The International Simultaneous Policy Organisation based in London (www.simpol.org) responds to failures in world leadership at the Johannesburg Earth Summit by making the following invitation in its homepage. (Phone enquiries: John Bunzl at +44 (0)20 8464 4141) The Simultaneous Policy (SP): A simple way to take part in shaping a saner future WSSD: Another summit, but almost nothing changes Have you ever wished your opinions counted when politicians make decisions affecting your future? For instance, do you believe a minister such as Britains John Prescott when he says of the Kyoto Protocol and the Johannesburg Earth Summit?: "All nations have to act together to find the solutions. No country can save the planet on its own. A collective threat requires a collective solution." Yes? Maybe? But youll know that negotiating such solutions can take years. And that previous acts of simultaneous international agreement have often been ignored, thus deepening public distrust in the ability of democratic governments to deliver and sustain new planet-saving policies. So, though Prescott's rhetoric may encourage his fellow negotiators, the reasons for past failures are conveniently forgotten. For ministers know, but dont admit, that policies to solve global environmental problems generally cost industry more, and therefore damage national economic competitiveness, risking capital flight, job losses, inflation, etc., for any nation making the first move. Thus whatever was said at Johannesburg, or whatever targets were agreed, the present framework of global economic competition precludes the implementation of economic, environmental or social measures aimed at the common good. So it's the framework that needs to change not the negotiations through simultaneous collaborative action by all nations that replaces a policy of competition with one of cooperation, and restores governments power to regulate business activities internationally. To meet this challenge, the Simultaneous Policy (SP) is being constructed as a consensus tool that allows all peoples, organisations and nations to make that change. And: a.. It offers you the possibility of expressing democratic choices, transnationally, when you agree to adopt SP provisionally. b.. If you are a voter, you can remove politicians' fear of change by agreeing to support Parties who have also adopted SP and thus cut across right/centre/left rigidities. c.. You can help develop a new cross-frontier process for generating alternative policies via e-mail consensus-voting, supplemented by snail-mail as necessary. d.. Or, just by signing your support for SP, you can become part of our ultimate objective: to create world opinion in favour of saner policies that decision-makers cannot ignore without jeopardising their re-election. International Simultaneous Policy Organisation, PO Box 26547, London SE3 7YT, UK
