Globalization: Fundamentally unequal and ultimately unsustainable

United Nations’ Secretary General Ben Ki-moon asserts that despite the extraordinary benefits of globalization, “it remains fundamentally unequal and ultimately unsustainable.”

Opening the 72nd meeting of the UN General Assembly, Mr. Ki-moon many people around the world are mired in extreme poverty and that “unacceptable inequalities persist”.

“We see the gap between globalisation’s potential and unequal gains reflected in peoples’ fears, anxieties and outright anger,” continued the UN chief scribe. Expectations at the meeting are high with Ki-moon anticipating that world leaders at the meeting will give a strong impulse to the Agenda 2030 and Sustainable Development Goals.
The 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals are a blueprint for building an inclusive, sustainable fair globalization and overcoming the resistance that still exists in so many parts of the world.

He said the Addis Ababa Action Agenda highlights the importance of being innovative when it comes to leveraging resources and financing for development.
The strategy includes tax reform by developing countries themselves – but also international efforts to fight tax evasion, money laundering and the illicit financial flows that have depleted domestic resource bases.

“I am convinced that today there is more money leaving a continent like Africa due to money laundering and tax evasion and illicit financial flows than the money that goes in through official development aid, and this is a common responsibility of the international community,” he lamented.

He argues this “means donors upholding commitments to Official Development Assistance. And it means helping developing countries attract innovative finance and gain greater access to financial markets and private investment.”

He also acknowledged that the world generates trillions in savings every year. But today, almost US$50 trillion of citizens’ savings are earning low or negative financial returns, instead of flowing to finance the 2030 Agenda that will generate inclusive, sustainable growth.
“Set against the imperatives underlying the 2030 Agenda, today’s global financial system, which manages some US$300 trillion in financial assets on our collective behalf, is simply not fit for purpose,” he continues.

The UN boss believes that the world has the resources to deliver the 2030 Agenda. “We must get these resources to where they are needed most,” he said, adding “Building on the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, we are taking forward a three-part strategy for enhancing UN support to financing the 2030 Agenda.”
Coming home Ki-moon promises to first lead the UN system in an effort to ensure that the objectives of the Agenda are fully reflected in international economic and financial policies that impact the mobilization of financing.

“We will enhance our work with key inter-governmental platforms such as the G20, including shared efforts to address illicit financial flows. He said the second front would be reform now taking place within the UN development system to strengthen UN country teams.

“We want to support countries in brokering partnerships for innovative finance, better leverage resources for sustainable development, and create the conditions to attract and manage financial investments and private sector investments,” he said.

He also plans to champion key international initiatives that can harness large-scale changes in financing and financial system development, such as in the fields of digitalization and climate finance and in cooperating with major investment initiatives.