète, comme l'accès aux soins, à l'énergie ou à l'eau potable exigeaient des besoins de financement considérables et un renforcement des capacités des états et des services publics, mais aussi et surtout un partenariat avec les acteurs de la société civile et avec le secteur privé. Les syndicalistes présents dans la salle ont insisté pour que le concept de bien public mondial soit fondé sur la notion de droit : droit à la santé, à l'eau potable et respect des droits sociaux fondamentaux. Les représentants des puissances invitantes ont toutes indiqué leur volonté de soutenir la mise en place d'un groupe de travail international sur les biens publics mondiaux.

CFDT
"Les biens publics mondiaux à l'honneur"
Marc Deluzet
21 March 2002

Available at:
http://www.cfdt.fr/inter/actualite/actu239.ht

In his new book George Soros on Globalization, Soros concludes that international finance and trade have outstripped the capacity of sovereign states to manage the politics of globalization. Especially neglected has been the provision of global public goods, things needed by everyone but not produced by the marketplace, such as clean air and disease control. Instead of proposing to dismantle the WTO, the World Bank, and the IMF, Soros would like to see them strengthened, and complemented by stronger global institutions in social fields like health, such as the World Health Organization, and labor standards, such as the International Labor Organization. Successful globalization, he argues, requires effective global institutions devoted not only to finance and trade, but also to public health, human rights, environmental protection, and other public goods.

At the top of Soros's list of global social problems in need of attention is HIV/AIDS. Public concern over the global AIDS epidemic, particularly in Africa, has grown enormously in recent years, but there is considerable debate about what the international community can and should do about it. Especially controversial has been the high cost of antiretroviral drugs used to extend the lives of people with AIDS. The pharmaceutical companies that make these drugs price them beyond reach of the world's poor, but in November 2001 at the WTO meeting in Doha, Qatar, these companies were forced to accede to pressure from developing country governments, nongovernmental organizations, and activists, and allow poor governments to adjust certain rigid patent rules applying to vaccines and drugs in order to protect public health. Despite this apparent triumph of international pressure, far more needs to be done. A coalition of governments and nongovernmental organizations, led by the UN, recently launched the Global Fund Against AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (referred to here as the Global Fund), and its performance will test how well such a global institution can confront the most serious health crises of our time, and perhaps in all of human history.

Nybooks
"Can AIDS Be Stopped?"
By Helen Epstein, Lincoln Chen
March 14, 2002

Available at:
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/15188

Health is the most important precondition for economic development; it's the ill who are poorest of all and illness that devastates economies. If the richer countries were to allocate just 0.1 per cent of their collective GDP in grants, so offering between pounds 20 to pounds 25 per head of basic health spending in the less developed world, eight million lives would be saved, says the report.

That and the general overall improvement of life expectancy would raise the less developed worlds income by Dollars 360 billion annually. It would be the biggest bang for our collective buck yet conceived - wed relieve suffering and raise growth in the same act.

It's so obvious that you wonder why framing the idea in these terms has gone out of fashion. The general proposition is incontestable. It does, though, have two huge drawbacks. It is predicated on public action to produce a global public good. And it involves the redistribution of income from the rich to the poor.

The Observer
"Comment: Our wealth can save their health".
Will Hutton
23 December 2001

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