Green foreign Policy

“The Green Party’s foreign policy differs from traditional foreign policies in one overarching way.  The Greens’ worldview is qualitatively different, reflecting the 21^st century rather than the 20^th.

We do not see the world as being composed primarily of an international community of 193 sovereign nation-states.

Rather we see one planet, whose beauty and bounty is shared by humanity with other species. 

We see the human race, informed by centuries of philosophical enquiry and political development, moving carefully and purposefully towards a unified global society, of which all nations are a component part with the natural rights of their peoples fully respected.

We see a 21^st century global community of peoples complementing the 20^th century international community of states.  We are on perhaps a 200-year journey that began with the League of Nations almost a century ago, and continues with the United Nations today.  That journey may take another century or so.  

The aspiration to global unity is far-removed from the scourge of corporate globalization that has dominated economic relations in the past half-century.  Rather it recalls the probing insights of Hammarskjöld, the fearless courage of Mandela and San Suu Kyi, the soaring eloquence of Kennedy and King, the global vision of Gorbachev and Kofi Annan. 

Attainment of that vision presupposes resolution of what can only be seen as a 21^st century global crisis.  That crisis has three components:

-       an ecological overshoot by humanity;

-       extreme inequality across nations; and

-       the illegal use of force by governments and others.

Add to that a fourth challenge.  The effective resolution of these problems requires a restructuring of our institutional architecture – through far-reaching reform of the UN and Bretton Woods system.

It is not too much to say that, if we do not move quickly to develop effective and accountable global institutions to handle our global problems, we may simply not succeed.

A Green foreign policy recognizes these problems and the unprecedented cooperation required by governments to effectively resolve them. A Green foreign policy would have New Zealand acting as a responsible global citizen, pursuing a legitimate national interest, not an excessively competitive one that is largely indifferent to the rest of the world.

A Green foreign policy will embrace the seven global values proclaimed by the UN in 2005 – freedom, equality, solidarity, tolerance, respect for human rights, respect for Nature and shared responsibility.

We envision a world where people respect each other and the natural environment. Our quality of life is valued above individual wealth. The global political and economic system enables people to meet their needs within Nature's limits, so that future generations may meet theirs on a sustainable basis.

The survival and well-being of humanity depends on individuals and governments recognizing the common imperative of sustainability, replacing the mindless pursuit of material economic growth for all..

A Green foreign policy identifies four global objectives:

Global Sustainability: A world where humanity, at an optimal global population, lives in harmony with Nature and within the carrying capacity of Earth's natural resources.

Global Justice: A world based on economic and social equity, where the basic human needs of sustenance and self-development are met for all, not simply the privileged few.

Global Peace and Security: A world in which nations respect the peaceful resolution of disputes, refraining from acts of aggression, the use of force being in accordance with international law.

Global Community: A world in which societies respect the cultural beliefs of others, embracing the common global values I described.

In pursuit of those objectives, The Green Party has ten major policies.

1. Achieve sustainability & climate stabilization

The Green Party calls for humanity's Ecological Footprint to be of a sustainable size by 2030.  This will require collaborative support through the UN, building from the pioneering initiative of UNDP with the Human Development Index that began two decades ago, expanding that to embrace the current work of IUCN, WWF and the Global Footprint Network.

We support a global warming cap of 2 degrees Celsius, as a strict goal, not simply lip service.  We call for a global legal framework to replace the Kyoto Protocol by the end of 2012. We call for an unconditional commitment by New Zealand for national carbon emission reductions of 33% by 2020 and 90% by 2050.  We call upon New Zealand to follow Denmark’s goal of a fossil fuel-free economy by 2050.

We call for the UN to recognize the nine planetary boundaries identified by the scientific community, within whose maximum and minimum ranges we must remain for human civilization to remain vibrant and for all species to flourish.  We call upon UN member states to develop effective and coordinated policy responses on each of the nine issues. 

2. Outlaw aggression

The Green Party is working internationally to help make aggression a leadership crime in international and domestic law through the Rome Statute. At the ICC Review Conference in Kampala last year, a breakthrough occurred, and we can expect aggression to be a justiciable crime around 2017.  

3. Restrict foreign troop deployment

Deployment of any country’s armed forces overseas should be countenanced only on the basis of a Security Council resolution under Chapter VII or a General Assembly resolution under the 'Uniting for Peace' precedent.

4. Apply universal jurisdiction

New Zealand must be prepared to investigate, under its universal jurisdiction obligations, anyone reasonably suspected of genocide, war crimes or crimes against humanity.  The Labour Government failed to do that in the case of IDF chief Moshe Ya’alon in 2006.

5. Legislate for a nuclear-free world

New Zealand must reject nuclear deterrence in its voting at the UN, something we actually do not totally do under either National or Labour governments. And we must support the draft Nuclear Weapons Convention for conclusion by 2015, initially without the nuclear-weapon states if necessary.

6. Make trade responsible and fair

Promote responsible trade and investment policies at the WTO, IBRD and IMF, calling for fundamental democratic reform of these bodies.

7. Attain the ODA target

Establish a timetable for our ODA to reach 0.7% of GNI by 2015, through increases in our multilateral contributions, as our contribution to the attainment of the Millennium Devevlopment Goals by that same year.

8. Support good governance

Promote legitimate, accountable and non-corrupt governance in all countries, while avoiding the imposition of any single, preconceived model of 'democracy'.

9. Reform the institutional architecture

Reform the United Nations, with the establishment of a UN Parliamentary Assembly, and improvements to Security Council composition and procedures, General Assembly voting and procedures, system-wide management coherence, and adequate financial support based on continuous and effective auditing of expenditure.

Reform the financial institutions such as the IMF and continue the banking reforms under the Basel framework.

10. Promote global understanding

Support initiatives for a structured dialogue among all cultures and faiths, acknowledging their common spiritual provenance and eschewing religious fanaticism and fundamentalism.

This is our philosophy. These are our objectives and policies.

It is an aspirational foreign policy.  Yet it is grounded in a sobered realization that nothing less will meet the magnitude and imminence of the global challenges we now face. Nothing less will do for our times.

I invite my colleagues across all political parties to endorse these objectives and the policies that will help attain them.”